Nick Mandarano

It’s July 2, and that means the international signing period has begun. The Phillies have used this time to add some potential pitchers to their bright future.
Starlyn Castillo, a young pitching prospect from the Dominican Republic listed 8th on MLB Pipeline’s list of international prospects, is already hitting 97 on the radar gun prior to his 16th birthday.

Despite a five-run third inning and double-digit hits, the Phillies’ offense wasn’t able to outmatch that of the Marlins today. Neither starting pitcher made it through more than five innings, allowing a collective 13 earned runs, though 17 were scored in total. Phillies prospect Rhys Hoskins had another big day at the plate, featuring his eighth home run in just 15 games and 53 at-bats.

Nick Pivetta pitched 6.0 strong innings of baseball and was backed by some early offense to help him reach his fourth victory of the season. The Phillies put up a four-spot in the third inning to grab an early lead, which they never lost. After Pivetta’s exit, the Braves threatened, scoring three runs in 0.1 innings against reliever Jesen Therrien, but it wasn’t enough. Five Phillies combined for nine hits in the ballgame. Hyun Soo Kim, who debuted for the Phillies today after arriving as a part of the Jeremy Hellickson deal, started in left field and walked in each of his first three plate appearances before striking out in his final at-bat. The win concludes a four-game sweep over the Braves and marks the fifth straight victory for the Phillies, who will open a three-game series in Anaheim against the Angels tomorrow night.

Yesterday’s win marked back-to-back series victories for the Phillies for the first time since they won three in a row from April 18-27 against the Mets, Braves and Marlins. Since then, Philadelphia has won just four of their 24 series. After winning five of their last seven games and with momentum on their side, the Phillies will host the Astros, who currently possess the best record in the American League. 

The Phillies boast seven of their prospects on BaseballAmerica’s newly released 2017 Midseason Top 100 Prospects list, including two new faces in Scott Kingery and Adam Haseley. Three of their players from the most recent May 11th edition of the list have fallen, but both Sixto Sanchez and Rhys Hoskins have climbed the ranks.

Nick Pivetta pitched a season-high 7.0 innings of shutout baseball, but the Phillies struggled to score early as well. Boston posed a threat to Pat Neshek, who replaced Pivetta in the eighth inning. Chris Sale led off the top of the eighth inning with a double to left field and advanced to third on a fly ball to right off the bat of Mookie Betts. With one out and the go-ahead runner on third, Neshek struck out Dustin Pedroia and got Xander Bogaerts to pop up to escape the inning with no harm done. The Phillies were able to strike for some offense in the bottom of the eighth to take a late 1-0 lead, which they were able to hold onto for their first victory since June 6.

The Phillies will have their hands full while they attempt to break an eight-game losing skid as they go up against Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox. Since being shutout against St. Louis on June 10, the Phillies have averaged four runs per game. Unfortunately, they’ve allowed 5.75 runs per game in the same span and Sale has allowed more than three earned runs in only two of his 13 starts this season. After winning four of their first five games in June, the Phillies will be looking for their first victory since June 6.

After a month of May in which they amassed just six wins, the Phillies have started June winning four of their seven games. They opened the month with a series victory against the San Francisco Giants followed by a four-game split with the Atlanta Braves and will now hit the road to take on the St. Louis Cardinals for their first of six meetings in a 14-day span. The Cardinals, after a winless seven-game road trip, return home where they’ve gone 14-15. The Phillies, however, have played just .281-ball on the road in 2017 (9-23). Philadelphia’s starting rotation has allowed 3 ER or fewer in each of their last six games, which is the longest streak since Sept. 29, 2016 to April 5, 2017. Relievers Hector Neris (3 ER, 13.2 IP), Pat Neshek (2 ER, 14.1 IP) and Edubray Ramos (4 ER, 18.0 IP) have combined for a 1.76 ERA (9 ER, 46.0 IP) with 49 strikeouts over the team’s last 36 games. 

Maikel Franco was once ranked the top prospect in the Phillies organization and 17th in all of baseball, but he has struggled in his 2017 campaign so far. He’s slashing .216/.273/.352, placing him in the bottom ten in batting average of any qualified National League hitter and raising questions regarding a trip back to Lehigh Valley. A basic overview of his stats would be frightening, but delve a little deeper and there’s hope. A negative WAR (-0.4) and negative WPA (-0.71) aren’t pleasing, but keep in mind they’re strictly evaluations of past performance to date and have no prediction value for future performance. There’s no way to say for sure if Franco will return to his productive form, but there’s definitely plenty of evidence to believe his .216 batting average is more so a fluke than any of his previous seasons.

Embed from Getty Images   By Nick Mandarano, Sports Talk Philly Staff   PITTSBURGH — The Phillies are looking to win…

The Phillies, who will play the Texas Rangers, have lost fourteen of their last seventeen games and have been outscored 101-74 during that span. Wednesday’s loss resulted in the sixth consecutive series loss for Philadelphia. Prior to their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which began this rough stretch, the Phillies had won six straight games and were two games above .500. Now they sit nine games below .500 and 10.0 games back in the National League East.
The Phillies pitching staff has struggled in May so far, combining for a 5.68 ERA (79 ER, 125.1 IP). The Phillies will look to Nick Pivetta in an attempt to turn things around. Pivetta, who made his Major League debut earlier this season, is also looking for his first career victory. With Aaron Nola scheduled to return to the rotation on Sunday, this could potentially be Pivetta’s final start.

Embed from Getty Images   By Nick Mandarano, Sports Talk Philly staff writer  Final: New York 5, Philadelphia 4  ❖  …

Embed from Getty Images   By Nick Mandarano, Sports Talk Philly Staff   NEW YORK — The Phillies, who have lost…

Embed from Getty Images     By Nick Mandarano, Sports Talk Philly staff writer  Final: Washington 3, Philadelphia 2  ❖   PHILADELPHIA,…

Embed from Getty Images   By Nick Mandarano, Sports Talk Philly Staff   CLEARWATER, Fla. — After a 9-5 win against the Twins on…

Embed from Getty Images   By: Nick Mandarano, Sports Talk Philly Staff John Kruk will return to the Phillies' television broadcast…

Embed from Getty Images   By: Nick Mandarano, Sports Talk Philly Staff The newest members of the National Baseball Hall…

By: Nick Mandarano, Sports Talk Philly Staff   Adam Briscoe, known for his "Briscoe Disco" dance at Reading Fightin Phils games,…

Sports Talk Philly’s countdown of the top 25 Philadelphia Phillies of all-time reaches No. 9, with Hall of Famer Chuck Klein.

“Sherwood Magee is a typical player who is and always will be popular. A typical slugger, he gives the public what they prize above all else in a ball player, and that is base hits, and a good all around performer, of the old school.”

Former Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Del Ennis checks in at No. 16 on Sports Talk Philly’s top 25 Phillies of all-time countdown.

Sports Talk Philly’s countdown of the top 25 Philadelphia Phillies of all-time continues with No. 22.

Embed from Getty Images   By Nick Mandarano, Sports Talk Philly staff writer  Final: Philadelphia 10, Colorado 4  ❖  …

Embed from Getty Images    By: Nick Mandarano, Sports Talk Philly Staff  PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies returned from the All-Star break…

Embed from Getty Images   By Nick Mandarano, contributor  Final: Royals 6, Phillies 1  ❖   PHILADELPHIA, PA — Despite an…

Pete Mackanin watches batting practice prior to a game (Frank Klose/Philliedelphia)  By: Nick Mandarano, contributor  As we turn the calendar…

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Phillies prospect Tom Eshelman pitched so well for the Single A Clearwater Threshers that the team promoted him to Double…

Embed from Getty Images   By: Nick Mandarano, contributor  Final: Diamondbacks 3, Phillies 1  ❖   PHILADELPHIA, PA — It was a…