Skip to main content

Stewart hits walk-off grand slam for Clearwater

By

Stepping up to the plate with the bases loaded, trailing by a pair of runs in the 11th inning, Clearwater first baseman D.J. Stewart did so 0-for-5.  His focus at the plate was no different that time than it had been the previous handfull of turns.  Make loud contact was the approach.  The contact was loud, the reaction from his team and the approximately 1,100 fans in attendance was louder.  

A convincing round-tripper in that moment plated Edgar Made, Johan Rojas, Luis Garcia and Stewart.  It gave the Class A Threshers their first win on the young season by a score of 13-11 over the Tigers affiliate Lakeland. 

The grand slam was the 22-year-old's first ever four-run homer as well as his first ever walk-off hit as a professional.

Describing the feeling of walking a game off in such a remarkable fashion as unreal and realizing that his teammates were as hyped for him as he felt personally, Stewart also described the "loud contact" mindset as a new focus.

"This year I really wanted to focus on hitting the ball harder and getting some more doubles and home runs.  I'm a third baseman and a first baseman, so I need to show a little bit more pop in the bat that I haven't in previous years," Stewart expressed via text message.

Lakeland reliever Jack Dellinger, a 2019 32nd rounder, was the pitcher that surrendered Stewart's crushing blow.

"I never faced him before, to my knowledge," Stewart said.  "We didn't have any info on him, so I was going into the at bat blind."

Stewart was the Phillies' 39th round draft selection in 2017 out of Westminster Christian Academy in St. Louis, MO.  

Through two games the six-foot-two 205-pounded righty batter is 2-for-9.  

The grand slam matches the amount of big flies Stewart recorded in his first 92 regular season minor league games played prior to Wednesday.  

Last year's top Phillies draft choice, starting pitcher Mick Abel did not factor in the decision.  The 19-year-old tossed 2 1/3 innings allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks while striking out two.

Also in the contest catcher Abrahan Gutierrez was 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and the center fielder Rojas went 2-for-6 with a double and three RBI.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

By
Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Catching prospect O'Hoppe tabbed to join Phillies

By
Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and via my Patreon page .  For a small monthly fee, your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and other prospect related material as well as early access to all of my other content such as this feature.  Thank you.   On Friday, the Phillies added a pair of catchers to their 2020 player pool.  Minor leaguers Logan O'Hoppe (pronounced Oh-HOP-ee) and Henri Lartigue arrived in Philadelphia to help catch bullpen sessions for the team's collection of approximately 30 pitchers. The call to O'Hoppe was extremely welcome as the 20-year-old had been staying as active as he possibly could, working out with other players that have been been waiting out quarantine due to the current pandemic at his home on Long Island.  However, he had been very eager to step back onto an actual baseball field. "I just hope I can play soon.  Where ever that is or whatever form that is, that'd be aw...
1 comment
Read more

Chris Truby Speaks on Santana & Other BlueClaws Matters

By
On Monday, it was announced that the Astros selected outfielder Domingo Santana as the player to be named later in the late July trade that sent Hunter Pence to the Phillies. Santana, a Dominican born slugger, posted a .269 average with 7 HR and 32 RBI in 96 games with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. The 19-year-old is regarded as a five tool talent and has been ranked among the Phillies' top ten prospects by multiple national outlets. I had the opportunity to speak with Lakewood manager Chris Truby about Santana, the PTBNL list of five Phillies prospects that the Astros had to choose from, as well as other matters pertaining to the BlueClaws, as they enter the final few weeks of their regular season. Check out the media player below to hear the full interview. ______________________________________________ You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE . You can also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE .
Post a Comment
Read more