Skip to main content

Venezuelan League Underway- GalBeast Back in Action

The Venezuelan Winter League got underway on Thursday and Phillies infielder, Freddy Galvis saw organized game action for the first time since June, when he was sidelined with a back injury.  The 22-year-old played shortstop and laced four hits in five at bats, while slugging a homer and driving in two runs en route to helping Zulia lock down a 10-3 victory over Aragua.

As a rookie with the Phillies this year, Galvis, who was signed as an amateur free agent in 2006 at the age of 16, batted .226 with 3 home runs and 24 RBI in 58 games.  Galvis tested positive this year for a banned substance and was suspended for 50 games as a result.  He was able to serve the suspension while on the disabled list and would be eligible for game action at the start of the 2013 regular season.

Other Phillies players participating in the VWL include second baseman Cesar Hernandez, who went 1-for-3 in Margarita's 7-4 win over La Guaira.  Hernandez, 22, had a breakout season in 2012, becoming an All-Star with the Double-A Reading Phillies before earning a promotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.  In 133 combined games, Hernandez posted a .291/.323/.404 line.

Hernandez's double play partner with Margarita, Edgar Duran, went 1-for-4 in the contest.  Duran, a 21-year-old switch-hitting shortstop batted .253 with 7 homers and 49 RBI in 121 games with Class A Advanced Clearwater this year. 

For La Guaira, Justin Friend, who was Reading's star reliever in 2012, took the loss, surrendering three runs, two of which were earned, in 1/3 of an inning.  Also for La Guaira, Phils rookie Darin Ruf served as designated hitter, going 1-for-4 with a double and a run driven in.

Outfielder Tyson Gillies, batting leadoff for Lara, went 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI in the club's 6-4 loss to Magallanes.The often injured Gillies posted a .299 average with 4 homers and 24 RBI in 75 games this season in the Phils organization.

Check back throughout the coming months for updates on the off-season leagues as well as exclusive interviews with players as they strive to improve and take strides toward helping the big league Phillies on a permanent basis.

________________________________________________________

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 Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...

Q&A with Justin De Fratus

Justin De Fratus is a 21 year old right handed relief pitcher with the Lakewood BlueClaws. An 11th round draft choice in 2007, Justin had been a starter in his first two seasons in the Phillies organization. Informed this spring that he'd be switched from the rotation to the bullpen, Justin has excelled and become one of the most reliable pitchers on the Lakewood staff. In 19 games this season, Justin is 2-0, with a 1.83 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 39 1/3 innings pitched. PhoulBallz.com spoke with Justin De Fratus just last night. Here's how that went down... Justin, South Atlantic League all star selections were announced this week, and you were named to the team. Can I get your reaction to that? How excited were you? Very excited about it. Well, especially this year because I just got moved to the bullpen, so this is a new role for me. So, if anything, it's reassuring that I'm doing my job. It's the first time in my pro career that I've been selected as an all star...

Catching prospect O'Hoppe tabbed to join Phillies

Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and via my Patreon page .  For a small monthly fee, your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and other prospect related material as well as early access to all of my other content such as this feature.  Thank you.   On Friday, the Phillies added a pair of catchers to their 2020 player pool.  Minor leaguers Logan O'Hoppe (pronounced Oh-HOP-ee) and Henri Lartigue arrived in Philadelphia to help catch bullpen sessions for the team's collection of approximately 30 pitchers. The call to O'Hoppe was extremely welcome as the 20-year-old had been staying as active as he possibly could, working out with other players that have been been waiting out quarantine due to the current pandemic at his home on Long Island.  However, he had been very eager to step back onto an actual baseball field. "I just hope I can play soon.  Where ever that is or whatever form that is, that'd be aw...