Skip to main content

Odds and Ends: Rising Stars, R-Phils' Rebranding & More


Rosters for the Arizona Fall League's All-Star type showcase were announced on Wednesday with two Phillies prospects among the talents involved.  Third baseman Cody Asche (pictured) and catcher Tommy Joseph will represent their Javelinas club in the seventh annual Rising Stars Game, which will be televised on MLB Network this coming Saturday, November 3rd at 8 PM eastern time.

Asche, the Phillies' 4th round draft selection in 2011, was a fast mover upward in the developmental ranks this year. After beginning his first full pro season with Class A Advanced Clearwater, Asche was promoted to Double-A Reading in June.

Altogether in 130 regular season games at the two levels, Asche, who recently offered his thoughts on his time in the AFL, launched 12 home runs with 72 RBI and an .849 OPS.  In 15 games with Peoria in the AFL, Asche, a University of Nebraska product, has tallied a .259 average with one home run and seven RBI.

Joseph, who was acquired from San Francisco in the Hunter Pence trade this past summer, has struggled a bit in AFL play, batting .172 with no home runs and one RBI in nine games played.

Both of the Phils' representatives are well-regarded prospects and could be knocking on the door to the big leagues rather soon.

Former Phillies prospect Jarred Cosart will represent the Eastern Division as that team's starting pitcher. The right-hander posted a 6-7 combined record with a 3.30 ERA and a 7.22 K/9 mark in 2012 at the Double-A and Triple-A levels of the Houston organization. Through four games as a member of the Mesa Solar Sox in the AFL, Cosart, 22, has a 0-2 record with a 7.36 ERA.  Additionally, former Phillies first base prospect Jonathan Singleton will also represent the Astros organization in the contest. The 21-year-old has posted a .250 average with three homers and seven RBI in 18 games for Mesa.


Also on Wednesday, the Double-A Reading Phillies announced a partnership with Brandoise to rebrand the team for the upcoming 2013 season. From the sound of things, the R-Phils, one of a very small amount of minor league teams owned by its major league parent club, will likely see a full name change as part of the process.

Employees inside the club are mum on details until the next steps in the process are revealed at FirstEnergy Stadium this coming Sunday, November 4th, when the team hosts a Toy Run event at 12:30 PM.

Philadelphia’s Class A Advanced affiliate in Clearwater was also known as the Phillies until it was rebranded as the Threshers prior to the 2004 season.

Reading and Philadelphia have the longest running relationship in minor league baseball, dating back to 1967.


Lastly, I spoke with former Phillies pitching prospect Eric Pettis recently, and he confirmed that he is done with baseball. Citing that he has moved on to bigger and better things, the UC Irvine product, who pitched two season in the Phillies developmental system, was released during spring training in 2012.

Early this past summer, Pettis stated that he was still hopeful of catching on with an affiliated team in the minors and did not wish to sign with an independent league team. As time went on and the openings weren't there, Pettis clearly changed his mind about a return to the game.

Pettis released a book shortly after leaving the Phillies organization, chronicling his time in as a professional hurler. The memoir, titled "Just a Minor Perspective: Through the Eyes of a Minor League Rookie", was met with extremely solid reviews by other writers and fans alike. The righty, who sported a 10-3 record and a 2.17 ERA in 67 games as a pro, hopes to spend more time writing in the future.
________________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...