Phils announce eight prospects to participate in Arizona Fall League

Sixto Sanchez with Lakewood in 2017, image- Jay Floyd

The Arizona Fall League is a place for aspiring Major Leaguers to go to develop their baseball skills in the Autumn months. As the weather begins to cool elsewhere, the diamond stays hot for many of baseball's most promising young talents in Arizona.

Rosters in the AFL are a mixture of different organizations' prospects, with each major league club sending seven, or sometimes eight, players that combine to fill up the 35-man rosters of the league's six teams.

With rosters announced on Thursday for the upcoming 2018 AFL season, Phillies players will be merged with players from the Mets, Reds, Giants and Astros to make up the Scottsdale Scorpions roster.

#Phillies slated to play for Scottsdale in the @MLBazFallLeague this yr...RHP Sixto Sanchez, RHP @viza_card, RHP Seth McGarry, RHP @Luke_Leftwich, 1b @HallDarick, SS Arquimedes Gamboa. OF Austin Listi, OF/3b @lukewilliams012. Clearwater pitching coach Aaron Fultz on the staff.
— Jay Floyd (@PhoulBallz) August 30, 2018

Top Phillies prospect Sixto Sanchez is slated to see action with the Scorpions after missing much of the season with an injury. The righty hurler, sidelined since June 3rd, has missed time with elbow inflammation.

In eight starts this season for the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers, the 20-year-old Dominican Republic native sported a 4-3 record with a 2.51 ERA while striking out 45 batters and walking 11 in 46 2/3 inninigs.

Also on the Scorpions roster are right-handed pitchers Seth McGarry, Tyler Viza and Luke Leftwich, all of which pitched at the Double-A level with Reading this year.

McGarry, a 24-year-old, was acquired by the Phils last season from the Pirates in a trade for reliever Joaquin Benoit. The reliever has a 4.31 ERA in 41 appearances this season.

Viza, 23, has also spent time with Triple-A Lehigh Valley this year. Overall in 26 outings, 10 starts, Viza sports a 4-6 record with a 3.05 ERA and a .253 batting average against.

Leftwich, a reliever, if he reaches the major leagues, would become just the second third-generation pitcher in big league history. The 24-year-old was a 7th round draft pick in 2015. Leftwich has a 3.75 ERA in 43 appearances (one start) this year.

Also on the Scorpions roster from the Phils organization are well-touted shortstop Arquimedes Gamboa, outfielder/third baseman Luke Williams, first baseman Darick Hall and outfielder Austin Listi.

The 20-year-old Gamboa, a native of Venezuela, has posted a .219 average with 14 doubles, four triples, two home runs and 37 RBI in 112 games this season with Clearwater.

Williams, 22, was the Phils' 3rd round draft selection in 2015. He has posted a .251 average with nine homers and 42 RBI through 102 games with Clearwater this season.

Hall and Listi were teammates in college at Dallas Baptist and have played together, thus far, at three levels of the Phillies' minor league developmental system since Listi was drafted last year. Both are currently part of the Reading roster.

Opening Day for the 2018 AFL season is Tuesday, October 9th while the league will conclude with its annual championship game on Saturday, November 17th. The league's 13th annual "Fall Stars Game" will take place on Saturday, November 3rd.

IronPigs Quotables: JD Hammer interview excerpts

JD Hammer, image- Cheryl Pursell HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL YEAR LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON! Get early access to my posts plus EXCLUSIVE interviews & other content- https://www.patreon.com/phoulballz Recently I published a feature on reliever J.D. Hammer , who spent some time with the big league Phillies before returning to the minors with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In the piece, Hammer and the IronPigs' coaching staff speak about the righty pitcher's current path and what he's focused on to return to the majors. During my time chatting with the talented prospect he spoke on some topics that didn't make the cut in the feature. Topics included the variance in the baseball at the upper levels, the IronPigs' catchers and more. Read ahead for those interview excerpts. I asked Hammer about the difference in the baseball from the lower levels of the minors to Triple-A and the majors. The variance in the balls is said to take

2019 Phillies Prospects Countdown: #7 LHP JoJo Romero

JoJo Romero, image- Jay Floyd With a growing crop of very talented pitching prospects in the Phillies organization, left-hander JoJo Romero is certainly among the standouts. The five-foot-11 200-pounder was the Phils’ 4th round draft selection in 2016. That year he helped Yavapai College, the same school that the Phillies drafted Kenny Giles from in 2011, clinch the JuCo World Series, leading the way with an 11-5 record, a 3.64 ERA and a 10.2 K/9 mark. He also tossed a complete game gem to earn the win in their title game. After signing with the Phillies, Romero made his professional debut as a member of the short-season Class A Williamsport Crosscutters. There, he notched a 2-2 record with a 2.56 ERA while striking out 31 and walking 11 in 45 2/3 innings. In 2017, he got off to a terrific start with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. In 13 starts, Romero tallied a 5-1 record with a 2.11 ERA and a 9.3 K/9 mark and was honored as a South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star. R

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against. The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog