ST. PETERSBURG, FL - July 04: Philadelphia Phillies Shortstop Trea Turner (7) at bat during the MLB regular season game on Independence Day between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays on July 04, 2023, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire)
After Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber hit the injured list, joining J.T. Realmuto, there were concerns that the Philadelphia Phillies would have problems scoring runs at the same clip. The offense looked dicey for the first couple of games but has since come around. Even so, if the Phillies are looking for an infusion of pop into the lineup, they don’t have to look any further than Allentown.
Even if the Phillies aren’t looking for another big league bat in the minors, there’s at least one potent bat in Triple-A that may not be giving the front office much of a choice.
Red-hot Phillies minor leaguer forcing club’s hand with Triple-A dominance
Infielder Weston Wilson has been absolutely demolishing Triple-A pitching for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs recently. Well, more than just recently. Going back to May 12, the 29-year-old is slashing .309/.396/.691 with 15 home runs and 39 RBI in 36 games.
On the season, Wilson is slashing .241/.336/.490 with 17 home runs, 52 RBI and 13 steals in 67 games, which tells you how slowly he started the year. He has even dropped his strikeout rate by a couple of percentage points from last season, down to 24.6 percent.
He’s so hot that he was recently named the International League Player of the Week for the final week of June after hitting .417 with a 1.417 OPS and popping four home runs as part of his 10 hits.
The right-handed hitter appeared briefly with the Phillies earlier in the season, making four plate appearances across two games. His only other MLB stint came in eight games last year. His 22 plate appearances resulted in a .313 batting average and 1.000 OPS with a home run, five RBI and three stolen bases.
