There are multiple ways that minor league player development can positively impact an organization. Establishing a reserve talent pool at the Triple A level that can supplement the major league roster in order to provision depth during the long season is vital. Developing younger talent that can either contribute to the major league club when ready or providing a talent base used to acquire major league talent via trades is also a necessity. We’ve seen examples of each this season. The importance of a strong player development process and system is quite evident in order for the major league club to succeed.
Individual team player development however is not an area that gets extensive coverage, there are of course the “prospect rankings” of national notoriety where experts provision their knowledge of each organization - it’s likely where most fans I presume get their information when curious. On the local front every now and again the major media outlets from Philly will assign a talented writer to do a feature piece on a minor league player and those are always enjoyable reads, usually uplifting pieces.
The daily happenings of the full system however historically hasn’t gotten the acclaimed “ink”. In recent years many teams have established player development social media pages (the Phillies have a very good one with daily photos and video clips highlighting minor league players and their accomplishments - Grace Ostendorf is doing a really good job there since her hiring earlier this year). But more often than not it’s the “blogger” sites that fill the gap of daily player development information.
My friend Jim Peyton manages and writes daily minor league box score recaps on the “Phuture Phillies” web site, he will also interject editorial pieces on various baseball subjects. The site was established in 2006, initially as a discussion forum for the Phillies minor leagues but has since grown into an more expansive format where commenters respond to Jim’s articles with their opinions on the major league team as well. It’s generally a civil discussion forum as Jim polices the comments for disrespectful narrative. There seems to be a community circle of commentators, some with more dug in opinions than others that banter with one another pretty much on a daily basis.
Matt Winkleman established Phillies Minor Thoughts in June of 2014 and also has multiple followers on X and other social media platforms. I interact with Matt often, he’s extremely bright and very current on statistical data, particularly from an analytics perspective on player performance. His ability to provision information and opinion from afar using video and data review is a strong suit. He provides personalized scouting reports based on his observations and research on most every player and also lists out a top prospects list. Matt originally wrote for Phuture Phillies in 2012 after graduating from college. He watches and follows most every game in the system and offers timely comments on X (Twitter). Matt also will provide commentary on the major league club, transactions and other things in baseball that garner his intrigue.
Other popular sites include Phillies Nation, Bleacher Report and That Balls Outa here - each has dedicated sections to the Phillies minor league process - I find Ty Daubert on Phillies Nation to be well versed and informed.
Then there’s what I do 🤪. A few days ago I was chatting with a Phillies security employee and he asked how many hours a day I spend on my “work”. I told him it’s likely six to eight hours a day inclusive of being at the complex to watch practices and games, interacting with coaches, front office personnel, broadcasters and players and the actual writing. I’m a nut in that I attempt to watch each minor league game or elements thereof as they happen and report on the collection of daily/nightly games as a group shortly after the last out of the final contest of that day. It’s a privilege to have the media game notes from each affiliate and I try to always interject a piece of that from each in my nightly Minor League Roundup. I also do spotlight interviews with players and publish those on occasion along with my ongoing series of tracking former Phillies now playing in other organizations or independent leagues. Just for fun I’ll post listings of the statistical leaders within the Phillies minor leagues periodically. I also provision a report to my buddy Jake Starr ( Reading Fightin Phils PR/Media Relations Manager and broadcaster) on the FCL/DSL for the collaborative recording amongst the four minor league affiliates that they post on social media highlighting the week.
In spring training I cover the three month event with daily narrative from initial High Performance Camps in January till when ST camp breaks. Oh yeah, we also provide coverage in October and November on Instructs and HP camps and in the fall/winter on Phillies players playing AFL or winter league ball. I used to publish an annual digest as well each December on the recently completed season, now I write individual player notes for every minor league player who finished the season in the Phillies organization. Don’t ask me about my “top prospects list” - I don’t do one as I prefer to review each player independent of a subjective ranking. I very rarely if ever, outside of ST, write about the Major League team albeit I can tell you I watch each and every game.
It’s a time consuming passion - maybe I didn’t answer the question truthfully about the amount of time I invest 🤦♂️. For now it’s something I enjoy doing and have done since 2015 when I retired from Pfizer. Actually even before that I wrote part time for a now defunct blog and published my first Phillies book in 2008 - “A Poetic Season” - https://www.amazon.com/2008-Philadelphia-Phillies-Poetic-Perspective/dp/1438938551. It’s that one along with the book I co-authored with Larry Shenk about the history of the Phillies minor leagues - Life in the Minors - https://www.amazon.com/Life-Minors-Annual-Phillies-League/dp/B08W3LSDNH which are perhaps my best efforts.
Long story short if ya truly want to know what is happening in the Phillies player development area of the organization there are venues that can provide information far more detailed than a national “prospects list”. The necessity of a strong player development system is quite evident in order for the major league club to succeed - to me it’s just as important to report and know what that process is doing on a daily basis - just sayin.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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