Phillies Minor League Review, May 25-31
Players of the Week
Player - OF Cam Perkins, Reading...The 24-year-old Perkins put his power on display this week, as he clubbed three home runs, drove in ten runs and scored another six while hitting .333 with a .778 slugging average and 1.111 OPS in just seven games. On May 26, he went 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBI, a double and two runs scored. The four RBI tied a career-high for Perkins, last accomplished on May 28, 2014. The following night, he added his second straight multi-hit game with a 2-for-6, 2 RBI effort, giving him a .454 average with a home run, six RBI, three runs and two doubles in the first two games of Reading's series against New Hampshire. He has multiple RBI in three of his last six games, and during that stretch also raised his batting average by 20 points. Perkins was drafted by the Phillies in the sixth round of the 2012 draft out of Purdue University, and was signed by Nate Dion.
Pitcher - RHP Ricardo Pinto, Lakewood...Pinto lowered his ERA to 2.86 for the season after a dominating 7.0-inning effort on May 30 against Greensboro, during which he yielded just one unearned run on seven hits while striking out seven batters. The 21-year-old has pitched at least 6.0 innings and allowed two or fewer earned runs in his last four starts, and in seven of his nine starts this season. He currently leads the team with five wins, 57.0 innings pitched and 54 strikeouts. Pinto was signed by the Phillies and Jesus Mendez as an amateur free agent on December 28, 2011.
Lehigh Valley IronPigs - International League North Division… 20-32, 5th place…Lehigh Valley won only two games last week, as they struggled to get their offense rolling against Charlotte and Gwinnett. The IronPigs were held to two runs or fewer in six of their eight games. A strong pitching performance from Anthony Vasquez and a solo home run from Jayson Nix did help them to 1-0 victory on Saturday against the Knights.
Top hitting performers - OF Brian Bogusevic continued his impressive season, going 8-for-25 (.320) with three RBI, a double, a walk and a couple of stolen bases. He has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games…INF Cord Phelps was remarkably consistent in his seven games, collecting base hits in six of them including a 3-for-4 night on May 29. He finished the week with a .381 average.
Top pitching performers - LHP Anthony Vasquez did his part in a 1-0 IronPigs win on May 30, tossing 8.0 shutout innings against Charlotte with just three hits allowed. The last time he pitched 8.0 innings with no earned runs was on May 21, 2010 with High Desert. He is 2-1 with a 2.51 ERA since joining Lehigh Valley...RHP Jason Berken won his lone start last week after holding Gwinnett to one run on six hits over 6.0 innings. That run was the only earned run Berken has allowed in his last 17.1 innings pitched, good for a 0.52 ERA over that span.
Reading Fightin Phils - Eastern League Eastern Division … 27-22, 2nd place… The Fightin Phils put together a productive week, going 5-3 to pull up to second place in the standings. After scoring just four total runs in their first two games, Reading exploded for 22 runs in two games against New Hampshire, beginning a stretch of four wins in five games to close out the week.
Top hitting performers - OF Cam Perkins powered his way to a .333 average and .778 slugging percentage after hitting three home runs and driving in 10 runs in just seven games. On May 26 he went 3-for-5 with a home run, 4 RBI, two runs scored and a double, helping him achieve his team-high 21 total bases for the week. He also scored six runs, walked twice and was named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week… 1B Brock Stassi also put on a power display, hitting .417 (10-for-24) with a home run, three doubles and five RBI. He was able to reach base in half of his plate appearances last week and posted a lofty 1.167 OPS…SS KC Serna went 9-for-25 (.360) with a .407 OBP, two walks and two RBI…CF Roman Quinn drove in three runs, scored another three and swiped four bases. He now has 24 stolen bases on the season, which is 10 more than the next most in the league.
Top pitching performers - The success continued for RHP Aaron Nola, as he is now 6-3 with a 1.81 ERA this season following a couple of strong starts this past week. On May 25 he allowed three runs over five innings while striking out four, and he then put forth a one-run, 7.0-inning effort on May 30. He finished the week with a 3.00 ERA, 11 strikeouts and one walk in 12.0 innings…RHP Stephen Shackleford converted all three of his save opportunities, allowing no runs in his 5.0 innings of work. He has now converted his last eight saves and 10 of 11 this season.
Clearwater Threshers - Florida State League North Division… 25-25, T-2nd place…Though Clearwater remains at .500 after a 3-3 week, they have continued to improve, especially offensively. The Threshers won three of their last four games, outscoring their opponents 31-14 in those three games. The biggest outburst came in the form of an 18-6 victory over Daytona on Sunday, during which six different players recorded multiple hits and five recorded multiple RBI. It was the most runs Clearwater has scored in a game since August 20, 2010. They are now second in the league with a .267 team average.
Top hitting performers - INF Angelo Mora played in only five games, but led the team with 10 hits in just 19 at bats-good for a .526 average. He had three multi-hit games, including a 4-for-5 effort on May 31 to raise his average to .358 for the season…OF Aaron Brown hit .400 with a home run and six RBI, extending his hitting streak to seven games. He had at least one RBI in all but one of his five games, and pulled his average up 24 points…OF Dylan Cozens drove in a team-high seven runs while hitting .364 with four walks and three extra-base hits.
Top pitching performers - RHP Mark Leiter tossed a 7.0-inning complete game against Fort Myers, and now has quality starts in four of his five starts this season. Leiter is third in the league with a miniscule 1.48 ERA, third in WHIP (0.88) and fourth in average (.191)…RHP Edubray Ramos converted a six-out save in his only appearance of the week.
Lakewood BlueClaws - South Atlantic League North Division…24-25, 4th place…Lakewood started the week with a convincing 8-2 win over Greensboro to start the week, but then dropped two of three to West Virginia before splitting another series with Greensboro. As a team, Lakewood still finds itself fourth in the league in batting average (.256) and second in ERA (3.11), but they have had trouble finding the consistency to have the pitching and offense both work on the same day.
Top hitting performers - 1B Rhys Hoskins hit in all seven games he played in, batting 14-for-29 (.486) with a home run, six RBI, six runs scored and a 1.171 OPS. He had multiple hits in four games, three of which were three-hit games…OF Herlis Rodriguez continued his torrid stretch after batting .440 with four runs scored and three driven in. He has hit safely in eight of nine games, and has at least two hits in six of nine…SS Malquin Canelo had 10 hits, including his second home run of the season on May 30…CF Carlos Tocci hit .296 with three doubles, two RBI, two walks and a stolen base. He is tied for third in the league with a .335 average
Top pitching performers - RHP Ricardo Pinto allowed one unearned run on seven hits in his only start last week, giving him four straight quality starts and wins in his last three decisions. He was named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week for May 25-31…LHP Josh Taylor had back-to-back games allowing three earned runs or less for the first time since his first two starts of the season. He allowed just 10 hits and struck out 15 in 12.2 innings…RHP Tyler Viza threw 8.0 innings and allowed just two unearned runs against West Virginia on May 26, scattering five hits and walking only one…LHP Elniery Garcia allowed three earned runs or fewer for the seventh time in eight starts this year after yielding just two earned runs over 7.0 strong innings on May 29.