Mounds of promise on the Phillies’ farm | Sports Daily Newsletter
Pitching prospects have formed a bond in Lakewood.
The Phillies’ last two first-round picks, Mick Abel and Andrew Painter, have joined forces on the pitching staff of the high-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws. Arguably the Phillies’ top two prospects, they have formed a brotherhood along with Ben Brown, a 33rd-round pick in 2017 who also is on the Jersey Shore staff.
“Sometimes competition can get the best of you or make you get bitter, but I don’t see that with any of these guys,” Brown says. “Seeing how they pull for each other, seeing how they pull for me, it makes me want to pull for them even more.”
— Jim Swan, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.
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Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher and new coach John Tortorella have stressed that the first step to fixing the Flyers is making the team “harder to play against” and embracing the identity of Flyers teams of yesterday.
That is all fine and good. The issue is that the Flyers still lack the necessary talent to compete, and as Fletcher announced Wednesday, there isn’t any more help on the way. Yes, the Flyers will likely be more physical and harder to play against next season, but as Mike Sielski writes, the bottom line is they’ll also be harder to watch.
The newest Flyer, enforcer Nic Deslauriers, met with the media Thursday and handed out a lesson in French in the process.
The French Canadian answered questions in both English and French, explaining that he thinks Philadelphia is a “perfect fit” and saying he believes his game will translate in this city. Here are the highlights from Deslauriers’ first comments as a Flyer.
The Flyers also held the third and final on-ice day of development camp practices ahead of Friday’s scrimmage. Olivia Reiner was in Voorhees and has the story of a special guest coach and an update on one of the team’s highest-rated prospects.
The Phillies will select 17th in the first round of the MLB draft on Sunday night. This draft is said to be heavy on talented position players, while several top pitchers have been dealing with injuries.
So what will the Phillies do with their top pick? Will they select a pitcher for the third straight year? It’s a tough choice for scouting director Brian Barber and his army of talent evaluators. They cannot afford a mistake with a high-risk pick.
Next: The Phillies open a three-game series with the Marlins on Friday at 6:40 p.m. (NBCSP). Kyle Gibson (4-3, 4.53 ERA) will oppose Miami ace Sandy Alcantara (9-3, 1.73).
Eagles running back Miles Sanders found himself drawn to his hometown of Pittsburgh for training this offseason, mentioning one benefit in workouts: “There’s hills everywhere.” Sanders split his time this offseason mostly between Pittsburgh and Houston, traveling with his longtime trainer Craig Williams.
Sanders found time to run a free football camp in the Steel City for about 300 children between the ages of 6 and 13. “I’m still grinding, too,” Sanders says of his training. “Probably like a week or a couple days before [training camp,] I’ll just chill out and relax my body, then it’s go time.”
Next: The Eagles open training camp on July 26.
Longtime 76ers employees Tyler Lashbrook and Dwayne Jones are getting a unique opportunity to further their coaching careers. Lashbrook was the Sixers’ summer league head coach in Salt Lake City last week before Jones took on that role during the team’s stay in Las Vegas that continues Friday night against Denver.
The Union picked up Julían Carranza’s purchase option this week and manager Jim Curtin is awfully glad they did. “... Now we have a guy that is ours, and is a great striker in the league,” Curtin said.
Worth a look
Heading for Philly? The National Women’s Soccer League plans to expand by two teams by 2024. Commissioner Jessica Berman says that Philadelphia could be an attractive candidate for a team.
What you’re saying about the Flyers’ playoff chances
We asked you: Will the Flyers turn things around and make the playoffs in the upcoming season?
Among your responses:
NO WAY! A raging dumpster fire lacking a hydrant! [Ed] Snider lost his way, sold out to clueless Comcast.
[Ron] Hextall and [Chuck]Fletcher buried the remains of a great franchise. The hockey version of the Jacksonville Jaguars!
A fan from 1967 who is done!!!!!! — Frank W.
Why ??? What have they done to improve the team? Allowing [Johnny] Gaudreau to sign with Columbus because of incompetent front office management leaves little hope.
What a mess. They have become irrelevant. — Bill M.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Scott Lauber, Alex Coffey, Gina Mizell, EJ Smith, Olivia Reiner, Giana Han, Mike Sielski, Jonathan Tannenwald, and Isabella DiAmore.