Phillies Minor League Rosters Primer

With the 2019 season almost upon us, we gave the readers our bold predictions for this upcoming season. Now we look at the announced rosters from this past weekend to give you highlights of season’s past and players to be excited about before MiLB Opening Day.

Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs

The Iron Pigs announced their preliminary roster for the 2019 season on Friday. They finished 84-56 in the 2018 International League regular season play before falling to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the playoffs. The team was carried by league MVP Joey Meneses (who has since departed the organization) and strong pitching. They will need more or less of the same regarding their strong pitching. The IronPigs will open the season with a six-man rotation. The bullpen is about as stacked with live arms as I can remember LHV having in recent years. The offense shouldn’t have to bear to much of a burden to elevate the Iron Pigs to the top of the division in 2019.

Notable Starting Pitchers:

Drew Anderson, Enyel De Los Santos, Jerad Eickhoff, Cole Irvin, JoJo Romero, Ranger Suarez

Notable Relievers:

Victor Arano, Austin Davis, Edgar Garcia, Tyler Gilbert, Josh Martin, James Pazos, Yacksel Rios

Notable Hitters:

Deivi Grullon (C), Malquin Canelo (SS), Mitch Walding (3B), Dylan Cozens (OF)

Reading Fightin Phils

Reading also made their announcement Friday afternoon regarding their preliminary roster. The 2018 squad failed to score many runs and were about league-average in pitching, which resulted in them finishing 64-73. This team looks to be a whole lot better in the offensive department entering 2019, but with also a bunch of solid starting pitchers to boot. Reading will also feature an outfield consisting of the Phillies 1st round picks from 2015 (Randolph), 2016 (Moniak) and 2017 (Haseley). It is going to be a big year for Adonis Medina, who struggled at times in 2019, but now with Sixto Sanchez gone, is the top pitching prospect in the system.

Notable Starting Pitchers:

Adonis Medina, Connor Seabold, Ramon Rosso, David Parkinson, Bailey Falter, Mauricio Llovera

Notable Relievers:

Addison Russ, J.D. Hammer, Kyle Dohy

Notable Hitters:

Austin Listi (1B/OF), Darick Hall (1B), Arquimedes Gamboa (SS), Adam Haseley (OF), Mickey Moniak (OF), Cornelius Randolph (OF)

Clearwater Threshers

The Threshers waited until yesterday to unveil their preliminary roster. Clearwater dominated the 2nd half of the season on their way to the Florida State League playoffs, but wound up falling to Daytona in the semi-finals. Jose Pujols, Darick Hall and Austin Listi were the offensive forces in the lineup who have all now graduated. Many are expecting big things from Simon Muzziotti and Spencer Howard this season. Both are poised for breakouts after their 2018 seasons and were among TheGoodPight’s top organizational prospects.

Notable Starting Pitchers:

Spencer Howard, Damon Jones, Alejandro Requena, Kyle Young

Notable Relievers:

Zach Warren

Notable Hitters:

Edgar Cabral (C), Rodolfo Duran (C), Daniel Brito (2B), Nick Maton (SS), Jake Scheiner (3B), Simon Muzziotti (OF), Matt Vierling (OF)

Lakewood Blueclaws

The Blueclaws announcement had a lot of us prospect-heads excited because of the sheer amount of talent. You could argue that the Phillies put four of their top ten prospects on the same team (Marchan, Bohm, Garcia, Morales). Yet you still have legit prospects in their own right like Jake Holmes, Colton Eastman and Jonathan Guzman to contend with. Lakewood finished with a 87-51 record and reached the South Atlantic League Championship game last season. This year’s team should at the very least win the First Half championship to secure their spot in the playoffs in September.

Notable Starting Pitchers:

Colton Eastman, Kevin Gowdy, Francisco Morales, Victor Santos, Ethan Lindow, Jhordany Mezquita

Notable Relievers:

James McArthur, Dominic Pipkin, Jack Perkins

Notable Hitters:

Rafael Marchan (C), Abraham Guitierrez (C), Alec Bohm (3B), Luis Garcia (SS), Jonathan Guzman (2B), Jake Holmes (3B), Carlos De La Cruz (OF)