“Keepin’ touch with Mama KinTell her where you’ve gone and been”
-Steven Tyler / Aerosmith
Buffalo Series
A rousing win on Education Day on Tuesday–from here on known as the “Otto Kemp Game” for his 2 HR and 7 RBI–has let to some poor performances over the past couple days. The weather hasn’t been easy, but that impacts both sides. The IronPigs have had some ineffective starting pitching; sometimes you can overcome that, and sometimes it just spirals. Down 1-2 on the week, perhaps the weekend can provide some competitive games and some much-needed wins.
Roster and Transactions
Perhaps not as many as we first anticipated. Since Tuesday’s post:
- OF Gabriel Rincones Jr has been doing baseball things including starting an assignment with Single-A Clearwater where he crushed a long home run the other day.
- INF Aidan Miller is not doing baseball activities. We’ve gone beyond frustration around here and turned to feeling really bad for the person he is.
- RHP Grant Holman was claimed off waivers from Detroit and optioned to IronPigs. He’s kicked around a bit this season as the big righty from Cal has been the victim of some 40-man moves. He came up with the A’s and has some MLB time with them from 2024 and 2025. The Diamondbacks claimed him on waivers in February but he didn’t survive Spring Training before he got DFA’d again. The Dodgers claimed him but it doesn’t appear that he pitched at all. 10 days later, on to Detroit by the same method, and he got three appearances and one start–only 4.1 innings–with Toledo before the process started again. Scouting report suggests he has a dominant mid-90s fastball and a swing-and-miss change. He needs to pitch; let this kid settle in and start to get some innings. At the upper minors, he does seem to be mostly a reliever and that’s where he profiles.
Most Recent Printable Roster
Motivations
Just a quick look at why the guys are playing hard–not that they wouldn’t–and where the opportunities might lie:
Christian Cairo: He got his 40-man spot, but should be motivated to continue to play good defense at multiple positions and hit the ball to make himself an option for the Phillies wherever they might need him.
Steward Berroa: The Phillies always seem to need center fielders, so if he can play well in the field and provide a solid bat from both sides of the plate he should provide some outfield depth for the Phillies. We’d like to see his .276 be more .316, but the .827 OPS is nothing to sneeze at.
Otto Kemp: He needs to prove that his bat is more reliable in left field than Felix Reyes, and that his glove plays well enough at third to spell a struggling Bohm.
Bryan De La Cruz: A right-handed corner outfield bat? Yes, please says the Phillies. He’s gotta hit better though. And, for more power. If he gets hot he’ll be up in the Majors in a minute.
Liover Peguero: Positional flexibility. He’s working on proving that he can be a depth option who can play all around the diamond and has some MLB experience.
Caleb Ricketts: The Phillies are keeping three catchers in the big leagues because they don’t trust any of their other options at Triple or Double-A. Ricketts has the opportunity to prove defensively that he can be that catching depth and that his bat won’t be a complete zero. He’s gotten better already this season.
Carter Kieboom: He’s had some opportunity in the majors already and it hasn’t worked out. He’s having his normal Triple-A season right now but will need to force their hand and do well enough at first base that he’s a real option if Harper needs some down time.
Everyone’s trying to get to the Big Leagues of course, but these players have some specific motivations to continue to play well for themselves and the organization.
The Weekend
Friday: 6:45PM start time with gates at 5:15/5:30. Fireworks. Witches and Wizards night. Butter beer in the plaza. LHP Tucker Davidson back to a starting role after some time in the ‘pen, trading places with Ryan Cusick. Cool out with breeziness and possible showers.
Saturday: 6:35PM start time with gates 5:00/5:15. Fireworks. Star Wars Night. Cool with shower risk continuing. Alan Rangel on the mound, giving the Pigs a good chance to win.
Sunday: 1:15 start time with gates 11:45/12:00. Wine glass tumbler for the ladies. Mother’s Day. Run the bases and catch on the field after the game. Warmer and sunny. Bryse Wilson coming off one of his better starts on Tuesday morning.
See you at the park,
@Kram207