Minor League Mash-Up: Catcher Deivy Grullon making impact at Triple-A Lehigh Valley

Lehigh Valley catcher Deivy Grullon is hitting .372 in 2019. (Cheryl Pursell)

The first month of the minor league season is in the books. Let’s take a look back at how the Philadelphia Phillies farm performed this week.

Records

Lehigh Valley IronPigs: 19-10
Reading Fightin’ Phils: 15-11
Clearwater Threshers: 12-17
Lakewood Blueclaws: 9-20

Notable Performances

Deivy Grullon’s week got off to a good start on Monday, going 3-4 with two RBIs. He finished the work week by going 3-5 with two RBIs on Friday.
JoJo Romero on had a nice start on Thursday, as he went six innings, while allowing one earned run on five hits and three walks. He added seven punch outs. This was by far his best start this season.
Adam Haseley got going a bit on Wednesday, going 2-5 with a double and two runs scored. Haseley added in a 2-4 game with two RBIs, three runs scored and a home run on Thursday. Then to top it off, he went 4-4 with an RBI and four runs scored in game two of the Reading double header on Sunday.
In that same game on Wednesday, Darick Hall went 2-3 with three RBIs and a home run in the Reading victory.
Mickey Moniak had a couple really good games this week. On Thursday, he went 3-6 with two RBIs and two stolen bases. Moniak then went 3-4 with two RBIs, a triple and a home run in game one of a double header on Sunday.
Top prospect Alec Bohm’s first Clearwater game was a good one. He went 2-4 with a walk and a run scored. He went 2-5 with a double and two runs scored on Saturday.
Simon Muzziotti went 3-5 with a run scored and a double on Friday for Clearwater. He then went 3-4 with an RBI on Saturday.
Matt Vierling went 2-4 with two runs scored, four RBIs and a home run on Saturday for Clearwater.
Manuel Silva had a good outing out of the bullpen for Lakewood on Tuesday. He pitched four scoreless innings, while striking out three.
Malvin Matos went 3-5 with three RBIs, two runs scored, two doubles and a triple for Lakewood on Thursday.

Pivetta Update

Struggling Phillies pitcher Nick Pivetta was sent down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on April 17. Since then, he has progressed in Lehigh Valley. In his last start, he went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out four. It’s unclear when Pivetta will return, though it seems the Phillies are at least considering moving him to the bullpen.

Notable Season Stats

Top prosepct Alec Bohm hit .300 in his first week in High-A ball. For the year, he’s slashing .354/.426/.545 with three home runs, 10 doubles and 11 RBIs. He’s walked 14 times in 27 games.
Phillies top pitching prospect Adonis Medina has a 5.40 ERA after five starts. His WHIP is high as well at 1.46. He’s had only 15 strikouts on the year with 10 walks, which obviously is not a great ratio.

Adam Haseley is starting to come around. His average is up to .238 and his plate discipline has been great, with 14 walks compared to 15 strikeouts.
Youngster Luis Garcia is still struggling with a .183 average in 26 games at Single-A Clearwater. He did add a home run this week and has cut down on the strikeouts recently.
Spencer Howard did not pitch this week, as he’s on the injured list. The injury is unknown, but he was scratched from a start earlier this week. Fingers crossed here.
I mentioned how well Mickey Moniak did this week. For the year, though, he’s hitting .218. The biggest concern is the fact that he has 30 strikeouts and only four walks.
Jhailyn Ortiz is hitting .188 with 27 strikeouts in 18 games, which obviously is a less-than-ideal start. His power numbers are down as well, he only has one home run this year.
Cole Irvin continues to be productive. He has a 2.25 ERA after six starts and has only walked eight batters.
Young catcher Rodolfo Duran is hitting .148 with 20 strikeouts and three walks in 17 games.
Kyle Dohy was incredible at Reading, the script has flipped in Lehigh Valley though. In four innings, he has walked eight batters and allowed six hits, which has led to a 24.75 ERA.
Kevin Gowdy has shown glimpses of the past. He has a 1.84 ERA in 14.2 innings of work. He’s struck out 13, but he’s also walked 13. Opponents cannot seem to hit him, though, as they are only managing a .140 average against him.
Edgar Garcia has been great out of the Lehigh Valley bullpen. In 16.1 innings, he has a 1.65 ERA with 23 strikeouts. He has a 0.73 WHIP and an opponent’s batting average of .111. He could get the call-up soon.
Deivy Grullon continues to be awesome. He’s hitting .372 with four home runs and 21 RBIs in 21 games.
Matt Vierling is hitting .309 with a .382 on-base percentage for Clearwater. He has seven steals, 14 runs scored and 15 RBIs in 26 games.
J.D. Hammer has a 0.55 ERA in 16.1 innings of work (that’s one run) for Reading. He’s struck out 19 batters and walked four.