2019 season opens for Phillies rookie-level Williamsport Crosscutters

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Historic Bowman Field again hosts the Crosscutters for 2019

The Philadelphia Phillies short-season affiliates in the New York-Penn League, the Williamsport Crosscutters, will begin play for the 2019 season tonight (Friday) at historic Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

The Phillies minor league affiliates at the Triple-A (Lehigh Valley), Double-A (Reading), High-A (Clearwater), and Low-A (Lakewood) levels have been competing for more than two months now.

The NY-Penn League season starts in mid-June, with many team rosters featuring players selected in the most recent MLB Draft who have signed a contract with the big-league organization. Those recent draftees have until July 12 to sign, but most are under contract well before that point.

New York–Penn League teams may have no more than three players on their active lists that have four or more years of prior combined MLB/MiLB service time, with the exception of position players changing roles to become pitchers and vice versa.

The NY-P is one of three such rookie-level leagues set to get underway. The Northwest League also opens play on Friday night, with eight teams located in the Northwestern United States and in Canada. On Tuesday the Pioneer League, with eight teams located in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S., will get to begin play in their 2019 season.

Rhys Hoskins began his pro career playing in 70 games with the Crosscutters back in the summer of 2014, right after the Phillies had made him their 5th round draft pick.

There will be 14 teams making up the 2019 New York-Penn League, with Williamsport taking part in their 13th year as a Phillies affiliate. Prior to that, the City of Williamport, located approximately 130 miles northwest of Philly, hosted a Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate for eight seasons from 1999-2006, and a Chicago Cubs affiliate for five seasons from 1994-98.

The 14 NY-P teams are split among three divisions: McNamara (4), Stedler (4), and Pinckney (6), with Williamsport having finished in last place in the standings (32-44) a year ago.

Shortstop Luis Garcia named top prospect in Gulf Coast League

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Luis Garcia, an 18-year-old shortstop signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in July 2017 out of the Dominican Republic, was named by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Gulf Coast League.

In their latest issue, displaying Shohei Ohtani on the cover, the respected baseball bi-weekly publication ranked the top 10 prospects in each of the six short-season and rookie minor leagues.

Garcia was awarded the top spot in the GCL following his first season playing in the United States. Garcia slashed .369/.433/.488 over 187 plate appearances across 43 games while playing for the “Phillies West” squad. He also knocked in 32 runs, scored 33 times, and swiped a dozen bags.

In writing up the GCL rankings, Ben Badler of Baseball America described Garcia as follows:

“…a smooth, graceful defender at shortstop with quick feet, great hands and a plus arm. He has the ability to make the flashy barehanded play, though unlike a lot of young shortstops, Garcia also makes smart decisions in the field and plays under control. While there was a split camp among scouts on Garcia’s hitting ability as an amateur, he showed a mature hitting approach from both sides in the GCL.”

In the issue, BA also included two more Phillies prospects in their rankings. The club’s 2018 top draft pick, Williamsport Crosscutters third baseman Alec Bohm, was rated the #8 prospect in the New York-Penn League. Williamsport catcher Rafael Marchan was ranked #12.

Garcia was ranked #14 in our Phillies Nation Top 20 Phillies Prospects list released back in early August. We rated Bohm as the second-best prospect in the entire farm system behind only pitcher Sixto Sanchez.

MLB.com also currently ranks the 22-year-old Bohm as second with Garcia at #14 among their Phillies top prospects. On Garcia, the MLB scouting report states:

“One of the bigger things that stood out was Garcia’s glove at shortstop. He has plus range, excellent hands and good footwork, with a plus arm that really stands out. Given that he’s just 17 for all of the 2018 season, there are obvious strength gains that will need to occur, but there’s confidence that will come as he starts to mature.”

Garcia is just beginning his minor league development, but he is off to a fantastic start. If he continues to develop as hoped, Phillies fans are still not likely to see him at Citizens Bank Park much before the 2022 season.

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Baseball America names Phillies Luis Garcia as top prospect in Gulf Coast League"

Ben Pelletier named as short-season Williamsport Crosscutters POY

Crosscutters take the field in a 2018 game
(Photo by Ruhrfisch has been cropped/shrunk)

The Williamsport Crosscutters became the Class A-Short Season minor league affiliates of the Philadelphia Phillies following the 2006 season.

The Crosscutters play their home games in a facility known as  BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field. It is currently the second-oldest ballpark in minor league baseball, having opened way back in 1926.

Williamsport is located in north-central Pennsylvania, approximately 180 miles from Philadelphia. It’s about a three-and-a-half hour drivefrom the Philly area using either I-76 or I-476.

In this recently completed 2018 season the Crosscutters finished at 32-44, tied for fifth (last) place in the Pinckney Division of the New York-Penn League.

This year’s Crosscutters Player of the Year is Ben Pelletier. The 6-2, 190lb left fielder turned 20 years old in late August. He was the 34th round selection of the Phillies in the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft out of high school in his native Canada.

Pelletier began the season playing for the Phillies Gulf Coast League East affiliate. He was promoted to short-season Williamsport on June 15.

Over 286 plate appearances across 69 games with the Crosscutters, Pelletier slashed .277/.333/.480 this season. His nine home runs, 45 RBI, and 29 runs scored led Williamsport in each of those offensive categories. In mid-August, Pelletier was named the New York-Penn League’s Player of the Week.

Back in early August, Mitch Rupert at the Sun-Gazette quoted Pelletier on how pitchers have changed their approach with him as the successful season unfolded: “I think I see more and more junk every day. I started the season seeing fastballs. But I’m seeing more off-speed than I did last year or the years before. I have to get used to it a little bit.”

Williamsport manager Pat Borders was quoted by Rupert on his young slugger’s performance and demeanor hitting in the middle of the lineup.

“He’s got a different kind of pop. The ball jumps off his bat a little different than most…He carries himself a little bit more mature…he’s gotten used to the type of attack you get in that hole because it commands a little bit of respect. His growth has been pretty good over the course of the season so far.”

Though not ranked among the Phillies organizational top prospects by any of the major scouting or evaluation sites at this point, Pelletier did show up among the “other top vote-getters” section of the Reading Eagle’s top thirty Phillies prospects survey released on September 1.

Pelletier could find himself starting to show up on more top prospect lists in 2019 should he repeat this caliber of performance. He is currently getting extra at-bats as part of the team’s instructional league entry.

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Williamsport Crosscutters Player of the Year: Ben Pelletier"