Skip to main content

Minors Rundown: Asche, Biddle, Hanson, Charles, GCL

Cody Asche, photo- Jay Floyd
Third baseman Cody Asche has been on a torrid pace of late. Asche, a University of Nebraska product, is showing more and more that he's ready for a bigger challenge. The 23-year-old lefty batter has gone 14-for-33 (.424 avg) along with three doubles, five homers and 12 RBI in his last eight contests with the IronPigs.

Overall this season, Asche, who represented Lehigh Valley in the Triple-A All-Star Game earlier this month, is batting .295 with 15 home runs and 68 RBI in 104 games.

On the latest edition of the PhoulBallz Podcast, Asche was featured as a call-in guest. When asked when he'll feel ready for the bigger challenge of the major leagues, he said the following:

"Whenever (the Phillies) tell me. That's when I feel like I'm ready. There's a lot of guys in this organization that are really smart and they know what they're doing and they've been through this before with many players, so, you know, I 100-percent trust what they have in store for me and what they have planned for me. So, until they call me and say, 'Hey, you're ready! Let's go do it.', then I'm gonna keep working hard to be the best player I can be."

Lefty pitching prospect Jesse Biddle has had a pair of considerably poor outings in a row for Double-A Reading. On July 23rd, against Binghamton, the Phillies 1st round draft pick from 2010 allowed four earned runs while lasting just 2/3 of an inning. His next time out, against New Britain on Sunday, the 21-year-old surrendered five earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. The rough stretch has raised Biddle's season ERA from 3.19 to 3.89.

Class A Lakewood right-hander Nic Hanson has been exceptional since coming off the disabled list with a groin issue. The six-foot-seven 210-pounder has posted a 1-1 record and a 0.72 ERA while striking out 16 and walking two in his last four starts. Overall this season, last year's 16th round draft pick has a 2-2 record with a 2.38 ERA and 7.13 K/9 mark in 16 outings, including a rehab appearance with the Gulf Coast League team.

Also for Lakewood, first baseman Art Charles has had a hot week, going 10-for-26 (.385 avg) with four doubles, two triples and a home run along with 11 RBI over his last six games. Charles locked up a 4-3 win for the BlueClaws against Greenville on Sunday, as he mashed a two-run walk off triple with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning.  The 22-year-old left-handed hitter was acquired from Toronto during the preseason for pitcher Michael Schwimer.

In the rookie level Gulf Coast League, outfielder Wilmer Oberto and this year's first round draft pick shortstop J.P. Crawford rank 1st and 3rd in the league in OPS respectively, with 1.010 and .938 marks. The 20-year-old Oberto, a lefty hitter, has multiple hits in three of his last four games, while the 18-year-old Crawford, also a lefty batter, has swiped four bases in his last three contests.

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...

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...

Patreon Exclusive: Logan O'Hoppe answers Nine Silly-ass Questions

Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Phillies catching prospect Logan O'Hoppe was the subject of a recent player feature I posted here three days early.  When I talked with Logan, he was kind enough to not only chat about some serious baseball related topics, he also had some fun with me and answered Nine Silly-Ass Questions! In this interview, the 20-year-old, who was an All-Star with Class A short-season Williamsport last year, offered his thoughts on his experiences playing in Australia last off-season, super powers, some surprising movies he's never seen, teammate Albertus Barber and plenty more.  Read ahead for some excerpts from this Silly-ass interview... -You can 4-for-4 and your team loses, or you can get hit in the groin and your team wins...which do you choose? I mean, if we win, then the whole team has a good night, so I have to go with that one.  That really benefits everybody. -Tell me, if you can, four words to describe Albertus Barber . One,...