Minor League Coaching Changes Announced

Phillies beat writers reported news via Twitter today (here, here and here), stating that Ramon Henderson, who was set to begin his first season managing Class A Advanced Clearwater this year, has left the team due to personal reasons. To fill the void, the Phils have assigned Class A short-season manager Nelson Prada to take over as skipper for the Thresers.

Replacing Prada with the Crosscutters of the New-York Penn League will be Shawn Williams, the 30-year-old son of former big league manager and Phillies coach Jimy Williams. Williamsport will now have a void to fill at hitting coach, as Williams was previously slated for that job.

After a stretch of more than a decade as a major league coach for the Phillies and a demotion to the minors in 2009, Henderson was fired for reasons that were reportedly alcohol abuse related. He returned to the organization in a coaching capacity with the Gulf Coast League Phillies last year. Henderson played in the Phils' developmental system as an infielder for eight seasons during the 1980's.

Prada, who turns 38-years-old today, played four years in the minors as a catcher. He joined the Phillies organization last season after managing Class A Beloit (Twins affiliate at that time) of the Midwest League for five seasons.

Clearwater has been managed by former big leaguer Chris Truby for each of the past two seasons. Truby was reassigned as the Phils' minor league infield coordinator this off-season.

Comments

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

Jealous Ones Envy

Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...

...Got My Learn On

The weekend is just about here, but it's not feeling great so far. My college hoops team lost, and my mail included a huge image of Mets star David Wright on the cover of The Sporting News. "All Wright"? Um, I don't really believe it is. Aside from the non-appealing cover, it's the MLB preview issue, so allow me to share some things I learned from this week's magazine. 1- Former Phillie, and regular Sporting News columnist, Todd Jones has gone insane. Jones predicts that Jamie Moyer will win the NL Cy Young Award, and that Manny Ramirez will run for governor of California after the Dodgers win the 2009 World Series. 2- Ichiro Suzuki rocks the party that rocks the body. Metropolitans reliever Francisco Rodriguez compares Jose Reyes to Ichiro, saying they do many of the same things. I must have missed Ichiro performing rehearsed celebratory hand jives after getting a hit or scoring a run in a losing effort. And I know I missed Ichiro getting caught cheating on...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog