Williamsport Crosscutters, the Phillies New York Penn League affiliate, pitching coach Aaron Fultz spoke about his pitchers, where there at 20 games into the season, and how much more they need to learn.
Well, the thing about this league, and, again, I'm a first year coach so I'm learning too, is that there's going to be a lot of bumps and bruises along the way. We've had some guys show flashes of brilliance, so to speak. But we're also second or third in the league in walks [NOTE: They are second with 101]. So we're obviously not getting the ball over the plate enough.
Starting Pitchers:
Josh Warner is obviously doing a great job.
Ulises Joaquin who is out right now, he's had some glimpses of good stuff.
Jordan Guth is doing really well. He's a college guy and he's starting. He's throwing strikes with four pitches. So he's aggressive.
Jon Musser has been struggling with a number of things: tempo, command, confidence. But he's on the track back. He's been working. I think he's getting close.
Delvin Perez is more about confidence. He's got really good stuff and has a really good chance, he just needs a little more experience to believe in himself.
Bullpen:
Geoff Broussard has been great.
Matt Sisto's numbers aren't very good, but he throws strikes and is aggressive. Same thing with Nic Hanson. [Note: Hanson has also spot-started]. They're good just not overpowering. They can pitch and I really like that.
Jeb Stefan and Zach Cooper both throw hard.
Steven Inch [NOTE: Was suspended through July 8th] he's been reallly good at times and scuffled other times.
Andre Kendrick has been a good surprise. I had him all of extended spring training and he's thrown the ball really well except for one outing. He walked a few, but still did really well.
Jim Birmingham got hurt and had been scuffling before that.
NYPL slowing game down: That's the one thing I notice when I go out to talk to some of the pitchers. When you take a breath and slow it down and relax and try to say something offbeat like I like to do, whether it be something stupid or whatever. It's just to get them to breathe. That's the big plus. Once you learn how to [slow the game down] it makes a difference.
Anything hard to communicate? I don't know if there's anything that's hard to communicate. It's hard to get them to listen. A lot of it comes down to experience. I played a long time, so I have that. They'll get it eventually. A lot of times you have to learn by trial and error and go through it in yourself instead of listening. It's not an easy game. They're all curious and ask questions which I like. Hopefully that will be a positive.
Read my continuing coverage of the New York Penn League for Going Nine/Baseball Digest, Gotham Baseball, and Bus Leagues Baseball.
