Phillies - A Fan’s View

Compiled and written by Steve Potter This week’s Spotlight Player : RHP Braydon Tucker - 26 years old - signed as an un-drafted free agent 7/19/23 - Lipscomb University 2026 : has made four starts for Reading thus far (20 IP) posting a 1.35 ERA with 26 K’s and 8 walks - this week he went six innings allowing one run on three hits and three walks while striking out eight batters in his start on Thursday. 2025 Stats : made 19 appearances (12 starts) for Jersey Shore totaling 8

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Lehigh Valley (16-11), Durham (9-18) - doubleheader Allentown, PA - Coca-Cola Park Game One : Lehigh Valley 6 Durham 0 How they scored : Steward Berroa led off the bottom of the first with a single, Otto Kemp was hit by a pitch. Liover Peguero singled to score Berroa. Christian Cairo hit a three run home run. Paul McIntosh and Cade Fergus walked in the fourth inning. A wild pitch moved them up a base. Steward B

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Durham (9-16) Lehigh Valley (14-11) - ppd - rain Allentown, PA - Coca-Cola Park Eastern League (AA) - New Hampshire (10-7) Reading (9-10) - ppd - rain Reading, PA - First Energy Stadium South Atlantic League (High A) - Bowling Green (14-6) Jersey Shore (9-10) Bowling Green Ballpark - Bowling Green, KY - doubleheader Game One : Bowling Green 3 Jersey Shore 2 How they scored : Luis Caicuto and Carter Mathison wa

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Durham 12 (9-16) Lehigh Valley 5 (14-11) Allentown, PA - Coca-Cola Park How they scored : Sergio Alcantara doubled in the first inning, he scored on a double by Otto Kemp. Caleb Ricketts hit a two run home run. Five walks, single and sac fly scored four runs for Durham in the third inning. Logan Davidson hit a three home runs. Sergio Alcantara and Steward Berroa walked in the fifth, Otto Kemp was hit by a pitch

Starting Pitching : Thru 377 games played to date in MLB the Major League Average for Quality Starts (at least six innings and allowed three or fewer runs in a start) is eight with the Dodgers leading the way with sixteen. Fourteen teams are above the league average - the Phillies have had six quality starts in twenty-five games. The Dodgers have had quality starts in 64% of their twenty-five games played to date. The league average is currently 32% - the Phillies are at 24%.

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Lehigh Valley 5 (14-10) Durham 3 (8-16) Allentown, PA - Coca-Cola Park How they scored : Sergio Alcantara doubled to lead off the game, he scored on a single by Otto Kemp. Bryan De La Cruz singled. They both advanced on a ground out - Kemp then scored on a ground out by Christian Cairo.  Carter Kieboom singled to score De La Cruz. Tatem Levins homered for Durham in the second inning. Two singles and a sacrifice

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Lehigh Valley 4 (13-10) Durham 1 (8-15) Allentown, PA - Coca-Cola Park How they scored : Otto Kemp was hit by a pitch in the first inning, Bryan De La Cruz walked. They advanced on a wild pitch. Caleb Ricketts doubled to score two runs. Christian Cairo walked in the fourth inning and scored on a double by Liover Peguero. A walk and two singles scored a run for Durham in the sixth inning. Liover Peguero walked i

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Lehigh Valley 8 (12-10) Durham 7 (8-14) Allentown, PA - Coca-Cola Park How they scored : Durham scored two runs in the first inning on three walks and two singles. Sergio Alcantara walked in the bottom of the first inning, Steward Berroa tripled to score him. Otto Kemp hit a sacrifice fly to score Berroa. A walk, stolen base and single scored a run for Durham in the second. Caleb Ricketts homered in the third i

The Jersey Shore BlueClaws are led this season by thirty-eight year old Mycal Jones. He’s the first black manager in the team’s twenty-five year history. Mycal was a fourth round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2009 from Miami Dade College initially as a shortstop before moving to center field, he played in their system through 2015 and then one season in the independent Atlantic League. He is entering his seventh season in the Phillies organization as a coach and now man

Compiled and written by Steve Potter This week’s Spotlight Player : Nineteen year old shortstop Matt Ferrara had quite a week for the Clearwater Threshers going 9 for 20 (.450) with seven runs scored, two doubles, two triples, two home runs and eight RBI’s - he walked twice and struck out six times posting an on-base percentage of .478 in 23 plate appearances with a 1.050 slugging percentage. He also impressed with his defensive play at shortstop showing range, athleticism an

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - St Paul 12 (9-11) Lehigh Valley 8 (11-10) CHS Field-St. Paul, MN How they scored : Sergio Alcantara singled to lead off the game, Steward Berroa doubled. Bryan De La Cruz grounded out to score Alcantara. A walk, throwing error ( Tucker Davidson ) and fielding error ( Christian Cairo ) scored a run for St Paul in the bottom of the first inning. Sergio Alcantara homered in the third inning. St Paul scored six run

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Lehigh Valley 10 (11-9) St Paul 6 (8-11) CHS Field-St. Paul, MN How they scored : Sergio Alcantara doubled in the first inning and scored on a single by Steward Berroa.  Bryan De La Cruz doubled to score Berroa. Rehabbing Royce Lewis hit a two run home run for St Paul in the bottom of the first inning. Tanner Schobel homered for St Paul in the fourth inning. Christian Cairo, Carter Kieboom and Caleb Ricketts si

Twenty five year old Felix Reyes (initially signed 2/22/20 as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic) is joining the Phillies today and will make his major league debut. It’s a proud occasion for the entire organization but in particular the Player Development group. Felix is highly regarded both for his baseball prowess (especially hitting) and as a person. I was intending to spotlight him this week in my minor league weekly recap article - in fact I had rea

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - St Paul 7 (8-10) Lehigh Valley 4 (10-9) CHS Field-St. Paul, MN How they scored : Felix Reyes hit his 5th home run of the season in the first inning. St Paul scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning - two on home runs by Alan Roden and Kyler Fedko. Felix Reyes hit his 6th home run of the season in the third inning. Two walks, a single, fielders choice and ground out scored three runs for St Paul in th

American Association : 2026 signings - league opens 5/14/26 RHP Andrew Bellatti - Cleburne OF Aaron Altherr - Chicago LHP Jose Acuna - Chicago INF Nick Podkul - Gary RHP Konnor Ash - Kane City C Ryan Leitch - Kansas City OF Jhailyn Ortiz - Kansas City RHP Josh Bortka - Kansas City INF Lou Helmig - Fargo-Morehead UTL Matt Kroon - Fargo-Morehead Chris Coste - Manager - Fargo-Morehead RHP Trey Dillard - Lake County OF Baron Radcliff - Milwaukee OF Jiandido Tromp - Winnipeg Atlan

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - St Paul 5 (7-10) Lehigh Valley 1 (10-8) CHS Field-St. Paul, MN How they scored : A double, two walks and two singles scored two runs for St Paul in the third inning. Stewart Berroa homered in the fourth inning. St Paul scored two runs in the sixth inning on a double and three singles. They added a run in the seventh on a fielding error, walk and single. At Bat : 1 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 11 K’s Bryan De La Cruz had two h

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - St Paul 9 (6-10) Lehigh Valley 7 (10-7) CHS Field-St. Paul, MN How they scored : A single and double scored a run for St Paul in the second inning. Oscar Mercado homered in the third inning. A single and double scored a run for St Paul in the bottom of the third inning. Bryan De La Cruz singled in the fourth inning, he scored on a home run by Felix Reyes (his 4th of the season). A single, hit batter, double, si

Pitchers : 18 RH Eligio Arias - 23 yrs old RH Wilmer Blanco - 22 yrs old RH Tegan Cain - 23 yrs old RH Alexander De Los Santos - 19 yrs old RH Jaydenn Estanista - 24 yrs old - on Reading Development List RH Matthew Fisher - 20 yrs old RH Cole Gilley - 24 yrs old RH Deiry Gonzalez - 18 yrs old RH Luis Gonzalez - 20 yrs old LH Yordanis Guerra - 19 yrs old LH David Hernandez - 18 yrs old LH Angel Liranzo - 19 yrs old RH Ramon Marquez - 20 yrs old RH Jesus Montiel - 19 yrs old LH

Compiled and written by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Lehigh Valley 11 (10-6) St Paul 7 (5-10) CHS Field-St. Paul, MN How they scored : Sergio Alcantara walked to lead off the game, Steward Berroa singled sending him to third base, Berroa stole second base. Bryan De La Cruz hit a sacrifice fly to score a run. Garrett Stubbs singled to score Berroa. Felix Reyes doubled in the third inning, Garrett Stubbs walked. They both scored on a double by Liover Peguero. A dou

Players who have gotten off to good starts to the 2026 regular season. Lehigh Valley : (9-6) The IronPigs have a veteran roster and the experience of the players has shown thus far. Sergio Alcantara (29 yr old 2B/SS) has a .468 OBP with 8 hits and 14 walks in his first 47 plate appearances. Twenty nine year old outfielder Bryan De La Cruz (62 PA’s - 3 HR’s) and 24 year old infielder Christian Cairo (67 PA’s) have also shown great patience at the plate with 11 and 16 walks res