Minor League Roster Announcements

JP Crawford, Image- Jay Floyd

As the 2014 season draws near, rosters for the Phillies' minor league clubs have begun to surface.

The Class A Lakewood BlueClaws will feature the return of last year's top draft selection SS J.P. Crawford. Local NJ product Mark Leiter Jr., who made his pro debut last year, will return to the Claws as well.

The team's outfield will be made up of 2011 top pick Larry Greene Jr., 2012 2nd rounder Dylan Cozens, well-regarded youngster Carlos Tocci as well as Samuel Hiciano.

Joining Crawford in the infield will be Andrew Pullin, Zach Green, Wilmer Oberto and Robinson Torres.

The team's backstops will be two Velezuelans Gabriel Lino and Willians Astudillo along with Jose Mayorga of Panama.

The Lakewood pitching staff will also feature Alejandro Arteaga, Tyler Buckley, Ranfi Casimiro, Cody Forsythe, Ulises Joaquin, Shane Martin, Manny Martinez, Julio Reyes, Yacksel Rios, Keivi Rojas, Jesen Therrien and Tyler Viza.

The Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs will feature plenty of familiar names on their roster. The team's outfield will include last season's Phillies cup-of-coffee name Steve Susdorf while catcher Cameron Rupp, who made his big league debut also last year will be on the opening day roster for the Pigs. Reliever Phillippe Aumont and starting hurler Jonathan Pettibone were also with the big league club last year and will open the season with LV.

According to Greg Joyce the team will also be made up the following:

Outfield- Tyson Gillies, Clete Thomas and Leandro Castro.
Infield- Maikel Franco, Jim Murphy, Tyler Henson, Reid Brignac, Andres Blanco and Troy Hanzawa.
Catcher- Koyie Hill
Pitchers- Greg Smith, David Buchanan, Barry Enright, Sean O'Sullivan, Luis Garcia, Shawn Camp, Hector Neris, Mike Nesseth, Kyle Simon, Jeremy Horst, Cesar Jimenez.
Disabled list- Brian Bixler, Chris Bootcheck, Adam Morgan, Dave Sappelt.

The Double-A Reading Fightins will feature a load returning names including top pitching prospect Jesse Biddle, outfielders Zach Collier, Anthony Hewitt and Kelly Dugan, infielders Albert Cartwright, Edgar Duran and Matt Tolbert, catchers Sebastian Valle and Tommy Joseph, pitchers Tyler Knigge, Brody Colvin, Jay Johnson, Justin Friend and Austin Wright.

Also included on the Reading pitching staff will be lefty Hoby Milner, right-hander Perci Garner, Luis Paulino, Kenny Giles and Nefi Ogando. Last year's Paul Owens Award winner and rising pitching prospect Severino Gonzalez will also open the season with Reading.

Infielders Brock Stassi, Carlos Alonso and Chris Serritella will also be sporting Ostriches on their caps to open the 2014 campaign.

Cameron Perkins will round out the outfield for the Figthins.

Aaron Altherr, a toolsy outfielder that is often praised by scouts, is slated to begin the season on the disabled list for Reading. Hurler Ryan Demmin and Jiwan James will also open the season on the DL.

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...

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