Today was nearly perfect, sunny, light breeze, perfect temperature. Ross and I skipped yesterday’s 59°, cloudy and windy day-after today, I’m glad we did!
This is our twelfth spring training and the last two under new manager Gabe Kapler have been, different to say the least. It used to be that the players would come out at 9-930 and practice would begin at 10. They would practice until 12, major league would go in for lunch and the minor leaguers would report and hit the field about 1.
Now, they have batting practice in the stadium (no idea when they start) quit about 11, the pitchers are “supposed” to come out around 11 but it was after 11:30 and they didn’t start until almost noon. It can make for a long day as they didn’t quit until after 1:30.
That being noted: I did manage to get a few good shots as well as a little video.
Jake Arrieta
This first video is of Jake Arrieta who reportedly had knee surgery just a month ago. From what I could see, he looked just fine. You can watch it HERE.
Rhys Hoskins
The second video is of Rhys Hoskins taking live batting practice from Drew Anderson as Gabe Kapler looked on. That video is HERE.
And below I have posted some random shots from around the complex today:
Adonis MedinaZach EflinDrew Anderson pitches under Kapler’s close eyeEdgar GarciaNick WilliamsManager Gabe Kapler
It was a great day for baseball and the Phillies young guns made it even better with a win.
Dylan Cozens smacks a homer to drive in J.P. Crawford
Baseball Ross and I were impressed with the play of Dylan Cozens, Roman Quinn and Jorge Alfaro. We put together a video of pictures and clips along with our thoughts on the game. You can watch the video HERE.
Yesterday, Spring Training was shortened by an afternoon golf outing that the Phillies were holding. Today, it has been raining off and on all day. So what to do? A preview of tomorrow’s game against the University of Tampa!
Baseball Ross and I put together a video of photos and commentary on the line up for tomorrow’s game. You can see the video HERE.
Andrew Knapp throws to J.P. Crawford to catch Nick Williams.
Again this year, I was privileged to be asked by Reading Eagle Sports Writer Mike Drago to be part of the “Rank the Phillies Prospects” survey. He asked us to “rank the top players in the Phillies organization from No. 1 to No. 25, based on their present value to the organization and their major league ceiling/potential. (A weighted ballot will be used, with first-place votes earning 25 points, second place 24 points, etc.)”
This is one of my favorite things to take part in as it’s so cool to be included with so many other reporters and bloggers whose work I enjoy reading.
So I talked through my list with Baseball Ross and we realized that we have seen so many of the prospects as they have progressed, save for a few that were acquired via trades or the draft. So here’s “our” list:
Jake Thompson
1. Jake Thompson
Dylan Cozens
2. Dylan Cozens
Rhys Hoskins
3. Rhys Hoskins
Jorge Alfaro
4. Jorge Alfaro
JP Crawford
5. J P Crawford
Roman Quinn
6. Roman Quinn
Mickey Moniak
7. Mickey Moniak
Franklin Kilome
8. Franklyn Kilome
Elniery Garcia
9. Elniery Garcia
Nick Williams
10. Nick Williams
Jose Taveras
11. Jose Taveras
Scott Kingery
12. Scott Kingery
Ben Lively
13. Ben Lively
Tyler Viza
14. Tyler Viza
Jose Pujols
15. Jose Pujols
Cornelius Randolph
16. Cornelius Randolph
Jhailyn Ortiz
17. Jhailyn Ortiz
Andrew Pullin
18. Andrew Pullin
Andrew Knapp
19. Andrew Knapp
Jiandido Tromp
20. Jiandido Tromp
Alberto Tirado
21. Alberto Tirado
Jimmy Cordero
22. Jimmy Cordero
23. Sixto Sanchez
24. Nick Fanti
Adonis Medina
25. Adonis Medina
As you can see, I have been able to take pictures of all but two, and I have seen all 25 but sadly the two I missed were on days where I didn’t have my camera with me or the battery was dead by the end of the day during spring training. So Ross and I really put a lot of thought into our list.
The list from Drago as complied by all my fellow reporters and bloggers:
Reading Eagle Phillies minor league prospect ranks
(with position, current club)
1. J.P. Crawford, SS, Lehigh Valley
2. Jorge Alfaro, C, Reading
3. Nick Williams, OF, Lehigh Valley
4. Jake Thompson, P, Philadelphia
5. Mickey Moniak, OF, Gulf Coast
6. Dylan Cozens, OF, Reading
7. Roman Quinn, OF, Reading
8. Cornelius Randolph, OF, Lakewood
9. Franklyn Kilome, P, Lakewood
10. Rhys Hoskins, 1B, Reading
11. Scott Kingery, 2B, Reading
12. Andrew Knapp, C, Lehigh Valley
13. Adonis Medina, P, Williamsport
14. Nick Pivetta, P, Lehigh Valley
15. Jhailyn Ortiz, OF, Gulf Coast
16. Ricardo Pinto, P, Reading
17. Elniery Garcia, P, Clearwater
18. Ben Lively, P, Lehigh Valley
19. Kevin Gowdy, P, Gulf Coast
20. Carlos Tocci, OF, Clearwater
Others receiving multiple votes( in order of vote total):
Mark Appel, P, Lehigh Valley
Sixto Sanchez, P, Gulf Coast
Jimmy Cordeo, P, Reading
Cole Stobbe, SS, Gulf Coast
Jose Pujols, OF, Lakewood
Alberto Tirado, P, Lakewood
Alec Asher, P, Lehigh Valley
Thomas Eshelman, P, Reading
Drew Anderson, P, Clearwater
Andrew Pullin, OF, Reading
Cole Irvin, P, Williamsport
Arquimedes Gamboa, Williamsport
JoJo Romero, P, Williamsport
Malquin Canelo, SS, Clearwater
Tyler Viza, P, Reading
It’s enlightening to see where all they players fall per the weighted vote. Of the list, Ross and I could see almost any of them on the list though may be in a different position (as was evidenced by our differences on our list). I will find it interesting to see how this pans out in the future.
2016 Minor League RosterThe minor league roster was released today and I have a copy. The copy is at the top of the page. For ease of reading the tiny print, I have transcribed it here (Note Disabled List is at the end):
For the casual fan, the first day of pitchers and catchers isn’t the most exciting. They come out and spend about half an hour stretching then break into work groups and go to different fields with different coaches.
Then the coaches talk for about another twenty minutes (this is done somewhere on the field so fans can’t hear) and after that, they begin practicing. The first few days, they only pantomime throwing.
Aaron Nola during drills
Watching drills (especially when you’ve been doing this 7+ years) can get a little boring so Baseball Ross and I walked over to Bright House to watch position players take batting practice.
On the half field next to the stadium, Darin Ruf, Freddy Galvis and Andres Blanco were doing infield drills:
Darin Ruf at firstFreddy Galvis at secondAndres Blanco at third
Once inside, we saw:
Aaron AltherrBrock Stassi takes one deep during BP
Cody AscheRoman Quinn and JP Crawford Roman QuinnAndres Blanco and Freddy Galvis Nick Williams and JP Crawford
The weather was the best in recent memory. I can’t wait for tomorrow!
Baseball Betsy 