Phillies prospects experiencing the challenge of low-minor-league baseball at Williamsport

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — As much as anyone, Pat Borders realizes the difficult grind that minor-league baseball players have to go through, especially at the lower levels.

Borders, the fifth-year manager of the Williamsport Crosscutters, the Phillies’ short-season single-A affiliate, experienced firsthand how steep the climb is to the major leagues. He spent six years in the minors after being drafted out of high school in the sixth round by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1982.

His persistence eventually paid off, as Borders, now 56, spent 17 seasons in the majors as a catcher. He was a key member of the Toronto Blue Jays when they won the World Series in 1992 and 1993, the second coming over the Phillies. In 1992, he was the World Series MVP.

“You have to have a mental toughness to play this game,” Borders said last week before the Crosscutters faced the State College Spikes, a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate, in the New York-Penn League. “The minor leagues are part of the process of programming your own computer, how you deal with it, how to turn the page to go to the next day, and how to get yourself excited for the next day.”

That is not always easy, especially when you consider the environment from which these players came. The Phillies’ minor-leaguers had to report to spring training by March 1 in Clearwater, Fla. When the Phillies broke camp, the members of the Crosscutters stayed in Florida for extended spring training, playing and drilling every day.

The Crosscutters recently departed Florida and opened their season June 14 at home against the Spikes.

Now the players were performing before actual crowds, including 5,233 last Saturday for the Spikes’ home opener in State College. While still the low rung of minor-league baseball, this was a step up from extended spring training.

Whether a player is highly regarded or a long-shot prospect, the adjustment is always challenging.

A year ago, after being drafted in the sixth round out of high school, shortstop Logan Simmons played in the rookie Gulf Coast League, where he hit .232 in 32 games.

“Last year, every waking day, being up in the sun and on the field all day, I was trying to make it through each day,” said Simmons, who spurned a scholarship offer from Georgia Tech to sign with the Phillies for an above-slot $750,000, according to spotrac.com. “I came in this year with a plan and approach to the season and wake up every day excited to go after it.”

Simmons is the highest-drafted player on Williamsport’s roster, although that could change. Some players from the Phillies’ draft class of 2019 are expected to get assigned there.

Williamsport is able to have a 35-man roster, 10 more players than allowed at the higher levels. The opening-day roster had 32 players. Among the challenges for Borders is finding appropriate playing time for everybody.

“It’s not easy, but at the end of the day, they are getting a fair look, a fair shake, because we had 70-80 games in the previous three months,” Borders said. “So they are getting their time in, and it’s not like they will be deprived at-bats or pitching innings.”

The minors are all about teaching. Before a game against State College, the players moved crisply from drill to drill: baserunning, hitting, fielding, pitching. They were always active.

This might be at the lower level of the minor leagues, but the players’ joy for the game and dreams of bigger accomplishments kept them going.

“I am just enjoying this and trying to keep improving,” said 21-year-old left-hander Anton Kuznetsov, who comes from Moscow, not exactly a baseball hotbed.

He has made great strides since signing with the Phillies as an amateur free agent in September 2016, when he didn’t know much English. Now, he converses freely.

“When I came over, I was in the airport and didn’t know English and couldn’t ask how you get the password for wi-fi,” he said.

Learning the language and culture is just one of the adjustments many players have to make. Among the others: playing day after day and realizing that failure is a given.

“First game last year, I hit a home run and felt great, but then reality hit,” Simmons said. “I learned quickly this is pro ball and you have to make adjustments.”

Adjustments to the competition, the daily grind, the lifestyle. Those who can survive at this low minor-league level can keep their dream alive.

“There is always an emotional roller coaster,” Borders said. “The important thing is that no matter what happened the day before, you always have to be ready the next day to fight for a position.”