Phillies Release Several Minor Leaguers

A source confirmed on Monday night that the Phillies released at least ten minor league players from their contracts earlier in the day.

According to a source within the Phillies organization, the following players were notified of their release on Monday in Clearwater: Justin Beal, Bradley Blanks, Matt McConnell, Adam Buschini, Drew Rundle, Heitor Correa, Matt Hutchison, Marco Davaillo, Mike Bolsenbroek and Eric Massingham.

Beal, 24, posted a 2-3 record with a 2.88 ERA in 20 games with Class A Lakewood and went 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 4 games with short-season Williamsport in 2010. The right-hander was a 28th round draft pick in 2009 out of Missouri Southern State.

Blanks, 26, was signed as a minor league free agent last July and posted a 4-1 record with a 2.73 ERA in 16 games as a reliever for the Williamsport Crosscutters in 2010.

McConnell was a 36th round draft selection in 2009. In 46 combined games last year at Williamsport and Lakewood, the 24-year-old shortstop batted .248 with 5 doubles and 12 RBI.

Correa, a native of Brazil, was a member of the 2009 Lakewood team that won the South Atlantic League title. In 27 games for High A level Clearwater last season, the 21-year-old righty Correa went 8-14 with a 6.62 ERA and a .315 batting average against.

Buschini, a 4th round draft pick in 2009, was teammates with Massingham at Cal Poly. The 23-year-old infielder batted .219 with 2 homeruns in 83 games with Lakewood in 2010.

Rundle was signed as a minor league free agent last August. Originally a 14th round pick in 2006 by the Cubs, the lefty hitting outfielder played in 17 combined games with Clearwater and Williamsport last season.

Hutchison, 23, a right-handed reliever, appeared in 15 combined games last year for the Gulf Coast League Phillies and the Clearwater Thresher. The 22-year-old was a 25th round draft pick last year and went 4-0 with a 3.80 ERA at two levels.

Davaillo, a 20-year-old catcher and utility player had played two season for the Phillies' Venezuelan Summer League team. In 89 games in 2009 and 2010, Davaillo batted .317 with 7 homeruns and an .838 OPS.

Bolsenbroek, who stands 6-feet-8-inches tall, is a righty reliever originally drafted by the Phils in the 42nd round of the 2008 draft. In 18 games with the Lakewood BlueClaws last season, Bolsenbroek had a 0-1 record with a 3.38 ERA.

The 24-year-old Massingham was a 25th round pick in the 2009 draft. The right-handed pitcher posted a 5-2 record with a 3.43 ERA in 34 games as a member of the 2010 Lakewood SAL title team.

**UPDATE 3/29** Also confirmed are two more players that were released on Monday...23-year-old hurler Marshall Schuler, who was a 37th round draft pick last year, and 22-year-old Drew Erwin who pitched in 6 games with the GCL Phillies in 2010.
_________________________________________________________
You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.
You can also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

Ring-a-ling

This week I heard old news about how when the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl, they gave former Colt Edgerrin James a championship ring. "Edge" had been a Colt for seven years, and even though he was gone when they won the big one, the team and the coaching staff felt as though James had contributed in building the team that won it all, so they awarded him a ring. This got me wondering which people, in an extended Phillies phamily , would be deserving of a 2008 World Series Champions ring. I heard an interview with Mike Schmidt, in the days that followed the Series, and when asked if he thought he'd get a ring, he said, "They have my (ring) size." Schmidt, the Hall of Fame thirdbaseman , was a long time Phillie, a one time coach of the single-A Clearwater Threshers (where he managed World Series MVP Cole Hamels ) and appears as a guest hitting instructor in Phillies spring training every year. With all those things in mind, of course Mike Schmidt shou...

All in the Family

22-year-old pitching prospect Nick Hernandez's father helps him stay fit during the off-season Phillies pitching prospect Nick Hernandez spent much of the 2010 regular season on the disabled list with an injury to his throwing shoulder. The 6'4", 215 pound lefty, who was named a mid-season South Atlantic League all-star with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, attempted comebacks twice during the season, making rehab outings for the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies, but experienced setbacks that curtailed his return to the mound and kept him from helping his teammates lock down a second consecutive league championship for Lakewood. In 8 starts with the BlueClaws last season, the 12th round draft pick from 2009 posted a 3-1 record with a 1.61 ERA and averaged 7 innings per start. Hernandez's strength is throwing a lot of strikes and he owes some of his success to his father, also named Nick (Dad's full first name is spelled Nicolas, while son's name is spell...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog