Phillies Minor League Review
June 17 - 23
Players of the Week
Pitcher - LHP, Mario Hollands, Clearwater… Two starts… 1-0, 0.69 ERA (1 ER, 13.0 IP) 7 H, 2 BB, 8 SO… Over his last 10 appearances (7 starts), Hollands is 4-0, 1.35 ERA (7 ER, 46.2 IP), 9 BB & 37 SO… Selected by the Phillies in the 10th round of the June 2010 Draft out of UC Santa Barbara, Hollands was signed by Shane Bowers.
Player - 3B, Maikel Franco, Clearwater/Reading… Six games… Batted .458 (11-for-24), 7 R, 3B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 3 BB, 0 SO… Franco takes home honors as Player of the Week for the second time this season… Earned a promotion to double-AA Reading after he hit .299 (79-for-264), 42 R, 23 2B, 16 HR, 20 BB, 52 RBI & a .576 SLG % in 65 games with Clearwater… Since being bumped to Reading, as of print Franco is batting .524 (11-for-21), hitting safely in every game, with a 1.498 OPS in 5 contests… Over his last 9 games split between Clearwater and Reading, Franco is batting .500 (18-for-36), 12 R, 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 4 BB, 1 SO, 14 RBI… The 20-year-old third-baseman leads the organization in HR (18) & RBI (57)… A native of Azua, Dominican Republic, Franco was signed by the Phillies as a non-drafted free agent on January 13, 2010 by Koby Perez.
Lehigh Valley IronPigs - International League North Division…40-36, 2nd place… 4-3 for the week… The IronPigs are rolling. Aided by an offense that hit .303 (74-for-244) this week, Lehigh Valley has won 24 of their last 36 games (.667)… OF Jermaine Mitchell batted .423 (11-for-26), 5 R, 2B, 3B, HR, SB… Mitchell went 4-for-5 in Sunday's 8-7 loss… As of print, Mitchell has hit safely in 8 of his last 9 contests… OF/1B Darin Ruf batted .333 (9-for-27), HR, 2B, 5 RBI, which included a 3-for-4, 2 RBI performance in Sunday's loss…. INF/OF Josh Fields batted .381 (8-for-21), 4 2B, 5 BB… Fields ranks top-3 on the team in the following categories this season: AVG (.322), OBP (.374) & SLG (.472)… 1B Cody Overbeck hit .345 (10-for-29), HR, 2 2B… 2B Cesar Hernandez batted .321 (9-for-28), 2 2B, 3B, 3 SB… Hernandez had a 7 G hitting streak snapped on Sunday… With 21 steals this season Hernandez leads the club in steals (21) and ranks 4th on the team with a .366 OBP… OF Steve Susdorf batted .389 (7-for-18), 2B, HR and has had multi-hit efforts in 4 of his last 6 contests… LHP Raul Valdes made 1 start, going 1-0 in 7.0 innings allowing 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB and 8 SO… LHP Tom Cochran earned the W in his only start (6.0 IP, 3 H, R, BB, 6 SO)… RHP Ethan Martin notched his organization-best 7th win of the season… RHP J.C. Ramirez picked up a SV in 2.2 scoreless innings prior to his promotion to Philadelphia.
Reading Fightin Phils - Eastern League Eastern Division…32-42, 6th place… 4-3 for the week… Reading set new season-highs in runs (14) and hits (17) in their win against Richmond on Sunday… Reading drew a season-best 11 walks, and slugged 4 HR, 3 of which came in the 3rd inning. Reading leads the EL with 71 HR on the season… 3B Maikel Franco, splitting time between Clearwater and REA, batted .458 (11-for-24), 7 R, 3B, 3 HR, 3 BB, 8 RBI for the week… At just 20-years-old, Franco batted .524 (11-for-21) 4 R, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, BB, 5 RBI in the first four games of his double-A career… That impressive start included a 4-5, 3B, HR, 4 RBI performance in Reading's win on Sunday… 1B Jim Murphy batted .391 (9-for-23), 4 HR, 9 RBI… Murphy is second to only the aforementioned Franco in HR (15) and RBI (46) in the organization… C Sebastian Valle hit .350 (7-for-20), 2 HR, 2B, 5 RBI… OF Anthony Hewitt belted 3 HR and knocked in 7… OF Tyson Gillies had 5 hits this week including a HR, 2B, 3B, and a walk-off single in Wednesday's extra-inning win vs Portland…. OF Zach Collier swiped two bags and hit .304 (7-for-23) with a 2B… RHP Seth Rosin was responsible for 2 of Reading's 4 wins this week including a 7.0 IP CG (3 H, BB, ER, 5 SO) in Game 1 on 6/18 vs Portland… RHP David Buchanan was impressive in his only start going 6.0 innings, allowing 2 ER with 7 SO earning the W 6/15 at Richmond… What a relief- RHP Tyler Knigge (SV, 4.0 IP, 0 ER)… As of print, the 24-year-old Knigge has an active 13.2 IP scoreless streak and a 0.61 ERA (1 ER, 14.2 IP) over his last 10 appearances (7 H, 8 BB, 14 SO)… RHP Luis Garcia made 4 scoreless appearances (4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 SO)… RHP Hector Neris (4.1 IP, H, 0 R)… LHP Jay Johnson (2.1 IP, H, 0 R, 5 SO)… RHP Mike Nesseth didn't allow an ER in 3 appearances (5.0 IP, 1 R, 5 SO)… RHP Kyle Simon chipped in with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief.
Clearwater Threshers - Florida State League North Division…First Half - 35-33, 4th place… Second Half - 3-3, 2nd place… 3-3 for the week… 1B Chris Serritella batted .440 (11-for-25), HR, 2 2B, 7 RBI… 2B Carlos Alonso batted .348 (8-for-23), 5 R, 2B, HR… As of print, Alonso, a University of Delaware product, leads the organization with 48 runs scored; also good for 3rd in the FSL… OF Aaron Altherr batted .300 (6-for-20), 2B, HR… 1B Brock Stassi went 8-for-19 at the plate (.421)… C Logan Moore batted .368 (7-for-19), 2B… 3B Harold Martinez went 6-for-18 (.333) with 3 doubles this week… LHP Mario Hollands earned Player of the Week honors going 1-0 in 2 starts with a 0.69 ERA (1 ER, 13.0 IP)… RHP Colton Murray appeared in 2 G (SV, 3.0 IP, H, 3 SO).
Lakewood BlueClaws - South Atlantic League North Division - First Half-26-41, 7th place… Second Half - 1-3, T-6th place… 1-3 for the week… Lakewood hosted the SAL All-Star game and as a result played only 4 G this week… OF Larry Greene had a hit in each of the 4 G played including 2 H in each of the last 3 to end the week… Greene batted .412 (7-for-17)… DH/INF Willie Carmona, coming off Player of the Week honors last week, stayed hot… Carmona hit .333 (5-for-15), 2 2B... The 22-year-old had a 10 G hitting streak snapped 6/23 and is batting .380 (27-for-71) since 5/26… OF Brian Pointer batted .333 (5-for-15), 2 2B, SB… 1B Art Charles scored 4 runs with 3 doubles… BlueClaws pitching took their lumps with a 7.91 staff ERA (29 ER, 33.0 IP) in the 4 G… RHP Luis Paulino made 2 scoreless appearances (3.1 IP, 5 SO)… RHP Miguel Nunez made 1 start (5.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 SO).
Williamsport CrossCutters - New York Penn League Pinckney Division - 3-4, T-3rd place, 3-4 for the week… 2012 3rd-round selection, 3B Zach Green batted .321 (9-for-28), 7 R, 3 HR, 5 2B, 9 RBI… The 19-year-old had 23 total bases on the week… C Gabriel Lino batted .333 (9-for-27), HR, 2B… Lino started off hot going 3-for-4 at the plate in the Cutters 1st two games… 2B Angelo Mora went 3-for-4, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 SB in WIL's 10-4 W at Jamestown on 6/22… 2013 8th-round selection, OF Justin Parr got off to a good start hitting .333 (7-for-21), 2B, 2 SB… 2013 2nd-round selection, C Andrew Knapp had 5 H including 2 doubles… 2013 15th-round selection, 3B Logan Pierce scored 5 R and went 6-for-20 (.300), HR at the plate… On 6/23 in a 7-1 win against Batavia, the WIL staff went 8.2 innings before giving up their 1st base hit (HR)… RHP Drew Anderson went 6.0 innings without allowing a hit (2 BB, 5 SO)… For the week, Anderson was 1-0, 1.74 ERA (2 ER, 10.1 IP)… LHP Mitch Gueller, the Phillies second pick in the 2012 draft (1st-round supplemental) went 2-0, 1.80 ERA (2 ER, 10.0 IP), 8 SO… 6-foot-5 RHP Tyler Buckley picked up his 1st SV as a professional… RHP Manny Martinez had a 2.08 ERA (1 ER, 4.1 IP) for the week with 6 SO.
Gulf Coast League Phillies - 0-2, 4th place, 0-2 for the week… The Gulf Coast Phils started their season with a twin-billing on 6/21… In Game 1 of the DH, the club took a tough loss in 13.0 innings… Starting for GCL was RHP Alejandro Arteaga (4.0 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 SO) in Game 1 and RHP Feliberto Sanchez (3.0 IP, 0 R, 2 SO) in Game 2… It should be noted that 4 of the Phillies top 5 selections in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft (SS J.P. Crawford-1st round 16th overall, OF Cord Sandberg-3rd round 89th overall, SS Jan Hernandez-3rd round 96th overall & C Jacob Sweaney-4th round 121st overall) are expected to lace up their spikes for the GCL Phils at some point this summer.