Imhof Roughed Up

Clearwater, Fla. — With their second round selection in 2014, the Philadelphia Phillies selected a lefty from Cal Poly- San Luis Obispo. On Tuesday night, Matt Imhof made his fourth start of the season for the High-A Clearwater Threshers.

In 14 career starts, Imhof has never pitched more than five innings. Tuesday would be no different.

The 47th overall pick in 2014 by the Phillies, Matt Imhof is currently in High-A Clearwater.

The California native, just five days removed from the seven-day disabled list (shoulder), was unable to command the strike zone on this night. The St. Lucie Mets were patient at the plate in the first inning, although not recording a hit. Imhof hurled 24 pitches in the first inning. Walking a man and benefitting from two foul ball pop-ups.

A ground ball double play bailed him out of danger in the second inning. However, the wheels fell off in the third.

The first four St Lucie Mets to bat in the third frame reached base safely. Three of the four were well-struck hits (2 singles, 1 double). Three of the six hits allowed on the night were just passed the diving arms of Threshers infielders. Baseball is a game of inches and on this night Matt Imhof was no ruler.

The Takeaway: He totaled 62 pitches, throwing 36 of them for strikes. His 58% strike rate must improve if he expects to stay atop the Phillies prospect list. His velocity is not a strength, consistently sitting in the upper 80’s. 40 of his 62 pitches were between 87 and 89 miles per hour. His breaking ball dropped down to 77 mph at times. With a fastball that tops out below 90 it is imperative that Imhof command the strike zone better than he did on Tuesday night.

EDDIE MICHELS PHOTO

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H St. Lucie (34-31) 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 12 4 Clearwater (32-33) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 7 2