Phillies MLR: The Dog Days of Summer

Lehigh Valley IronPigs (30-22, 1.5 games back)

Hitting Highlights:

Darick Hall - 54 GP, 208 AB, .308/.388/.577, 15 HR, 43 RBI, 28 BB, 47 K
Scott Kingery - 103 GP, 362 AB, .246/.330/.409, 13 HR, 41 RBI, 44 BB, 120 K, 22 SB
Simon Muzziotti - 107 GP, 403 AB, .323/.383/.442, 7 HR, 54 RBI, 39 BB, 62 K, 24 SB
Cristian Pache - 12 GP, 48 AB, .229/.339/.333, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 7 BB, 13 K, 2 SB
Kody Clemens - 45 GP, 160 AB, .250/.379/.506, 11 HR, 33 RBI, 33 BB, 40 K, 5 SB
Weston Wilson - 108 GP, 388 AB, .250/.357/.495, 25 HR, 69 RBI, 64 BB, 126 K, 27 SB
Rafael Marchan - 41 GP, 138 AB, .283/.373/.384, 1 HR, 16 RBI, 18 BB, 16 K, 1 SB

Pitching Highlights:

Noah Skirrow - 101 IP, 123 H, 64 R, 62 ER, 19 HR, 51 BB, 77 K
Nick Nelson - 76.1 IP, 78 H, 38 R, 37 ER, 10 HR, 35 BB, 59 K
McKinley Moore - 12 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 17 BB, 20 K

Clearly, the success of the IronPigs rests solely on their offensive production and thankfully they have plenty of that. Weston Wilson and previously Jake Cave have mashed in many runs. Darick Hall has bounced back nicely after a late start to the year (and an unsuccessful call-up to the Phillies). Simon Muzziotti remains the forgotten outfield prospect with the success of Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas in the majors (and briefly Cristian Pache). The aforementioned Pache was attempting to rehab his way back to the Bigs, but has had some injury setbacks.

Reading Fightin’ Phils (25-27, 6 games back)

Hitting Highlights:

Carlos De La Cruz - 115 GP, 463 AB, .266/.344/.456, 21 HR, 59 RBI, 45 BB, 144 K, 3 SB
Oliver Dunn - 105 GP, 370 AB, .276/.400/.532, 21 HR, 77 RBI, 72 BB, 120 K, 14 SB
Ethan Wilson - 101 GP, 376 AB, .258/.316/.463, 16 HR, 54 RBI, 28 BB, 97 K, 11 SB
Jhailyn Ortiz - 53 GP, 197 AB, .208/.291/.360, 8 HR, 32 RBI, 20 BB, 78 K
Casey Martin - 48 GP, 169 AB, .207/.269/.343, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 14 BB, 66 K, 4 SB
Marcus Lee Sang - 10 GP, 33 AB, .182/.270/.303, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 12 K

Pitching Highlights:

David Parkinson - 110.2 IP, 106 H, 56 R, 46 ER, 15 HR, 43 BB, 114 K
Mick Abel - 92.2 IP, 67 H, 51 R, 48 ER, 14 HR, 55 BB, 106 K
Griff McGarry - 54.2 IP, 31 H, 23 R, 19 ER, 4 HR, 36 BB, 74 K
Keylan Killgore - 49 IP, 49 H, 32 R, 24 ER, 24 BB, 62 K
Orion Kerkering - 15 IP, 14 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 HR, 5 BB, 21 K
Dominic Pipkin - 16.1 IP, 14 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 HR, 7 BB, 18 K
Tommy McCollum - 9.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 HR, 9 BB, 11 K

Abel and McGarry’s struggles have been well-documented in the last couple seasons and they have yet to get over that hump. Both are very, very talented pitching prospects that should see success if they can harness those control issues. Carlos De La Cruz remains a delight and baseball unicorn (based on his size, he isn’t a unicorn). It will be interesting to see how he finishes the season and what he can do against AAA pitching in 2024.

Jersey Shore BlueClaws (31-24, 1 game back)

Hitting Highlights:

Rixon Wingrove - 101 GP, 366 AB, .246/.355/.434, 15 HR, 63 RBI, 41 BB, 123 K, 6 SB
Gabriel Rincones Jr. - 61 GP, 240 AB, .242/.320/.438, 10 HR, 32 RBI, 27 BB, 64 K, 7 SB
Kendall Simmons - 46 GP, 167 AB, .263/.362/.503, 8 HR, 33 RBI, 20 BB, 48 K, 3 SB
Justin Crawford - 8 GP, 31 AB, .258/.343/.355, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 8 K, 4 SB

Pitching Highlights:

Rafael Marcano - 83.1 IP, 76 H, 40 R, 38 ER, 7 HR, 38 BB, 86 K
Carlos Betancourt - 71.2 IP, 62 H, 35 R, 29 ER, 5 HR, 30 BB, 85 K
Gunner Mayer - 69.2 IP, 72 H, 48 R, 45 ER, 4 HR, 48 BB, 71 K
Rodolfo Sanchez - 48 IP, 38 H, 20 R, 17 ER, 4 HR, 25 BB, 53 K
Jordan Fowler - 70 IP, 73 H, 32 R, 29 ER, 4 HR, 21 BB, 50 K
Wesley Moore - 26.2 IP, 19 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 HR, 15 BB, 39 K
Samuel Aldegheri - 10.2 IP, 13 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 12 K

The BlueClaws lose Hao Yu Lee to a trade, but gain Justin Crawford from a well-deserved promotion. Crawford’s power will take time to develop (as well as some of his other high-ground ball rate concerns), but as a 19 year old in High-A, that is pretty nice! Rixon Wingrove was also promoted to Double A, so his line above his is final at High-A. Samuel Aldgheri received a promotion from High-A along with Crawford, but has struggled thus far.

Clearwater Threshers (31-23, 5 games back)

Hitting Highlights:

Bryan Rincon - 81 GP, 276 AB, .228/.369/.370, 8 HR, 45 RBI, 59 BB, 63 K, 23 SB
Emaarion Boyd - 84 GP, 314 AB, .264/.372/.331, 1 HR, 34 RBI, 34 BB, 55 K, 51 SB
William Bergolla - 48 GP, 164 AB, .274/.374/.311, 0 HR, 16 RBI, 28 BB, 14 K, 1 SB
Justin Crawford - 69 GP, 276 AB, .344/.399/.478, 3 HR, 60 RBI, 25 BB, 53 K, 40 SB

Pitching Highlights:

Danny Wilkinson - 54 IP, 31 H, 26 R, 25 ER, 2 HR, 42 BB, 102 K
Wei Hui Pan - 57.2 IP, 31 H, 19 R, 18 ER, 2 HR, 19 BB, 81 K
Samuel Aldegheri - 67.2 IP, 59 H, 35 R, 29 ER, 8 HR, 30 BB, 79 K
Alex McFarlane - 50.1 IP, 46 H, 32 R, 32 ER, 4 HR, 38 BB, 69 K

The aforementioned Crawford and Aldegheri have since moved on, but had very impressive Low-A campaigns. Alex McFarlane has battled injuries and has regressed since his very hot start where his FB was clocking in at 100 (or near it). Someone smarter than me will have to check back in on that. While the Threshers may not win the Second Half Division title, they already won the First Half so they will automatically be in the Florida State League playoffs.