We continue our weekly check-in on the Phillies’ future down at the farm.
In this edition, we lead off with an arm and a bat you could see at Citizens Bank Park sooner rather than later:
Aaron Nola, RHP, Double A Reading
Nola is making Double A ball look like cake. On Sunday, the Phillies’ top pitching prospect delivered his best start as a pro, throwing eight innings of one-run ball. Nola struck out eight and walked none in 101 pitches for his third consecutive win and fourth overall. Nola also started on Monday of last week, allowing one run in seven innings.
In his last five starts, the 21-year-old is 4-1 with a 1.29 ERA, 27 strikeouts and three walks. His 0.83 WHIP ranks fifth in the Eastern League, while his 2.04 ERA ranks eighth. Nola’s been as good as advertised, if not better.
Maikel Franco, 3B, Triple A Lehigh Valley
Franco kept the multi-hit games coming while putting on his best power display of the season. The 22-year-old went 11 for 25 (.440) last week and clubbed two homers to go with six RBIs. The ballyhooed prospect raised his batting average to .336 and is leading the International League in doubles (12) and total bases (65) and is second in hits (42). One of his home runs came on some first-pitch feasting and it's becoming more and more apparent that Franco is far from patient or disciplined at the plate. He has one walk since April 14 and five total on the season with 24 strikeouts. But hey, a .336 average and .520 slugging percentage will help you look past that.
J.P. Crawford, SS, Single A Clearwater
Man, what a start for Crawford. In his return from an oblique injury, the Phillies' top-ranked prospect by MLB.com homered in his first game and finished the week 8 for 15 (.533) with five walks and two strikeouts. Crawford was the Threshers' designated hitter in his debut before playing shortstop in the following three games. He committed two errors in his first start at short but fielded cleanly over the next two games. Nonetheless, a rosy first week for Crawford, Baseball America's 14th-ranked overall prospect.
Domonic Brown, RF, Triple A Lehigh Valley
Brown, who has been hitting in the three-spot for the IronPigs ahead of cleanup man Franco, had a much better week than his previous. The 27-year-old went 8 for 25 (.320) and drove in four runs, bumping his batting average up from .179 to .222. On Sunday, Lehigh Valley slid Brown to fourth in the order behind Franco. Regardless, Brown's in a nice position hitting in back or ahead of Franco. Defensively, the rightfielder has yet to make an error.
MLB
Ben Lively, RHP, Double A Reading
While Nola dominated this past week, his Fightin Phils rotation mates did not fare as well. Lively, who came into his start Saturday with a 2.16 ERA, endured his worst outing of the season, giving up six runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings of Reading's 10-9 loss to Erie. The 23-year-old was spotted leads of 3-0 and 7-3 but could not hold them. It will be interesting to see how Lively responds to his first struggles, as his previous four outings were all quality starts.
Zach Eflin, RHP, Double A Reading
Eflin showed his first signs of mortality, yielding five runs on eight hits in five innings of Reading's 5-2 loss to New Hampshire on Wednesday. In his previous 23 2/3 innings, the right-hander had surrendered just three runs. Eflin took his first blemish in stride and seems to have a good head on his shoulders for just 21 years old. Read about it here in John Finger's piece.
Jesse Biddle, LHP, Double A Reading
Biddle, like others, suffered his worst start of the season this past week. The southpaw was hit around for 10 base knocks and five runs in four innings of work in Reading's 11-9 win over New Hampshire on Tuesday. The 23-year-old's ERA is up to 4.62 and he'll have to find a way to consistently retire right-handers, who are hitting .289 off him compared to .208 for lefties.
Tom Windle, LHP, Double A Reading
After walking seven over two innings in his last start, Windle allowed five runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings of Reading's 9-7 loss to Erie on Friday. Windle walked two this time out and struck out just one, as his ERA spiked to 5.33. Consider this past week a good learning curve for the Fightin Phils' rotation.
Art Charles, 1B, Double A Reading
Charles, a 24-year-old first baseman, had himself a week, going 12 for 19 (.632) with four home runs, eight RBIs, seven runs and 28 total bases. The lefty-swinging Charles is hitting .400 on the season. The Phillies acquired him from the Blue Jays in February 2013 for reliever Michael Schwimer, who made six appearances for Toronto's Triple A affiliate before being released.
Charles was named Eastern League Player of the Week, joining Eflin and Lively as the Reading players to capture those honors this season.
Brandon Leibrandt, LHP, Single A Clearwater
Leibrandt, the team's 28th-ranked prospect by MLB.com, earned Phillies Minor League Player of the Month honors for April along with Lakewood centerfielder Carlos Tocci. Leibrandt has carried over his success into May, as he threw eight innings of two-run ball and struck out seven in Clearwater's 6-2 win over Daytona on Thursday. In six starts this season, the 22-year-old is 3-1 with a 1.85 ERA.