Skip to main content

PhoulBallz Q&A: Kelly Dugan on Adjusting to Double-A

Kelly Dugan, image- Jay Floyd
This season, outfielder Kelly Dugan has shown why the Phillies once selected him with their top draft choice (2nd round, 2009).  Earlier this season, the California native tallied a .318 average along with 10 homers and 36 RBI in 56 games with Class A Advanced Clearwater.  Since being promoted to Double-A Reading, the 22-year-old lefty hitter has posted a .274 average with four doubles, a home run and three RBI in 16 games.

In the past Dugan was held back by injuries, but now the youngster is finally excelling in the Phillies' developmental ranks and fully looks like he belongs at the upper levels of the minors.

Recently, Kelly shared some thoughts on transitioning to the Eastern League, having some friends and family checking out his Double-A debut and more.


- I know you had some family in Trenton for your first weekend in Double-A.  Talk a bit about who was there.

Aw, yeah, my dad (movie director Dennis Dugan) and Richard and Beverly Kline (Richard played Larry on TV's Three's Company).  They're friends.  They live in New Jersey, in Orange, so they were just (there) visiting. 


- Was the visit impromptu?  Or was dad planning to be in Florida and changed plans after you were promoted?

No, they were in New York.  They were gonna go hang out over there for a while and they just- it was about an hour drive and they just happened to be over there, so they came down.


- You've had some good offensive success in the early going since joining the Double-A Reading team.  What can you share about that?

Just trying to get good pitches to hit and the pitching, obviously the quality (of that) is a step above, so that means you have to be more disciplined and keep doing what you're doing.


- I know in one of your first couple games in Trenton, you had a fielding error in the outfield.  Obviously, that's going to happen at every level, but is there a greater level of disappointment the higher you go?

No, there's no level of disappointment.  Those things are gonna happen, like you said.  And, you know, you just work on everything you work on in the field.  I take my defense seriously and it's just one of those things.  The grass is really thick here, so I just went after it right away.  I thought I was going to get the guy out at home and, so you don't even think about it.  I just happened and it hit the grass and just sticks like the rough.  If you look at it, the grass here is a lot thicker than the Florida grass.  So, it is what it is. I've got to just work on it. 


- You've got guys on the roster with Reading that you've teamed with before...even guys like Maikel Franco and Colby Shreve this year in Clearwater.  Does having familiar teammates make the transition to a new team or new level easier?

Yeah, I know most of the guys, so I was comfortable right away.  You know, I know most of them.  Some new, but from spring training, I know most of the guys. It's a good group of guys and I'm just excited to be here.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

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...

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...