Phillies Minor League Update: Nick Williams is heating up

Let’s run through the minor leagues and check in on the Phils’ top prospects.

LEHIGH VALLEY: Yeah the IronPigs lost to Indianapolis on Thursday, but they’ve picked up where they left off, going 6-1 since last Sunday. At 34-15, the Pigs are four games up in their division and on track for around 100 wins.

The hitters:

Jorge Alfaro: .283/.313/.401, 10 XBH, 48 K, 3 BB, 152 AB
Jesmuel Valentin: .229/.282/.292, 4 XBH, 16 K, 6 BB, 96 AB (7-day disabled list)
Rhys Hoskins: .323/.423/.659, 27 XBH, 32 K, 28 BB, 164 AB
Roman Quinn: .274/.344/.389, 13 XBH, 49 K, 18 BB, 175 AB
Cameron Perkins: .279/.380/.465, 15 XBH, 21 K, 18 BB, 129 AB
Nick Williams: .282/.315/.518, 20 XBH, 53 K, 6 BB, 170 AB
Dylan Cozens: .228/.295/.491, 18 XBH, 66 K, 16 BB, 171 AB
J.P. Crawford: .201/.320/.268, 6 XBH, 34 K, 29 BB, 164 AB

Don’t look now, but Williams is second on the Pigs in slugging percentage and now has 10 home runs. The plate discipline remains a problem, but he’s now beginning to shove his way into the crowded major league outfield picture.

The pitchers:

Jake Thompson: 38 IP, 5.68 ERA, 34 K, 16 BB
Ben Lively: 56.1 IP, 2.40 ERA, 45 K, 7 BB
Ricardo Pinto: 42.1 IP, 5.53 ERA, 27 K, 17 BB
Mark Appel: 40.1 IP, 7.59 ERA, 27 K, 25 BB
Tom Eshelman: 29.2 IP, 1.82 ERA, 18 K, 3 BB (29 IP, 3.10 ERA, 22 K, 5 BB in Reading)
Nick Pivetta: 32 IP, 1.41 ERA, 37 K, 2 BB

With Pivetta returning to Lehigh Valley (and with a good start, of course), the Pigs moved Pinto to the bullpen. That’s over Appel, who needs a lot of work still. Meanwhile, Lively deserves a promotion.

READING: After an outstanding start to May, the Fightin’ Phils have gone the way of the major league Phils, losing nine straight as of Sunday night. Yuck.

The hitters:

Andrew Pullin: .328/.394/.610, 28 XBH, 30 K, 18 BB, 177 AB
Malquin Canelo: .262/.352/.381, 10 XBH, 38 K, 13 BB, 126 AB
Scott Kingery: .303/.381/.652, 28 XBH, 36 K, 20 BB, 178 AB
Carlos Tocci: .311/.385/.391, 10 XBH, 28 K, 14 BB, 161 AB

Kingery is on a roll. A tougher week for Canelo, the Reading shortstop.

The pitchers:

Drew Anderson: 42 IP, 5.14 ERA, 35 K, 13 BB
Brandon Leibrandt: 41.1 IP, 4.57 ERA, 35 K, 11 BB
Yacksel Rios: 30 IP, 2.10 ERA, 40 K, 7 BB
Jesen Therrien: 26.2 IP, 1.35 ERA, 35 K, 3 BB

Very little new here. A good start from Liebrandt last week.

Come see the Reading team with fellow Phillies Nation readers at our June 11th group outing.

CLEARWATER: Clearwater continues to be on the seesaw in May, wrapping the week at 28-23 and a game behind Dunedin for first place in the Florida State League North.

Hitters:

Herlis Rodriguez: .295/.377/.504, 13 XBH, 28 K, 16 BB, 129 AB
Damek Tomscha: .306/.385/.459, 14 XBH, 33 K, 20 BB, 170 AB
Cornelius Randolph: .209/.291/.361, 12 XBH, 47 K, 18 BB, 158 AB
Jose Pujols: .192/.227/.263, 7 XBH, 76 K, 6 BB, 156 AB

Also note Zachary Coppola, outfielder hitting .346/.409/.392 with 10 steals.

Pitchers:

Cole Irvin: 45 IP, 3.20 ERA, 32 K, 10 BB
Franklyn Kilome: 41.2 IP, 3.02 ERA, 39 K, 12 BB
Jose Taveras: 55.2 IP, 2.26 ERA, 54 K, 15 BB
Seranthony Dominguez: 35.2 IP, 2.02 ERA, 45 K, 13 BB
Alberto Tirado: 39 IP, 4.38 ERA, 36 K, 26 BB

Taveras had a huge week, increasing his strikeout total and keeping his ratio at near a strikeout per inning.

LAKEWOOD: A pretty good 5-3 week for Lakewood, but they’re 1.5 games in back of first-place Hagerstown.

Hitters:

Cord Sandberg: .273/.323/.419, 17 XBH, 51 K, 11 BB, 172 AB
Daniel Brito: .249/.302/.335, 10 XBH, 44 K, 11 BB, 185 AB
Mickey Moniak: .287/.333/.401, 14 XBH, 39 K, 11 BB, 167 AB
Arquimedes Gamboa: .235/.325/.353, 2 XBH, 6 K, 5 BB, 34 AB

Gamboa is back, and his average took a tumble upon his return. Moniak had a great week, clubbing a bunch of extra-base hits to bring his slugging percentage up over .400.

Pitchers:

Sixto Sanchez: 24.1 IP, 3.70 ERA, 28 K, 3 BB
JoJo Romero: 45 IP, 2.20 ERA, 45 K, 19 BB
Ranger Suarez: 44.2 IP, 2.01 ERA, 56 K, 13 BB
Adonis Medina: 42.1 IP, 2.98 ERA, 50 K, 17 BB
Nick Fanti: 47.1 IP, 1.52 ERA, 53 K, 13 BB

Sanchez is still out with the sore neck. But how about Fanti? Good stuff still from the Lakewood staff.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.