Phillies news & links — Scott Kingery promoted to Triple-A, fans rejoice

Happy Monday, fam. I’m not going to waste any time today, let’s get right to the news. And I have some news I know you’ve been waiting for.

Scott Kingery promoted to Triple-A

HALLELUJAH, LET’S GET EXCITED.

Here’s what Joe Jordan, director of player development for the Phillies, told Jim Salisbury about the promotion.

"This was our target date," director of player development Joe Jordan said Sunday night. "We had been talking about it for quite some time. There really wasn't any magic to it. We had wanted to get him 425 to 450 at-bats at the Double A level and we've done that. It's time for a new challenge."

The Phillies have a plan, but they don’t always let us in on the details. Regardless, Kingery absolutely dominated Eastern League pitching this season. He hit .313/.379/.608 with 18 doubles and 18 home runs. Combined between this season and last season at Double-A, he hit .290/.342/.509. He majorly improved between 2016 and 2017, and he’s clearly ready to face Triple-A and Quad-A pitching. Here’s how he said goodbye to Reading.

Godspeed, Scott. We’re waiting for you.

Jeanmar Gomez and Michael Saunders released

It was nice while it lasted. Well, that’s only half true. It was never nice with Michael Saunders, who sucked like a Hoover all season. (In 214 plate appearances, he hit .205/.257/.360 with six home runs, so woof.) But Jeanmar Gomez gave all he had to the Phillies last season. After they traded Ken Giles, he was the team’s closer for all but like two or three games in 2016. He was with the Phillies for more than two seasons, but with a 2017 ERA of 7.25, it was time to cut ties. So good luck in the future, Jeanmar. And Michael Saunders? Uh, we’ll see you when we see you.

Look at all the early draft picks Philadelphia has

So I know what the Phillies were going for here.

(Edit: You know, it’s helpful if I actually add in the tweets I’m talking about.)

I know what they were trying to do. And Aaron Nola is great and I love him and this isn’t his fault. But it just draws attention to how BAD Philadelphia sports have been lately because it’s Aaron Nola saying hello to the other RECENT early draft picks from other Philly teams!

It has to get better at some point, right? It has to get better.

DOMONIC BROWN PITCHED IN A BASEBALL GAME

I’ll be talking about this with John Stolnis when we record the latest Felske Files podcast tonight, but it bears mentioning now: DOM BROWN PITCHED.

It was Saturday night. Dom Brown came in to pitch for his current team, the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, because it was the 14th inning and the game against the El Paso Chihuahuas was tied 7-7. Presumably, the Isotopes had run out of pitchers. Dom Brown isn’t trying to convert to pitcher, as you’ll see.

He faced five batters and all of them reached. Three singles, one double, and one walk. While he was pitching, he allowed three runs. He was switched back to left field after he faced his fifth batter, but his line wasn’t finished. The pitcher who replaced him allowed a three-run home run to the first batter he faced, and two of those runs were Dom’s. He allowed five runs total and he got the loss.

Yeah, he won’t be converting to pitcher anytime soon.