Lehigh Valley IronPigs (31-14, 3 game lead in division)

Kyle Tyler – 2 GS, 9.1 IP, 14 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, HR
Alan Rangel – 3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, HR
Andrew Painter – 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HR
Nabil Crimsatt – 4.1 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 4 K, HR
Seth Johnson – 2 G, 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 K
Jose Ruiz – 2 G, 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, K
Otto Kemp – 7 for 22, 5 R, 2 2B, RBI, 5 K, 4 HBP, 2 SB, 1 CS
Justin Crawford – 8 for 25, 5 R, 2B, HR, BB, 7 K, 2 SB
Gabriel Rincones Jr. – 2 for 13, 7 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 7 BB, 6 K, HBP
Buddy Kennedy – 12 for 30, 8 R, 3 2B, 4 HR, 10 RBI, BB, 6 K
Oscar Mercado – 4 for 17, 6 R, HR, 3 RBI, 5 BB, 3 K, HBP, SB

Why does everyone keep hitting Otto Kemp with pitches? He is up to 13 on the season, which is just two off the entire MiLB lead. Jose Ruiz finished his AAA rehab with no big issues. Justin Crawford hit his 1st AAA homerun and improved his overall season line to .319/.380/.422 with 14 stolen bases. Buddy Kennedy remains are very good AAAA player, though there is no real room on the big league roster to carry him.

Reading Fightin Phils (13-23, 8 games back in division)

Moises Chace – 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, BB, 2 K, HR
Jean Cabrera – 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, HBP
Gabe Mosser – 6.2 IP, 3 R, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, HR
Charles King – 4.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 3 HR
Braeden Fausnaught – 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HR
Luke Russo – 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 2 HR, WP, HBP
Robert Moore – 1 for 16, 2 R, RBI, 3 BB, 7 K, CS
Aidan Miller – 6 for 17, 4 R, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 6 K, HBP, 4 SB
Keaton Anthony – 7 for 19, 2 R, 4 2B, RBI, BB, 4 K
Hendry Mendez – 8 for 22, 5 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, BB, 3 K
Felix Reyes – 4 for 9, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI, 2 K

The death of Aidan Miller has been greatly exaggerated. In his last 13 games he is slashing .292/.358/.458 with 2 HR, 7 SB and 4 walks to 17 strikeouts. Obviously the K/BB ratio ain’t great, but he is hitting much better of late. Also interesting are Miller’s splits this season:

Home: 69 AB, .290/.388/.464
Away: 56 AB, .161/.254/.232

Miller has also only really started against RHP’s this season with only 12 plate appearances vs. lefties (1 for 10). Weird!

Moises Chace got some bad news this week as the promising starter will undergo Tommy John Surgery and will likely a significant portion of the 2026 season as well.

Jersey Shore BlueClaws (14-23, 12 games back in division)

Casey Steward – 4.2 IP, 12 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 2 K
Alex McFarlane – 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 K, HBP
Mavis Graves – 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 2 HBP
Aaron Combs – 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K
Micah Ottenbreit – 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, K
Estibenzon Jimenez – 2 G, 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, 3 K, HR
Bryan Rincon – 0 for 16, R, 2 BB, 4 K, HBP, SB, CS
Pierce Bennett – 2 for 13, HR, 2 BB, 2 K, HBP, CS
Carson DeMartini – 4 for 21, R, 3 BB, 5 K, 2 SB, CS
Elio Prado – 4 for 16, 3 R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, SB
Zach Arnold – 4 for 17, 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 K

As good of a fielder Rincon is, you have to wonder how much more time they are going to give him to at least get an average hitter out of him. Across 608 MiLB at-bats, he is slashing .211/.345/.340. His line this year is down to .165/.297/.278. Alex McFarlane turning into a legit SP prospect again would be a huge development for the organization. He was picking up hype before being derailed by Tommy John Surgery, but now he is back and so is his velocity and its yielding results. Now, do the Phillies get anxious and fast track him as a reliever? We’ll see…

Clearwater Threshers (21-18, 2 games back in division)

Reese Dutton – 2 GS, 9.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 14 K
Luke Gabrysh – 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, BB, 5 K, HR
Sam Highfill – 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, HR, 2 WP
Ryan Degges – 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, 7 K, 2 HR
Ryan Dromboski – 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, BB, 9 K
Aroon Escobar – 9 for 21, 3 R, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 3 K, 2 HBP
Dante Nori – 2 for 24, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K, 3 SB
Eduardo Tait – 6 for 25, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, 4 K
Griffin Burkholder – 4 for 15, 2 R, 2B, HR, BB, 6 K, HBP
Kodey Shojinaga – 2 for 18, RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, SB
Diego Gonzalez – 3 for 10, 2 R, BB, 3 K, HBP

At this rate, Aroon Escobar is going to be a Top 25 prospect in baseball. He mashed homer #8 on Saturday and improved his season line to .328/.429/.573 with 19 walks to 29 strikeouts in 131 at-bats. I remind you, the kid is 20 years old and has only had 16 at-bats against pitchers younger than him. After a late start to the season with an injury, the Phillies 2024 2nd round pick Griffin Burkholder hits his first professional HR. With Moises Chace’s injury news, I do wonder if we see some shifting around. That hopefully will signify that Ryan Dromboski has proven enough to move up to A+. Dromboski has a season-line of: 34.1 IP, 23 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 6 BB, 33 K. He was an undrafted free agent out of University of Pennsylvania and is in his first pro-season. Control was his big issue in college and likely the reason he wasn’t drafted, but perhaps the Phillies scouting and development staff have found something. He has a good mix of pitches, but doesn’t throw particularly hard.