Phillies Arizona Fall League updates

October 25th, 2019

Eight Phillies prospects are playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the 2019 Arizona Fall League: Third baseman Alec Bohm (No. 1, MLB No. 34), right-hander Spencer Howard (No. 2, MLB No. 88), outfielder Mickey Moniak (No. 8), left-hander JoJo Romero (No. 10), shortstop Nick Maton (No. 14), left-hander Zach Warren, outfielder Josh Stephen and third baseman Jose Gomez. Right-hander Connor Seabold (No. 30) was removed from Scottsdale's roster on Oct. 19 after recording a 1.06 ERA over four starts (17 innings).

Here’s a day-by-day look at how Philadelphia's AFL contingent is faring:

Oct. 25: Mesa 3, Scottsdale 0
Josh Stephen (.250) and Jose Gomez (.120) each had hits in Friday’s season finale. Starting in right field, Stephen went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, and Gomez finished 1-for-3 in the nine-hole.

Oct. 24: Surprise 10, Scottsdale 2
Spencer Howard wrapped up his Fall League campaign by tossing three hitless frames in his final start for Scottsdale. The Phillies’ No. 2 prospect recorded four of his first six outs via strikeout, fanning the side swinging in the second inning around a one-out walk, and he induced three weakly-hit outs in the third before departing with 46 pitches (32 strikes). Howard recorded three of his strikeouts with his fastball, which topped out at 98.6 mph and averaged 96.4 mph on Thursday, and the other via his curveball. The 23-year-old right-hander was one of the best pitchers in this year’s Fall League, posting a 2.11 ERA with 27 strikeouts and 10 walks in 21 1/3 innings. He kept the opposition from scoring in half of his six starts, and never allowed more than three hits in a single outing. More »

Former No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak and Josh Stephen were both held hitless, going 0-for-3 and 0-for-4, respectively.

Oct. 23: Peoria 6, Scottsdale 1
JoJo Romero gave up a run-scoring double to the first batter he faced, but then retired four in a row to complete his 1 1/3 innings. Romero, who struck out one, has pitched to a 0.84 ERA in the AFL. Jose Gomez’s skid continued with a 1-for-4 night, bringing his average to .091.

Oct. 22: Scheduled off day for all Arizona Fall League teams.

Oct. 21: Peoria 4, Scottsdale 3
Mickey Moniak entered Monday mired in an 0-for-15 slump, but rebounded with a three-hit performance that brought him within a home run of the cycle. After not having accrued an RBI over his past eight contests, Moniak snapped that skid with a lined shot to right in the sixth that scored Alec Bohm and gave Philadelphia’s No. 8 prospect his second triple of the fall. Bohm continued his all-out destruction of baseballs during the Fall League by adding another multihit effort against Peoria, while drawing a walk for the second consecutive contest. Through 19 games for Scottsdale, the Phillies’ No. 1 prospect is hitting .361 and is looking the part of a big league bat.

After coming out with electric stuff that resulted in a pair of strikeouts, Zach Warren walked back-to-back batters during his inning of work. His offspeed stuff has been extremely difficult for opposing hitters to pick up, as the southpaw has accrued seven strikeouts across 4 2/3 frames during the fall.

Oct. 20: Glendale 7, Scottsdale 2
Alec Bohm was held without a hit Sunday, but his average for the fall is still an impressive .348. He walked and collected a strikeout, finishing 0-for-3. Josh Stephen went 0-for-4, striking out once, while serving as Scottsdale’s designated hitter.

Oct. 19: Glendale 5, Scottsdale 2
Alec Bohm has raked throughout the Fall League and that trend continued Saturday night as he went 2-for-4 and boosted his average to .364. Bohm, the Phillies’ No. 1 prospect, has hits in four straight games, including a trio of multihit performances. Jose Gomez reached once via an error, but otherwise finished 0-for-5 at the plate.

Oct. 18: Scottsdale 4, Mesa 0
Even when he’s working on stuff and without great command, Spencer Howard is extremely difficult to hit. The Phillies’ right-hander went four scoreless against Mesa on Friday night, allowing just one hit while striking out four. He did walk three, largely because he was trying some new things out in his fifth Fall League start.

“I had a plan going in to work on changeups to righties and fastballs inside, just to start trying to implement that into my gameplan,” Howard said. “When you work on new stuff, you’re not always going to have feel for it. With eight righties in their lineup, it was a good time to work on it. Overall, I think it was productive and it’s a step in the right direction.”

The outing brought Howard’s AFL ERA down to 2.45 and was much sharper than his previous two (five earned runs over 8 1/3 IP). He now leads the league with 23 K’s in 18 1/3 total innings. He’s given up just nine hits and walked seven for a 0.87 WHIP.

JoJo Romero was the third of four relievers to pitch in relief of Howard and help preserve the shutout. The lefty was up to 95 mph with his fastball and gave up one hit in a shutout inning. The outing dropped his ERA to 0.96 over 9 1/3 innings. Mickey Moniak was the only Phillies position prospect in the lineup on Friday and he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. The center fielder’s average dropped to .169 and he’s gone 0-for-11 in his last three games.

Oct. 17: Scheduled day off for all Arizona Fall League teams.

Oct. 16: Scottsdale 3, Mesa 0
Alec Bohm helped the Scorpions’ offense get rolling in Wednesday’s win, lacing an RBI double down the left-field line at 108.8 mph off the bat in the fourth. Philadelphia’s No. 1 prospect went 1-for-3 while playing first base and raised his OPS in the AFL to .927. Josh Stephen also brought a run home as he blistered an opposite-field RBI single in the eighth. Stephen, playing for the first time in nearly a week, drove in his first run against a right-handed pitcher, as his on-base percentage sits at .357 through eight contests. Zach Warren recorded his first save of the Fall League on Wednesday, striking out two during his scoreless frame. After allowing two runs in his first AFL appearance back on Oct. 4, Warren has reeled off three straight outings without yielding a run.

Oct. 15: Scottsdale 2, Salt River 1
Alec Bohm crushed the first pitch he saw out to left-center field. The No. 34 overall prospect hit a changeup 410 feet with an exit velocity of 104.6 mph for his second AFL homer. Bohm, who is now hitting .356, finished the game 2-for-4. Mickey Moniak has a rough night at the plate, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout, but he made a huge impact on the game defensively. Moniak, the No. 1 overall pick from the 2016 Draft, made a sliding catch in right field -- with the bases loaded -- to take away a hit from Royce Lewis (Twins), the No. 1 overall pick from the 2017 Draft. Jose Gomez finished 0-for-3.

Oct. 14: Scottsdale 6, Salt River 5
Alec Bohm made a lot of loud contact on Monday night, helping to erase an 0-for-7 stretch over his previous two regular-season games. The Phillies' top prospect went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, raising his average to .345. Even his out was smoked, a 105.7 mph lineout to center field. His two doubles registered exit velocities of 106.9 and 105.1 mph, respectively. Mickey Moniak hit right behind Bohm in Scottsdale’s lineup, but came away empty-handed. The outfielder went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts to bring his average down to .192.

Oct. 13: Scheduled day off for all Arizona Fall League teams.

Oct. 12: East 4, West 2
Here's how every player performed in the Fall Stars Game. More »

Oct. 11: Surprise 2, Scottsdale 0
Phillies top prospect Alec Bohm was kept out of the hit column for a second straight game. He’s batting .327 for Scottsdale through 13 games despite finishing 0-for-3 on Friday. Jose Gomez struck out once in two at-bats from the bottom of the Scorpions’ lineup. Left-handers JoJo Romero and Zach Warren faced the minimum en route to each completing a scoreless inning in relief. Romero struck out two and threw seven of eight pitches for strikes to put up his fourth straight scoreless appearance. Warren needed only seven pitches, six of which were strikes.

Oct. 10: Surprise 3, Scottsdale 1
Spencer Howard took the hill for Scottsdale on Thursday, and the right-hander allowed two runs on two hits over 4 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out six. The two runs he allowed came via a wild pitch in the second inning and a two-out single -- an infield popup that dropped between Howard, catcher Ali Sanchez and first baseman Greyson Jenista -- in the fifth, after he had issued a pair of back-to-back two-out walks.

Though he was charged with his first loss in four AFL starts, Howard still showed four big league-caliber pitches on Thursday in another very impressive performance. The 23-year-old righty ran his heater up to 99 mph and averaged 96 mph, regularly flashed plus with both his changeup and slider, and showed the ability to steal strikes early in the count with his curveball. Overall, Howard induced 11 swinging strikes and recorded seven groundouts while throwing 49 of 75 pitches for strikes. He owns a 3.14 ERA with 19 strikeouts through 14 1/3 innings in the Fall League.

Top prospect Alec Bohm (MLB No. 34) went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts one day after connecting on his first AFL home run. Bohm’s hitless performance snapped an eight-game hitting streak, though he still sports a .347 average through 12 games. Josh Stephen, who started in left field and batted seventh for the Scorpions, finished 1-for-3.

Oct. 9: Peoria 3, Scottsdale 1
Connor Seabold has been one of the most impressive pitchers throughout the Arizona Fall League and that trend continued Wednesday as he twirled five innings of one-run ball. The 23-year-old, a third-round pick from the 2017 Draft, gave up just two hits and threw 54 of his 80 pitches for strikes. One of the two hits was a solo homer, but that hardly hurt Seabold’s line as he’s pitched to a 1.06 ERA through four starts. He’s also amassed 22 strikeouts in 17 innings.

Alec Bohm has been raking throughout the Arizona Fall League, but the power hadn’t shown up quite yet. That changed quickly on Wednesday as Bohm crushed a homer, his first of the AFL, in his first at-bat of the evening. The Phillies No. 1 prospect, who hit 21 homers during the regular season, finished 1-for-4 and is hitting .378 through 11 games. Mickey Moniak turned in a 1-for-4 effort and also swiped his second base. Jose Gomez, appearing in his second game this fall, went 0-for-4.

Oct. 8: Peoria 3, Scottsdale 2
That’s now back-to-back multihit games for Mickey Moniak, who hit a double and reached base three times as part of a 2-for-3 performance Tuesday. The Phillies’ No. 8 prospect has hit safely in four of his past five games as he continues to pick up the pace offensively after a slow start in the AFL. Josh Stephen started in left field and went 0-for-4 from the bottom of Scottsdale’s lineup.

JoJo Romero struck out one batter during a scoreless ninth inning. He hasn’t allowed a run in four straight appearances after giving up three runs (one earned) in his AFL debut. Zach Warren notched a strikeout as he worked a scoreless sixth inning out of the Scorpions’ bullpen.

Oct. 7: Scheduled day off for all Arizona Fall League teams.

Oct. 6: Scottsdale 6, Glendale 5
Top prospect Alec Bohm (MLB No. 34) extended his AFL hitting streak to seven games via a 3-for-5 game for Scottsdale. The 2018 first-round pick plated a run with a ground-rule double in the fifth inning and also tallied a pair of singles. He’s been one of the top hitters in the circuit so far, batting .390 with 16 hits in his first 10 games of the fall season. Jose Gomez’s RBI single in the second inning put the Scorpions on the board and highlighted his 1-for-4 performance from the bottom of the lineup.

Oct. 5: Navojoa 4, Scottsdale, 1
Mickey Moniak, the Phillies’ No. 8 prospect, picked up two hits out of the leadoff spot for Scottsdale: a 101.7-mph single and a 101.0-mph double. He was the only Scorpions player to collect multiple hits on Saturday, finishing 2-for-5. Overall, the former No. 1 overall Draft pick (2016) is batting .171 through nine games in the Fall League.

Oct. 4: Scottsdale 6, Mesa 5 (10 innings)
Spencer Howard’s scoreless streak may have come to an end on Friday, but the right-hander still turned in another solid performance, showing why he’s one of the must-watch pitchers in this year’s Fall League. Howard, the Phillies’ No. 2 prospect, recorded five of his first eight outs via the strikeout and finished with seven punchouts in 3 2/3 innings in a no-decision for Scottsdale. He allowed three runs on three hits and one walk.

Howard was cruising until the third inning, when he issued a two-out walk followed by back-to-back RBI hits to Jo Adell (double) and Isaac Paredes (triple) before completing the frame. In the fourth, Howard allowed a one-out double to Zack Short, who came around to score after the right-hander had been lifted for a reliever. The 23-year-old right-hander has a 2.79 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings (three starts) this fall.

JoJo Romero was solid in relief for the Scorpions as he struck out two in two hitless innings out of the bullpen. The left-hander has recorded three straight hitless outings and owns a 1.42 ERA overall. Zach Warren gave up a leadoff walk and a two-out single, but he also tallied two strikeouts as he completed a scoreless inning in his AFL debut.

Top prospect Alec Bohm extended his Fall League hitting streak to six games in his final plate appearance of the night, knocking a 10th-inning single. Mickey Moniak went hitless in five at-bats as the leadoff man, and Josh Stephen drew a walk in an 0-for-3 game.

**Oct. 3: **Scheduled day off for all Arizona Fall League teams.

Oct. 2: Salt River 4, Scottsdale 2
Alec Bohm, the organization’s top prospect and the No. 34 prospect in baseball, went 1-for-4 in a slow day at the plate that dropped his average to .387. Connor Seabold got the start for the Scorpions and finished five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Oct. 1: Salt River 5, Scottsdale 2
Mickey Moniak finished 1-for-4 at the plate, but that one hit was a big one as he put Scottsdale on the board with a triple in the third inning. The triple, Moniak’s first of the AFL, had an exit velocity of 107.7 mph. The former No. 1 overall pick also added another RBI later in the game, bringing his Fall League total to four. Alec Bohm’s AFL average dipped to .407 after his 1-for-4 night at the plate.

Sept. 30: Scheduled day off for all Arizona Fall League teams.

Sept. 29: Scottsdale 17, Los Mochis 0
JoJo Romero induced a groundout from all three batters he faced during a perfect inning of relief for Scottsdale. The Phillies’ No. 10 prospect has turned in two straight scoreless outings and owns a 2.08 ERA in 4 1/3 frames (three games) this fall.

Josh Stephen laced a single (101.3 mph exit velocity) in his first at-bat and later added a 102.7 mph RBI triple to finish 3-for-4 with two runs scored. He also reached via a walk and scored a pair of runs from the bottom of Scottsdale’s lineup.

Sept. 28: Scottsdale 2, Surprise 0
Alec Bohm added to Scottsdale’s lead when he drove in a run with a broken bat single in the eighth inning. The Phillies’ top prospect (MLB No. 35) plated Mickey Moniak (Phillies’ No. 8), who led off the inning with a single, and Bohm finished the game 1-for-3 with a walk. Through six games in the AFL, Bohm is batting .435 with five RBIs. Moniak is batting .148 after going 1-for-4 from the leadoff spot.

Sept. 27: Surprise 4, Scottsdale 3
Two starts into the Fall League, Spencer Howard has yet to allow a run to score, while he keeps pushing his stock higher and higher. The hard-throwing righty, who struck out 94 batters in 71 innings in the Minor League season, punched out five batters in his three-inning start. Howard, the Phillies’ No. 2 prospect (MLB No. 89), sat at 97-98 mph in the first inning and operated more at 95-96 in his two subsequent frames. His mid-80s slider was sharp and netted him a swinging strikeout, and he also generated a pair of whiffs with his fading changeup in the low 80s. The two walks he issued both came in the first inning, and, overall, Howard threw 32 of 54 pitches for strikes in the outing.

Alec Bohm struck out in his first two at-bats but rebounded to tally singles in his next two trips to the plate to finish 2-for-4 with one run scored. The Phillies’ top prospect (MLB No. 35) is raking at a .450 clip through five games this fall.

Sept. 26: Thursday's game between Scottsdale and Peoria was rained out and will not be made up.

Sept. 25: Scottsdale 8, Mexicali 1
Connor Seabold spun another gem for Scottsdale and has been dominant through two starts in the Fall League. The Phillies’ No. 30 prospect cruised through four no-hit innings and threw 32 of his 53 pitches for strikes. Seabold sat in the low-to-mid 90s with his fastball and retired seven of the final eight batters he faced.

“Slider was working pretty good,” Seabold said. “[They] had a lot of righties in there so it was tough to throw a lot of changeups.”

Injuries limited Seabold to 56 1/3 innings during the regular season, but he’s quickly making up for lost time and showing why he was a third-round pick in the 2017 Draft. Through two AFL starts, Seabold has yielded just one hit over seven scoreless innings and also struck out 10.

“I haven’t really been trying to do anything different since I got here,” Seabold said. “I kind of had a little momentum going from the end of the regular season into here, so I’m just rolling with it.”

Mickey Moniak went 0-for-4. Josh Stephen drew a walk and scored a run, but finished 0-for-3.

Sept. 24: Mesa 8, Scottsdale 4
Alec Bohm tallied only one hit -- a line-drive double to the left-center gap in the fourth inning -- but he hit the ball hard in three of his four at-bats. The Philliles’ top prospect (MLB No. 35) also flew out to the wall in center field in the sixth and lined out hard to right field with the bases loaded to end the game. Mickey Moniak reached via a walk, but otherwise was held hitless, going 0-for-4 from the leadoff spot for Scottsdale. Lefty JoJo Romero was sharp out the bullpen, allowing just one baserunner across two hitless innings.

Sept. 23: Scheduled day off for all Arizona Fall League teams.

Sept. 22: Salt River 11, Scottsdale 4
Alec Bohm struck out twice and went 0-for-4 at the plate, but he did drive in a run.

Sept. 21: Glendale 1, Scottsdale 0
No. 8 prospect Mickey Moniak went hitless as Scottsdale’s No. 3 hitter on Saturday night. The former No. 1 overall pick went 0-for-4 in the Scorpions' 1-0 loss, their first of the fall. He’s gone 3-for-15 over his first three games with a pair of RBIs. He did make a fantastic catch, robbing Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson of extra bases as he crashed into the center-field wall. No. 14 prospect Nick Maton could not repeat his heroics from Friday, when he hit a walk-off home run, on Saturday night. Leading off and playing second base, he went 0-for-3 with a walk and is now 4-for-12 with a walk and six strikeouts in three games.

Sept. 20: Scottsdale 3, Glendale 2
No. 2 prospect (No. 89 in MLB) Spencer Howard started for Scottsdale on Friday night and looked strong over three scoreless innings, striking out two while allowing one hit and issuing one walk. His fastball touched 98 mph and was consistently around 96 mph. Howard missed two months of the regular season with shoulder issues, but pitched well during his time with Class A Advanced Clearwater and Double-A Reading, making 15 starts (including rehab starts at the Rookie level) with 94 strikeouts in 71 innings pitched and finishing with a 2.03 ERA. More »

No. 1 prospect (No. 35 in MLB) Alec Bohm started at first base and picked up two more hits and drove in a run. The 2018 No. 3 overall pick is now 6-for-8 with three RBIs in his first two games. No. 14 prospect Nick Maton started at second and led off the game. He picked up three hits, the biggest of which was a walk-off homer to give Scottsdale a 3-2 win. He’s now 4-for-9 with a double, home run and two RBIs. Outfielder Josh Stephen went 2-for-4, playing left and hitting seventh.

Sept. 19: Scottsdale 8, Surprise 6
No. 1 prospect Alec Bohm broke out with four hits for Scottsdale, finishing 4-for-5 with a double and two RBIs out of the cleanup spot. The No. 34 prospect in all of baseball is coming off a strong season spread across three levels in the Phillies’ organization, where he hit a combined .305 with 21 home runs and an .896 OPS. No. 8 prospect Mickey Moniak, who started in center and batted second, went 2-for-6 in the win with a double and two RBIs.

Right-hander Connor Seabold got the start for Scottsdale and was very sharp over his three innings on the mound. The Phillies’ No. 30 prospect tossed three shutout innings with just one hit allowed and struck out five. No. 10 prospect Jojo Romero was part of the bullpen effort and allowed three runs -- one earned -- on three hits and two walks over 1 1/3 innings, striking out one. More »

Sept. 18: Scottsdale 5, Mesa 4
No. 8 prospect Mickey Moniak opened the AFL season as Scottsdale’s leadoff hitter on Wednesday and went 1-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base. No. 14 prospect Nick Maton chipped in a double in a 1-for-4 night while outfielder Josh Stephen entered the game late as a pinch-runner and came around to score.