11/13/23 : Annual Phillies Minor League Player Notes - Pitchers - Part Sixteen

Last off-season I started a different writing venture - rather than producing a hard copy version of what was an annual Phillies Minor League Digest I went with a new approach and posted a series of articles on the webpage instead.  A large portion of the digest was my player notes - views that are not entirely built upon seasonal or short term stats - while I referenced them I relied more upon my observations and feedback from players and coaches.

This off-season we continue the series  “Annual Phillies Minor League Player Notes”with profiles presented in groupings by defensive positions.  I intend to offer notes on every stateside player I watched perform this past season that finished the 2023 season with the organization.  I can attest that I actually watched most every Phillies minor league game each evening, attended practices and interacted with a vast amount of players, coaches, scouts and front office folks.  Recently I sent a couple questions to the players - asked them what was their  biggest personal takeaway from the 2023 season and what they are focusing on this off-season to prepare for 2024.  Where I have responses I will include them in the notes.  Also where I’m able I will include feedback from coaches and player development leadership.

The initial set of articles will be on pitchers.  I’ll present notes on pitchers in alphabetical order. The first fifteen articles previously published - see the links if you missed them.  Today we focus on group sixteen.

Group 16 : Jose Pena Jr, Hector Perez, Jonathan Petit, Tyler Phillips, Dominic Pipkin

Group 1 :  Mick Abel, Samuel Aldegheri, Luis Alcala, Shaun Anderson, Erubiel Armenta - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/10-10-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-one

Group 2 : Konnor Ash, Andrew Baker, Brandon Beckel, Carlos Betancourt - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/10-26-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-two

Group 3 : Malik Binns, Josh Bortka, Ben Bowden, Connor Brogdon, Blake Brown - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/10-27-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-three

Group 4 : Cam Brown, Jean Cabrera, Eiberson Castellano, Starlyn Castillo, Ethan Chenault, Ty Collins - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/10-30-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-four

Group 5 : Gabriel Cotto, Hans Crouse, Jack Dallas, Trey Dillard, Jake Eddington - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/10-31-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-five

Group 6 : Jaydenn Estanista, Braeden Fausnaught, Jordan Fowler, Carlos Francisco, Javier Fuenmayor - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/11-1-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-six

Group 7 : Marty Gair, Alex Garbrick, Eric Garcia, Tristan Garnett, Drew Garrett - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/11-2-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-seven

Group 8 : Luis Gomez, Mavis Graves, Zach Haake, Daniel Harper, Josh Hendrickson - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/11-3-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-eight

Group 9 : Jonh Henriquez, Cristian Hernandez, Jakob Hernandez, Chase Hopewell, Drew Hutchinson - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/11-6-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-nine

Group 10 : Estibenzon Jimenez, Damon Jones, Nate Karaffa, Orion Kerkering, Keylan Killgore - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/11-7-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-ten

Group 11 : George Klassen, Taylor Lehman, Adam Leverett, Hunter Loyd, Rafael Marcano - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/11-8-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-eleven

Group 12 : Jordi Martinez, Gunner Mayer, Tommy McCollum, Alex McFarlane, Griff McGarry - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/11-9-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-twelve

Group 13 : Christian McGowan, Tyler McKay, Oswald Medina, Daniel Mejia, Jhordany Mezquita - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/11-10-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-thirteen

Group 14 : McKinley Moore, Wesley Moore, Nick Nelson, Mitch Neunborn, Luis Ortiz - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/11-11-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-fourteen

Group 15 : Matt Osterberg, Micah Ottenbreit, Andrew Painter, Wen Hui Pan, David Parkinson - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/11-12-23-annual-phillies-minor-league-player-notes-pitchers-part-fifteen

Group 17 : Michael Plassmeyer, Alex Rao, Jason Ruffcorn, Matt Russell, Luke Russo

Group 18 : Rodolfo Sanchez, Brett Schulze, Andrew Schultz, Eduar Segovia, Enrique Segura, Casey Steward

Group 19 : Noah Skirrow, Saul Teran, Paxton Thompson, Braydon Tucker, Erich Uelmen, Guissepe Velasquez

Group 20 : Ezequiel Ventura, Jace Vines, Andrew Walling, Jeremy Walker, Danny Wilkinson, Cam Wynne

So we continue - the sixteeenth article in the 2023 series on pitchers  ⚾️🤓.

RHP Jose Peña Jr - 20 years old - drafted in 6th round of the 2021 draft from Tampa Prep HS, Tampa, FL

2023 Stats :  made 14 appearances for the FCL Phillies (32.1 IP) posting a 6.68 ERA with 31 strikeouts and 32 walks.  Opponents hit .238 against him.  Averaged 11.20 pitches per inning pitched and had a 59 % strike ratio.

2023 Notes :  an energetic young man who’s exuberance shines thru as a teammate, always one of the first to cheer and/or applaud when his team is doing well.  The youth is also evident on the mound as he sometimes battles emotions which leads to an inability to focus and be consistent.  He’s got a power curve ball that is a swing and miss pitch, gets great movement and spin - it can be an out maker.  Fastball velocity has waned since we first saw him a couple years back - now generally sits in the 90 to 92 mph range, also throws the curve, a slider and changeup.  If he can learn to focus on his craft and eliminate distractions he’s capable of pitching in full season play.  Seems to work hard, just needs to listen to one direction.

2024 Projection :  in the mix for a role with Clearwater in spring camp.

RHP Hector Perez  - 27 years old - signed as a minor league free agent 8/26/23 from Rays organization

2023 Stats :   appeared in 9 games with AAA Lehigh Valley - 3.75 ERA in 12 IP, 13 strikeouts and 11 walks. Averaged 16.83 pitches per inning pitched and had a 60 % strike ratio.  Opponents hit just .133 against him.  Before signing with the Phillies he appeared in 33 games (53 IP) for AAA Durham in the Rays system where he posted a 4.08 ERA with 69 K’s and 30 walks, a 1.42 WHIP.

2023 Notes : fastball is generally in the 95 to 98 mph range, also has a power slider and splitter.  Issues to date have been control and command.  Has appeared in two major league games (Blue Jays in 2020 and Rays in 2023).  Was with five organizations before signing with the Phillies (Astros, Blue Jays, Reds, Orioles and Rays).  The stuff plays and is of strikeout caliber but just hasn’t found the ability to date to consistently throw strikes.  Was a starter earlier in his career - converted to the bullpen during the 2021 season while with the Reds organization.

2024 Projection :   minor league free agent

RHP Jonathan Petit - 22 years old - signed as an international free agent 4/26/19 - Valencia, Venezuela

2023 Stats :  made 21 regular season appearances for the Clearwater Threshers, 17 of those were starts.  A career high of 80.2 innings pitched plus 6 more in the playoffs - posted a 5.24 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP.  Jonathan stuck out 76 batters and walked 33.  Averaged 17.19 pitches per inning pitched and had a 63 % strike ratio.  He was named the Florida State League pitcher of the month for August when he recorded a 2.78 ERA in four starts (22.2 innings pitched) with 28 strikeouts and 6 walks, an 0.88 WHIP and .175 batting average against.

2023 Notes :  had a solid season. Has a live arm and a full range of pitches - four seamer (93 to 95 mph), sinker (90 to 94 mph), changeup, slider, curve and a cutter.  Will generally focus on throwing the four seamer and sinker with the slider and change up as offsets.  He competes and goes right at the hitter, won’t beat himself and is “sneaky quick”.

2024 Projection : should be in the hunt for a rotation spot with Jersey Shore in spring camp.

RHP Tyler Phillips - 25 years old - signed as minor league free agent 11/6/21

2023 Stats :  appeared in 26 games - 25 starts for AA Reading (17 appearances - 16 starts - 82.1 IP, 1.38 WHIP, 5.07 ERA) and AAA Lehigh Valley (9 starts - 40.1 IP - 4.69 ERA) totaling 122.2 IP with a 4.92 ERA, a 1.52 WHIP, 110 strikeouts and 52 walks.  Averaged 15.99 pitches per inning pitched and had a 62 % strike ratio.

2023 Notes :  missed the entire 2022 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery spending the year at the complex with the rehab group.  We got to chat with him quite often that summer and watch multiple live bullpens - reminds me of Zach Eflin in pitching style and build (Tyler is 6’5”) - we were excited with what we saw and where he could get to.  This year was full go from the jump, not only returning to game action but also incorporating three new pitches (sinker - 91 to 96 mph), slider and changeup (splitter) to accompany a big hook curve that he already had.  It was a reinvention of sorts on the fly and on select nights it was dominant (6/14 - six scoreless, 6/20 - six IP, one run allowed, 6/25 - five IP - one run allowed, 8/19 - 7 IP - one run allowed and 9/6 - five scoreless) while on others he struggled.  The inconsistency was somewhat expected given the first year back to work and the learning on the job of new pitches.  Numbers don’t always tell the complete story - this young man has the ability to get big league hitters out, in my humble opinion that will be even more evident next year.

Tyler’s reflections :  “I will start by saying that I’m very proud of my ability to throw as many innings as I did this year after surgery. I faced adversity while trying to remember how to pitch again. I always heard guys say they forgot how to pitch after TJ and thought that was crazy, but I figured out it wasn’t the pitching itself, it was the mentality I carry on the mound game to game. It was remembering what gives me the competitive edge. My biggest take away from the season is that I’m more than capable of getting high caliber players out. I feel that when I got to Lehigh even with fatigue beginning to kick in I only got better, where as my last time in Triple A I was timid and didn’t attack hitters. I developed three new pitches this season. My sinker and ability to change speeds when I made the adjustments, proved to be extremely effective and I learned how to be more of a pitcher every single day.

Going into the offseason, a huge focus for me is to continue building a solid foundation in strength, and mobility to put me in a position to stay healthy and endure the long season.  From a skill standpoint my limiting factor this year was facing lefties. They gave me some issues occasionally. I struggled being in the zone with the new sinker. It was very evident on my heat maps that I was going to be pitching away from lefties making it an easy decision to lay off and make me come to them. I’m going to have to work on keeping all of my stuff in the zone to lefties and I may also be developing another new pitch to help that process along.

Lastly, the mental side. I stated earlier that I am more than capable of getting very good hitters out. I have to continue to believe in myself as a very good pitcher and trust that I’m a very effective contact/ ground ball pitcher. With trust in those things I can carry my true competitive nature into every game and give my team a chance to win each start.”

Pitching Coordinator Travis Hergert :  “Phillips is an org success story coming out of our Rehab group. Tyler added three new pitches during his time in rehab all the way to the end of this season.  He picked up a two seamer/sinker that became his primary fastball, getting a lot of weak contact on the ground.  He added more of a sweeping slider to mirror the sinker and once in AAA, he added a split-change.  He was a work horse all season long and rebounded well from TJ surgery in '21.”

2024 Projection :  re-signed with the Phillies, should get some looks in big league spring camp.

RHP Dominic Pipkin  - 23 years old - drafted in 9th round of the 2018 draft from Pinole Valley HS, Pinole, CA

2023 Stats :  began the season on the IL with elbow soreness and was stationed at the complex to work with the rehab team - pitched in five rehab games in late June and early July with the FCL Phillies and Clearwater Threshers before being activated on AA Reading’s roster on 7/4/23.  Made 18 relief appearances for Reading accumulating 19.2 innings and posted a 3.66 ERA with 23 strikeouts and 7 walks.  Opponents hit .222 against him, had a 1.17 WHIP and averaged 16.78 pitches per inning pitched with a 63 % strike ratio.  Was selected to participate in the Arizona Fall League and made three appearances, 0.00 ERA, 2.2 IP, 1.13 WHIP, 2 K’s, 1 BB.

2023 Notes :   has been one of my favorites since he joined the organization, great sense of humor.  I remember watching one of his early live bullpen sessions this season and told him that the fastball was getting on the hitters but because of his smooth delivery it didn’t seem like at a high velo - he laughed and said he was “sneaky fast” - turns out the gun had the heater at 99 mph that day - sneaky fast indeed 😂. He’s converted from being a starter earlier in his career, still has a starter’s mix with a cutter, slider and change up but it’s the velo that makes him standout as a back end reliever - 99 to 100 mph fastballs that rise aren’t generally sneaky but they are indeed good.

Dominic’s reflections :  “My biggest takeaway is to be the best version of myself on (and off) of the field - doesn’t matter the situation, go out and give everything I possibly can.  And my off season focus is going to be overall strength in my upper body.”

Pitching Coordinator Travis Hergert : “Power arm that seems to perform better out of the bullpen.  He’s developed a harder slider/cutter pitch for off speed and a solid changeup.”

2024 Projection :  a return to Reading as part of the back end of the bullpen with a chance to climb the ladder.

Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️

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