Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / TABLE TALK: Assessing The Phillies Farm System

Transcript

TABLE TALK: Assessing The Phillies Farm System · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: in the world, thirteen years strong. We got a great
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: discussion coming your way this week on Table Talk as
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: we dive into the Philadelphia Phillies farm system. It's the
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: first time we are doing this in terms of this
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six Phillies organizational season. We're gonna get into
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: this farm system, the pros, the cons, the n betweens,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: and joining us this week, he's a first time guest
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: here at the psc podcast show Phillies Nation dot com.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: Ti Daubert, Ti, buddy, thanks so much for jumping on
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: this week. Man, It's great to talk to you.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Of course, thanks for having me on. I'm excited to
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: talk a little bit of Phillies prospects, Phillies minor leagues,
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: get into it with you. It's been an interesting start
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: to the Philly season, but things you always have to
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: kind of take a look at the whole organizational soope,
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: it's always important to do that, so i'bsolut to talk
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: about it with you, So thanks for having me on.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: You got it, man, That's actually a really good segue
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: to the first topic I wanted to get into because,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: I mean, let's be honest, the Philadelphia Phillies farm system,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: from my understanding, is kind of ranked towards the bottom
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: of the league, and they have two current top top
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: one hundred prospects that we're going to be getting into
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: those two individuals in a bit. But the Phillies organization overall,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: they've really put a ton of money into the development
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: of the farm system over the years here, Ty, So
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: I'm wondering to get our conversation started here, how would
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: you assess where the farm system is currently at based
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: on the resources and the investments that the Phillies organization
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: has made over these past few years.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: So I think I would agree with your assessment before
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: that they're not sort of a top tier farm system
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: with a ton of top prospects. Like you said, two
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: prospects in the top one hundred, They're not really towards
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: the top end of that top one hundred. There are
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: players in the system that are interesting, but I would
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: say a lot of them, A lot of the more
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: intriguing high ceiling prospects, aside from a few, seem to
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: be in the lower level of the minor leagues and
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: I think you're sort of seeing that their depth that
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: a lot of positions in the higher levels of the
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: minor leagues is not that strong. And I think that
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: that shows if you pay attention to the major league team,
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: even if you don't follow the minor leagues, just with
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: the way their roster works, you can almost see that
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: at times, with the way that they don't have a
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: ton of major league ready prospects at all different positions,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: and you could see that in the starting pitching depth,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: they haven't really needed spot starters. But when the for
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: an example something that I noticed a couple of weeks ago,
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: it was right after it was their last homestand they're
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: coming back home today. They had short starts by Andrew
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Painter and Jesus Sozardo back to back, and then Aaron
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: Nola went out, and I noticed I was at the
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Phillies game with Nola's starting, but I noticed that at
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Triple A, Alan Ron Hill, who's been up and down
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: for the Phillies over the last two years, he was
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: scratched from his start at Lehigh Valley at Triple A,
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: and then he ended up coming in in relief for
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: the last five innings. The next day, I asked Don Mattingly,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: what sort of happened there? What was the situation? And
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: they what they did made sense because they had to
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: short starts the days prior. They had to use their
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: bullpen up over those two days, and if Aaron Nola
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: something happened, if he got lit up in the first
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: inning or he took a line drive off the shin
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: and he had to exit the game and they had
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: to use up the bullpen again for a third day,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: they would have needed Ron Hell to be their long
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: man in the big leagues the next day. So they
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: waited until Nola got deep en up into his start
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: to send Ron Hell back on the mound. And I
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: think that was sort of a shrewd move to do
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: because ront Heel is the next guy up. But they
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: had to do that because there there's not others starting
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: pitching depth on the forty man roster in the minor
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: leagues other than him. The only other starting pitcher in
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: the minor leagues on the forty man roster right now
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: is Gene Cabrera and the Phillies. Recently, he started the
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: season in Triple A and it started off really poorly
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: and they had to send him back down to Double A,
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: and there are a couple other positions. You think you
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: see it. With the outfield, Otto Kempt started the year
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: as sort of that platoon left fielder. It didn't work out,
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: and they brought up Felix Rayes. Somebody will get into
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: both of those guys a little bit more, yea, and
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: they swapped them out. Felix Reyes besides hitting a home
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: run in his first at bat, it hasn't been a
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: whole lot of production. So I think you see that
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: while there are interesting prospects throughout the system, the depth
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: at the close to the big league level at certain
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: positions is not what you would want, I'd say. At
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: the same time, even if this isn't in terms of
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: prospects at Triple A, they do have some capable relief arms,
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: so you would feel good about if you're the Phillies
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: if you need to call them up. Granted, some of
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: that has changed. Trevor Richards was up for a little bit. Again,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: not a huge prospect or anything. He's a veteran type,
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: but they ended up having to They brought him up
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: for a couple of days and then ended up trading
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: him because they were going to need a forty man
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: roster spot. But I would say that is one of
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: the strengths in terms of depth. They do have some
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: passable sort of depth relievers, but at some other positions
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: you can see that it's certainly thinner.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's absolutely a lot thinner, and I think it,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: you know, it goes to show even though they've made
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: these investments, at the end of the day, it really
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: is about the talent. And look early in this twenty
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: twenty six Minor League season within the Phillies organization specifically
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Triple A Lehigh Value, you did see some initial surprises,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: some under the radar players that kind of raised our
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: eyebrows here, and one was gentleman you mentioned Felix Reyis
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: in the outfield, also shortstop Christian Cairo. So I'm hoping
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: we can get into both of these guys and how
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: they may or may not be leaving their mark, because
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: with Reyes here was a bit of a spark plug
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: right at the initial start of the season. You know,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: we see where things are at with him right now,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: how do you see him possibly developing more into the
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: future or initially was it kind of a fluke, you know,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: him coming out of the Gates strong.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: I don't know if it was a fluke, because he
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: proved last season he really came out of nowhere and
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: he won the batting title and the MVP in the
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: Eastern League. In Double A, he did come out of nowhere,
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: but he proved last year that he can really hit
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: at least in the minor leagues, and he has good
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: back to ball and he's a strong, strong guy, and
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: he showed in the big leagues like he first got
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: up there hit that home run off Carslle like one
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: of the more of the individual moments of this Philly
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: season so far, Like that's one of the one of
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: the highlights that they end up losing the game, but
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: that was an incredible, incredible moment. But at the same time,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: he's a free swinger. I think that's the criticism a
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: lot of Philly's hitters. He can really sort of expand
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: the strike zone, and I think he's just one of
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: those players, one of a lot of these sort of
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: players that they've had over the past few years where
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: they light up Triple A, but maybe they're overextended in
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: the big leagues and they profile more at best as
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: a bench player and are probably more in that quad
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: a type of mold. But the Phillies they were looking
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: for a spark plug when they called him up, something
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: that's changed things. They were in that funk. Yeah, and
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: on that first day he provided it. But he's probably
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: they just haven't found that sort of guy who can
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: be that right handed hitting left fielder. They decided not
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: to spend a lot of resources on it in the
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: off season because they sort of banked on Auto Camp,
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: another guy that's in that similar tier or mold, as
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: Felix Rey, as these sort of organizational under the radar
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: guys that they like and they've identified and made a
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: name for themselves in the minor leagues. But at some
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: point they've given them these opportunities is to play these
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: big league roles, and they haven't landed on a guy
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: to be able to do that.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well let's move Let's move on to Christian Cairo.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, he look, he's been grinding and out in
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: the minors, and I think I think there's this overall
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: expectation that he may not ever really get to the
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: big leagues to be that productive starter, And it seems
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: that maybe the only way he'll get there is if
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: there may be injuries persist with somebody within the one
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: hundred and sixty two game season on the Phillies. So
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: I mean, how how do you view Christian Cairo here
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: in the Phillies minor league system as he's moving forward here.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's somebody. He in the past was a Rule
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: five draft pick I believe by the Braves and he
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: ended up not making the team and he was he
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: was returned during spring training. But he's somebody that at
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: least has been thought of as a possible big leaguer
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: in the past. I was a little bit surprised at
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: the Phillies added him to their forty men roster right
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: before the season, but it makes sense. And he's somebody
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: that if they need infield depth, like you mentioned, he
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: if there's an injury, something happens, they have to shuffle
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: things around. You know, he can play shortstop, second base.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: If they need an extra middle infielder, he's probably that guy.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: I think he slides into that role as a deaf player,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: somebody who can come up. He's the son of Miguel Cairo,
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: played for the Phillies back in I believe two thousand
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: and nine, So interesting little fact about him. But yeah,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: I think he's one of those those death pieces that
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: if the Phillies needs somebody to fill a role for
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: a little bit, yeah, that would be him.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: And before we go to break, I mean, I do
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: wonder if there is and if you have seen a
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: real concerted effort with making sure that development within the
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: farm system is truly happening. Like I believe since Dave
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Dombrowski's been on board that the investments have been there
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: in various ways, but in terms of the talent actually
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: really growing that homegrown talent, whether it is Bryce and Stott,
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: Alec Bohm, Aaron Nola is basically one of the last
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: pitchers outside of Andrew Paynter of course, to be that
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: real homegrown farm system talent. Like I wonder if it's
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: a major concentration with this organization, Like what are your
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: thoughts there?
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: I think it is, And that doesn't mean the results
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: have always been there, but I think they have some
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: good people in place and you can think that, you know,
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: Dave Dombrowski's been with the Phillies since about the twenty
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: twenty one season, and a year before that is when
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: they had Brian Barber their scouting director and now an
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: assistant GM, but at least with the with the first
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: round picks, they've had pretty good success since Brian Barber
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: took over. You think Mick abel was his first first
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: round pick, came up, did a few things with the
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: Phillies as a rookie after having a shaky minor league career,
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: but he kind of put it together and they end
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: up trading him in a package for Joan Durant, their
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: star closer. And after that it's Andrew Painter. It's been
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: sort of a mixed bag, but he made it to
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: the major leaguers. That's a high school pitcher that you
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: took in around the middle of the first round who
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: has made the major leagues high school pitchers. That's two
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: high school patchers in a row that made the major leagues.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: Those are risky sort of. That's a risky mold of
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: a pick to make those high school starting pitchers, and
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: they've made it. They've made it work and cracked into
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: the big leagues as starters. The year after that's Justin
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Crawford and he's the starting centerfielder on the team right now,
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: and he's been solid. The defense hasn't been what you've wanted,
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: but the bat has been what you would expect it.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: That's a hits. That's a hit on a first round pick.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: The next season, end of the first round, they take
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: Aiden Miller. We'll talk more about him, but he's had
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: promising right handed hitting infield prospect. The injury concerns, the
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: back issues are where things stand right now, so that's
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: a bit of a question mark, but still that's not
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: it's not like they just took somebody and he never
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: showed anything in the minor leagues. I still think that
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: it hasn't worked out this year. It's looking a little
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: questionable with the health, but it's not like they botched
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: the pick. And then Dante Nori they take after that
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: another sort of contact first left handed hitting outfielder, and
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: he showed some promise. Maybe his ceiling isn't the highest,
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: but he profiles as a sort of contact hitting center fielder.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: And then after that they took Gauge Wood and he's
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: looked pretty good in the low minor leagues, really good fastball,
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: high strike out stuff. So even if they do lack
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: the organizational depth at certain positions, these first round picks have,
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: they've mostly hit on it. And yeah, the drafting and
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: working their way up to the major So there are
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: sort of the winds mixed with some of the question marks.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: I guess all right, well, we're going to get into
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: some of those prospects and some of those picks, especially
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: the two Phillies organizational pieces in the top one, top
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: one hundred prospects when we get back from our break again, folks.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: Ty Daubert from Philliesnation dot com. Ty, where can everybody
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: follow you on the interwebs out there if they want
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: to connect with you on social or just follow you
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: out there on the internet.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you can follow me at ty Daubert and you
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: can follow at Phillies Nation on Twitter and Facebook. We'll
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: have you covered. My colleague Destiny Legardo, she was just
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh, had everybody covered from that series on the road.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: Phillies Nation will have you covered for this current homestand
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: and then I'll be on the road coming up up
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: on the West coast trip going to San Diego and LA.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: So we'll have you covered awesome, right on top of
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: it over the next few weeks, in all throughout the season.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: Awesome. You know, we love Phillies Nation dot com. Here, folks,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: we're gonna take a break, and when we get back,
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: we've got more Phillies Minor League talk coming your way.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: We're going to dive more into this farm system. Stick
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: with us, all right. We are back with Ty Daubert
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: from Phillies Nation dot com. And as we're continuing this
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: discussion here Ty about the Phillies farm system. Here, let's
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: get into some of these prospects, especially the top one
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: hundred prospects within the Phillies organization. First up, Aid Miller.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: You mentioned him right before the break, and he's right now.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: He's on the seven day injured list, But I wanted
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: to get your assessments on how he is developing, how
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: he's performing at TRIPAA this season. He's again in the
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: top Phillies prospect in the entire system. What are your
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: thoughts here on what we've seen from him? Where he
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: may go down on the road.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: So I think that's the biggest question mark when it
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: comes to Phillies, the entire Phillies minor league system. This
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: is a guy who last year ended up reaching Triple
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: A by the end of the season, and had had
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: a really good second half, slow start to double A
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: last year and then lit it up in the second
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: half finishes the year with the Iron Pigs, and this
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: year you sort of think going into it, maybe this
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: is the year. If he gets off to a strong
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: start in Triple A and Alec Bohm gets off to
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: a slow start, maybe there's a move at third base.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: If he's really gunning for it.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: That's where a lot of us were thinking, man, just
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: five weeks ago.
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, if not, if not Alec Bohm, he's in the
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: last year of his contract with the Phillies, then Ada
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: Miller could slide in the third base in twenty twenty seven.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: Right now, that seems that you can't count on any
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: of that because he hasn't played since early spring. He's
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: been shut down, yeah, because of a back issue, and
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: he hasn't been playing the Destiny Legardo. As I mentioned
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: earlier in the podcast, she was in Pittsburgh for Phillies
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: Nation this past weekend and she asked Dave Dombrowski for
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: an update on Adan Miller, and he sort of stuck
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: to what they've been saying that they're just taking it
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: really slow with him. And I think that's a fair
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: thing to do when you have a young, top prospect
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: with a back issue. You don't want to force him
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: into playing too quickly, he makes it worse, he tweaks
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: it again, and things spiral from there. But it is
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: a big time concern that, Yeah, he has not been
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: participating since the spring, and you sort of were hoping
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: if you're the Phillies, if you're a Phillies fan, you're
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: hoping that he continues to take that jump and hit
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: his way into a successful season at TRIPAA this summer
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: and then maybe force the Phillies to evaluate whether he
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: needs to come up right now or if not, solidifies
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: his status as a regular or at least given a
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: shot to become a regular to start twenty twenty seven.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: And I don't think you can count on that anymore
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: because it doesn't seem like he has a timeline to
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: start playing again. So he still has the most potential
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: I would think of any hitter in the Philly system,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: but it's just a big question mark because his back issue.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we got to see it, We absolutely have to
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: see it. And it begs the question too, what type
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: of baseball shape is he in as well? So, I
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: mean there's a lot of questions surrounding aid Miller, but.
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: They've kind of said that he is able to. He's
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: able to do certain things, but it doesn't seem like
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: he's really swinging and doing like the baseball of it
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: because of this this back issue.
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely well tie. Next up is Age Wood. I
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: mean he a boy. He absolutely killed it down in
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: single A, Clearwood, Clearwood, clear water, geez. In his first
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: start this past week on the mound, he struck out six,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: only allowing one run in four innings. A very very
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: strong start, but he certainly has a ways to go again.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: Being down at Single A in Florida, what are your
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: assessments on the kind of prospect Gage Wood is here.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: He's an exciting prospect and he's somebody that you could picture,
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: maybe not this season or anything. I think when he
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: got drafted, a lot of people speculated, like could they
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: put him in the bullpen right now? And he's up
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: by September. I think that was maybe a stretch because
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: he was a reliever early in college and then he
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: was moved to a starter. But he dealt with some
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: injury issues last season that you wouldn't want to put
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: too much of a workload on him, because he have
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: thrown more innings than he ever had at in high
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: level baseball, but he is somebody because he is a
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: college prospect. He can move a little bit quicker, and
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: I think the Phillies one to have him be a
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: starter long term. Yeah, but at some point in the
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: next couple of seasons, if there is a short term
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: need in the bullpen, it could be something you think about.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: Because that fastball really does play, and it's an overwhelming fastball.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: And I think he's a prospect that people will like
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: if he moves up and pitches to his potential, because
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: everybody kind of remembers he threw the no hitter at
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: the College World Series. And he's charismatic and he's a
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: confident the confident pitcher. I've talked to him a little bit.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: Last year in Philadelphia, he came through and talked to
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: reporters after he signed once he was drafted, and then
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: this year during spring training he talked to some of
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: the reporters during the spring breakout game they do for prospects,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: and just a really confident sort of young pitcher that
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: I think people he ends up, you know, making the
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: major leagues. People in Philly will really like the way
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: he pitches and carries himself, and if that fastball can
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: carry him to the big leagues. It's a really exciting pitch.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's gonna be fun watch engage would and just
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: his overall development and because he's gosh, he's so young.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: My gosh, he's so young still, and he gives me
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: hope about where the farm system can potentially go and
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: what can come from it. You mentioned a lot of
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: these first round picks, you know, have been hitting, and
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: you know, we're hoping, you were hoping gage Wood is
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: going to be one of those that hits at some
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: point down the road for the Philadelphia Phillies at the
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: big club. But Buddy to close us out here. And
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: I know it's a very general question. It's kind of
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: early in the minor league season, but I'm wondering, has
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: there been a favorite Phillies minor league team to watch,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: whether it's fighting Phil's Iron Pigs that you're following this year,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: or is there do you have a favorite team that
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: you're following this year based on what they're doing.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I've made stops at both Lehigh Valley
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: and Reading Reddings off to a pretty good season. I
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: think this is the first time that they've had like
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: a more complete team in a while reading over the
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: past handful of seasons since I started covering them, most
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: of the time they've been pretty bad, but they have
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: a pretty good team, and that's a great ballpark and
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: a good fan base, so it's they're off to a
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: pretty good start with some intriguing prospects. They have Dante Nori,
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: as I mentioned before, they have a run Escobar, Carson
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: d Martini has been there. They have a couple of
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: catching prospects that are that are interesting, and they Alex
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: McFarlane a reliever. Redding's been impressive and I always like
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: going to that ballpark. But Iron Pigs also are an
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: interesting team. Triple A is always just interesting as a reporter.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: I feel like there's always fun stories at Triple A
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: because it's that good mix of prospects and the veteran
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: guys who have good stories, and they're still hanging around
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: former big leaguers who are still hoping for another shot
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: to get back. So I guess that's two teams. It's
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: kind of a cop out answer.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: That's all right.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: Reading reading, I've made one trip out there and been
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: following along, and I think that's a cool story that
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: they have a pretty good team and some interesting prospects,
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: and always like going to First Energy Stadium Baseball Town great.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: It's a great little stadium to go to. It's a
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: lot of fun. If you haven't been out there, folks,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: head on out to Redding and they're fighting the Fight
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: where the Fight and Phil's play. It's always a good time.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: I live about fifteen minutes away from Coca Cola Park
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: here in the Lehigh Valley where the Iron Pigs play.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: It's always a great time. We had Kurt Landis, president
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: and CEO of the Iron Pigs on a few weeks ago.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: That was a great conversation with Kurt, and with that
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: being sane, we're gonna end our conversation here again, folks.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: He is tied to Aubert from Philliesnation dot com. My friend,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: it was great talking to you. I loved having you
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: on for the first time. Come back join us down
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: the road. I'd love to talk more Phillies minor league
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: system prospects with you. It was a great time, So
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: thanks for jumping on board.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Come back and join us absolutely anytime.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on table Talk
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: family members who are Philly sports fans or sports fans
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: in general. We thank you our listeners for being part
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: of this online community with us and within this space.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Please make sure to check out our website Philadelphiasportstable dot
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: com for all of our podcasts, and follow us on
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: our social sites over on Twitter at Philadelphia PST, threads
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: at Philadelphia Sports Table, and over on Instagram as well.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: Take care and we'll catch you next time.