Phillies Minor League review, Aug. 31-Sept. 7
Players of the Week
Player - INF Drew Stankiewicz, Lakewood...Stankiewicz, a 22-year-old in his second professional season, was named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week after batting .438 (14-for-32) with eight runs scored, three doubles, and four walks in eight games. He scored at least one run in seven of those eight games and hit safely in seven as well, recording multiple hits five times. He finished with a .354 on-base percentage and a .288 average, after raising it from .241 in the season's final nine games. Stankiewicz was selected by the Phillies in the 11th round of the 2014 draft out of Arizona State University and was signed by Brad Holland.
Pitcher - RHP Jake Thompson, Reading…Thompson, 21, started twice for the Fightins, and was dominant in both. He allowed two runs and no walks in 7.0 innings against Binghamton in his first start, and tossed 6.0 shutout innings against Richmond while striking out seven, walking none and surrendering just four hits in his second. It was his first scoreless outing in the Phillies' organization. Thompson was acquired by the Phillies in the eight-person trade that sent Cole Hamels to Texas on July 31, and in his seven starts with Reading he went 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and .217 opponent's batting average. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound right-hander was originally drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the second round of the 2012 draft.
Lehigh Valley IronPigs - International League North Division…63-81, 5th place…After winning their first game of the week 8-3 over Syracuse, the IronPigs dropped six of their next seven, including a three-game sweep at the hands of Rochester to finish out the season. Despite an inconsistent season, Lehigh Valley drew more than 600,000 fans to Coca-Cola Park for the eighth straight year and they remain the league's attendance leader since 2008.
Top hitting performers - 2B Tyler Pastornicky had a team-high 11 hits, batting .379 with a home run, double, three RBI and three runs scored. He hit .286 in 25 games for the IronPigs…INF/OF Russ Canzler clubbed two home runs and drove in five as he hit .357 with a .679 slugging percentage for the week…OF Kelly Dugan hit safely in his first seven games of the week, finishing with nine base hits, two runs and two RBI…C Logan Moore recorded a couple of multi-hit games as he went 4-for-11 (.364 ) with an RBI and a walk in his four games played.
Top pitching performers - RHP David Buchanan struck out a season-high seven batters over 6.0 shutout innings on September 3 against Syracuse. He did not allow more than three earned runs in any of his 10 starts with Lehigh Valley…RHP Sean O'Sullivan did not allow a run in his 6.0 innings of work and has allowed just four earned runs in his last four starts (26.1 innings, 1.37 ERA)…RHP Nefi Ogando made two appearances out of the bullpen, combining to throw 3.0 scoreless frames with a pair of strikeouts…LHP Ken Roberts also threw 3.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, doing so over three games.
Reading Fightin Phils - Eastern League Eastern Division …80-61, 1st place…Reading went 3-5 during a week which saw them clinch their first Eastern Division Title in 15 years. The Fightins finished the season first in the league with 101 home runs, and second in batting with a .269 team average. They will begin a best-of-five series with the Binghamton Mets in the first round of the playoffs on Wednesday.
Top hitting performers - OF Dylan Cozens hit two home runs, scored three runs and drove in another three while recording three multi-hit games for Reading. He was promoted to Reading on August 28, where he hit .350 with three home runs and nine RBI in 11 games…C Rene Garcia completed his season with an active 12-game hit streak as he hit safely in all four games last week, batting .438 with three RBI. He hit .343 in 38 games with the Fightins.
Top pitching performers - RHP Jake Thompson was named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week after striking out 11 batters, allowing no walks and just two runs in 13.0 innings pitched over two starts.…RHP Ben Lively started two games for the Fightins, combining to allow five runs (four earned) in 11.1 innings with 10 strikeouts and just two walks…RHP Ethan Martin started one game, tossing 5.0 no hit, no run innings with five strikeouts. He also appeared in relief, striking out a pair of batters in 1.2 innings pitched…RHP Jimmy Cordero struck out six batters and did not allow a base runner in 3.0 innings over two games out of the bullpen. In 13 games with Reading, he pitched 17.0 innings and struck out 18 while walking just four and posting a 2.12 ERA.
Clearwater Threshers - Florida State League North Division…42-25, 1st place, 79-58 overall… The Threshers finished their season with the best record in the Florida State League as they won both the first and second half division titles. Clearwater will play Daytona-the team they edged out for first-place in both halves of the season-in the opening round of the Florida State League playoffs beginning Tuesday, September 8.
Top hitting performers - SS Malquin Canelo homered twice and drove in five runs, including a season-high four on September 4. He also tripled, scored four runs and batted .348 for the week…1B Rhys Hoskins hit his eighth home run of the season for Clearwater and tallied a pair of three-hit games while hitting .364 last week. He finished the season with a .314 average, which would have been tied with teammate Willians Astudillo for the league batting title if he had enough at-bats to qualify…CF Carlos Tocci went 8-for-24 (.333) and hit safely in all but one of his six games played…2B/SS Jesmuel Valentin batted .292 and hit his first home run of the season in the team's final game. He drove in four runs and also doubled four times in six games.
Top pitching performers - RHP Victor Arano surrendered two runs in 5.0 innings in his start on September 1, and followed that with a scoreless 3.0-inning relief outing on September 5…LHP Matt Imhof made two starts and allowed just four total runs (three earned) in 8.0 innings of work with 11 strikeouts. His seven strikeouts on September 6 tied his season high…RHP Alexis Rivero threw 2.0 scoreless innings in relief, marking the eighth time in nine outings he has pitched 2.0 innings or more out of the bullpen. He has allowed just one run since August 9 and finished the season with 30 strikeouts to just six walks…RHP Alberto Tirado appeared in two games and did not yield a run, striking out three batters in 4.0 innings. In his nine games (16.0 innings pitched) he posed a 0.56 ERA with 16 strikeouts and just six hits allowed.
Lakewood BlueClaws - South Atlantic League Northern Division…40-30, 2nd place, 73-65 overall… The BlueClaws went 10 games over .500 in the second half, and despite a recent surge during which they won 10 of their last 14 games, they failed to make the South Atlantic League playoffs. Lakewood, which had one of the most consistent pitching staffs all year, finished third in the league with a 3.26 ERA.
Top hitting performers - INF Drew Stankiewicz posted five multi-hit games, batting .432 with a team-high 14 hits in eight games. He scored seven runs, hit three doubles, drove in three runs and raised his batting average from .261 to .268. His strong finish earned him Phillies Minor League Player of the Week honors…1B Kyle Martin drove in seven runs and homered in back-to-back games, giving him five home runs and 37 RBI in 65 games this season. He also hit three doubles, scored six runs and slugged .731 in his final week of his first professional season…OF Cord Sandberg hit safely in seven of eight games, batting .292 with a pair of home runs, six RBI, six runs scored and three doubles.
Top pitching performers - RHP Jairo Munoz was dominant in his two starts, pitching 6.0 innings of shutout ball with three hits allowed in his first start, followed by two runs in 5.0 innings in his next. He combined to strike out nine batters…RHP Ranfi Casimiro allowed a run on five hits and did not walk a batter in his 7.0-inning start. He went 9-7 with a 3.35 ERA, two complete games and a shutout in his 23 starts this season.…LHP Zach Morris earned a save after pitching 3.0 innings with no runs allowed and six strikeouts on September 1 and followed that with a perfect inning of relief five days later.
Williamsport Crosscutters - New York-Penn League Pinckney Division…46-30, 1st place…Williamsport has landed in the postseason for the first time since 2005, and will face the West Virginia Black Bears in the opening round of the playoffs beginning on September 9. The Crosscutters went just 3-5 to end the season, but still posted the best record in the league, winning four more games than the Tri-City Valley Cats. Williamsport also had the second best ERA in the league (3.15) and third-most home runs (35).
Top hitting performers - Three straight multi-hit games helped 2B Josh Tobias bat .350 for the week and raise his season average to .321-third highest in the New York-Penn League. Tobias, who also finished in a tie for the league lead in hits with 77, homered, drove in three runs and stole a base in his last week of the season…OF Mark Laird batted .308 in five games with three walks and a .438 on-base percentage. He finished with a .285 average and 28 runs scored in 52 games for the Crosscutters.
Top pitching performers - In RHP Luke Leftwich's only start of the week, he held State College to a run on seven hits in 6.0 innings of work. He did not allow more than three earned runs in any outing with Williamsport and finished with a 2.76 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 45.2 innings…RHP Luis Morales tossed 6.0 shutout frames and walked just one batter in his only start of the week. He allowed just one earned run in his final 13.0 innings of the season…RHP Feliberto Sanchez tied a career high when he struck out seven batters in a 4.0-inning relief outing on September 2. He followed that with another scoreless inning and two more strikeouts on September 7.