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Reading shortstop Edgar Duran is among the ranks of prospects that is better known for his defense that he is for his efforts at the plate. Featuring great range and a quick throwing release, the 23-year-old Venezuelan often makes pressing plays look easy. After flashing his leather in a contest in Trenton on Saturday night, Duran had the key hit in a 7-1 Fightins victory. In the 8th inning after top Yankees draft pick right-hander Jacob Lindgren loaded the bases while issuing three walks and was removed in favor of lefty Francisco Rondon , the righty hitting Duran slapped a bases clearing double down the left field line. He clearly can do things with the bat as well. See the video player below for footage of Duran's big hit. In 104 games with Double-A Reading this season, the 5-foot-11 155-pounder is batting .224 with four homers and 25 RBI. He also played in 14 games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season. Also captured on video is this clip, seen in the media pla

Sliding into a key role at the back end of the Class A Lakewood bullpen late in the season, Phillies 19th round draft pick Joe DeNato has notched his first two pro saves in recent days. Through 22 pro games combined at short-season A level Williamsport and with Lakewood, the Indiana product has tallied a 3-1 record with a 1.78 ERA and a 9.68 K/9 mark. I spoke with Joe this weekend about his first minor league save, being drafted by the Phillies and more. -DeNato commented on his initial professional save against Hickory in a 3-0 win in Lakewood on Thursday... We had the shutout going, so I just really wanted that pitchers' BP, but I mean, I just went out there, knowing that I needed to throw strikes. I kind of struggled with that with the first batter. Luckily, I didn't walk him. He ended up getting on base though, but overall I just wanted to get the job done. -I asked DeNato if the Phillies were on his radar among teams interested in drafting him after posted

Aaron Altherr, image- Tug Haines Top Phillies draft pick Aaron Nola tossed a gem of an outing in Trenton on Friday night, in what will be the final appearance of his first pro season. Over five innings, the 21-year-old allowed just four hits and surrendered no runs while striking out two and walking none. He notched the win, as the Reading Fightins downed the Thunder by a score of 3-0. In 12 professional outings, since he was selected 7th overall in this year's MLB amateur draft, Nola tallied a 4-3 record with a 2.93 ERA while striking out 45 and walking 10 in 55 1/3 innings combined between Double-A Reading and Class A Advanced Clearwater. After the game, I spoke with Reading pitching coach Dave Lundquist and Nola himself about the outing and more. I also spent time chatting with Nola's backstop Logan Moore about his season as well as his pitching staff. Additionally, I chatted with outfielder Aaron Altherr about his time with the big league club this year. Read ahe

Carlos Tocci, image- Tug Haines At a very young age, outfielder Carlos Tocci garnered a high level of praise for his raw tools on the baseball field. With minimal offensive production since he was signed by the Phillies, the young Venezuelan has left some wondering what's been missing. Signed at age 16 for a reported $759,000, Tocci was 2011's biggest international free agent target. Since then, the slim framed youngster has struggled to live up to high expectations surrounding him. In his initial season in the pro ranks, Tocci tallied a .278/.330/.299 slash line in 38 games in the rookie level Gulf Coast League in 2012. The following season, at age 17, he began the year with full season Class A Lakewood, where he sported a .209/.261/.249 line in 118 games. He repeated the level this year, posting a .244/.296/.328 line through 122 games, including action on Thursday. It took 862 professional at bats before Tocci launched his first round tripper. The youngster,

Willians Astudillo, image- Jay Floyd As Class A Lakewood standout Willians Astudillo continues his quest toward a South Atlantic League batting title, entering the final weekend of the season, his team is backing him . The 22-year-old missed all of last season with a left knee injury, but has clearly bounced back nicely. Astudillo is 40-for-85 (.471 avg) in his last 23 games, helping to boost his league leading season average to .340. I spoke with BlueClaws personnel about Astudillo's exciting batting crown chase. Read ahead for those quotes... Manager Greg Legg - "He's played the same all year, with the same energy and intensity. I never saw him have a lull. He loves baseball. I think that's the reason he gets up in the morning is to hit. But it has added some excitement to (our final week of the season). It's definitely interesting and if we can do anything to help him, we will." "It's neat, we got Cozens, who set a franchise r

Astudillo, image- Jay Floyd The last place Lakewood BlueClaws have been out of the playoff hunt for months, but there's another chase that the entire team is focused on that's set to go down to the wire. With the regular season winding down, blossoming star Willians Astudillo is battling to clinch the Class A South Atlantic League batting title with his entire team behind him. Following a 3-for-4 effort in the BlueClaws' home schedule finale on Thursday night, Astudillo sports a .340 average, holding a six point lead on the league's next best hitter, Delmarva's Chance Sisco . The more you watch the exciting and fun-loving Venezuela native, Astudillo, the easier it is to see why his team has his back. Behind the scenes, Astudillo keeps things loose, is a constant cheerleader in the dugout and is always the one to offer a teammate a boost, when it's needed. His teammates love him for it. "We're all on his back. He's great! We want him t

Tyler Viza was selected by the Phillies in the 32nd round of the MLB amateur draft last year.  In his first full season of professional baseball, at age 19, the six-foot-three 170-pounder has already set the single season team loss record for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, having dropped 17 of his 21 decisions this year. Overall, coaches and Phillies brass are pleased with the progress they've seen from the young Arizona native, who surprised many by beginning his 2014 campaign on a full season roster and stunned more by staying there for the duration of the year. After going 2-2 with a 3.72 ERA in five April outings, Viza has posted a 1-15 record along with a 5.75 ERA in the 19 starts that followed. Recently, I captured footage of Viza loosening up for a start.

Recently, Mike Drago of The Reading Eagle conducted a survey of experts, made up of local writers and other media members, designed to rank the top prospects in the Phillies developmental system. The participating individuals, who are all close to the Phillies minor league system, were asked to rank their personal top 20, which were tabulated to determine the paper's published list of top 15 Phillies prospects. Individuals surveyed included Baseball America's Josh Norris, Chris Rotolo of the Asbury Park Press, Mitch Rupert of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette as well as yours truly, Jay Floyd of PhilliesNation.com. The collection of experts determined that last year's first round draft pick, J.P. Crawford , who represented the Phillies in the MLB All-Star Futures Game this year, is the top prospect in the organization. Crawford, 19, is widely expected to be the eventual successor to former National League MVP Jimmy Rollins at shortstop. Last year's Reading Eagle ran

Maikel Franco, image- Jay Floyd While the minor league season begins to wind down, Lehigh Valley third baseman Maikel Franco continues to go full throttle. As the IronPigs kicked off their final home stand of the season on Saturday with a double header against the division rival Syracuse Chiefs, Franco, who is hoping his season continues on beyond the final day on the regular season calendar, which is Labor Day, September 1st, continued to display his improved offensive efforts going 6-for-7 with two home runs combined in two games while recording a cycle in the night cap. The feat was certainly quite an achievement, but possibly more impressive because it was accomplished in just six offensive innings for the winning home club in game 2, as minor league double headers are slated as seven-inning contests. Franco, who turns 22 years old this week, struggled through the early part of his first Triple-A season, ending June with a .202 batting average and just 28 extra-base hits

It's the landmark 69th edition of the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast with our special guest Phillies pitcher Justin De Fratus . Joining the program in studio, Justin sat in for an extensive interview talking about his time in the minors, his past "controversial" Twitter comments as well as playing for Charlie Manuel and Ryne Sandberg . He also shares stories about initiating former teammate Brian Gump to Class A ball and how former big league All-Star Brad Lidge impacted his approach after Lidge's retirement plus loads more. Use the media player below to stream the full episode, or simply download it by clicking HERE . You can also check out previous episodes and subscribe on iTunes .

Jake Fox, image- Tug Haines Since rejoining the Phillies organization in June, corner infielder Jake Fox has been the driving force of the Double-A Reading offense. The 32-year-old veteran of four big league seasons, having played with the Cubs, A's and Orioles, has dominated Eastern League pitching, posting a .322 average while mashing 20 home runs and driving in 65 runs in 66 games. Two seasons ago, Fox played with Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, batting .230 with five homers in 26 total games as a late-season edition. Prior to signing with the Phillies this year, Fox competed in Mexico, where he sported a .307/.397/.605 slash like in 57 games with Laguna. Fox, who was originally drafted in the third round of the 2003 amateur draft by the Cubs, plays with an extremely cerebral approach. Recently, I spoke with Jake about his intellectual focus toward the game, how he helps the teammates around him and more. Read ahead for that interview. -I've talked to Z

A brand new edition of Phillies Nation hit TV's throughout the region on Tuesday.  On the latest episode, I joined Pat and Corey on set to discuss several top Phillies prospects, namely Maikel Franco , Aaron Nola , J.P. Crawford and Jesse Biddle . The episode also features segments with former Phillies Curt Simmons , Tommy Greene and Matt Stairs , plus the usual insight and analysis that your expect from the hosts. If you missed it on TV or would like to watch it again, check out this week's Phillies Nation in the media player below.  New episodes premiere each Tuesday at 6PM on The Comcast Network

Aaron Nola, image- Tug Haines The Phillies' top pick from this year's draft, righty hurler Aaron Nola , has looked very good in the early stages of his pro career. In nine games combined in the minors, the 21-year-old LSU product sports a 3-3 record with a 3.35 ERA while striking out 36 batters and walking seven in 40 1/3 innings. Over the weekend, I spoke with Nola, who was recently promoted to Double-A Reading, about his draft experience, the possibility of being shut down before season's end, the transition from college to the pro's, looking up to his brother Austin and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -What was your draft experience like? How did you celebrate? We had a party over at LSU in our lounge and it was a bunch of family and some friends over there. We had about 100 people actually, so it was pretty big. It was fun. It was a fun time and it's definitely something I'm going to remember for the rest of my life. The draft and

I spoke with Double-A Reading Fightins skipper Dusty Wathan prior to Friday's home contest against the Binghamton Mets. Topics of discussion included top draft pick Aaron Nola 's pitching restrictions, outfielder Kelly Dugan 's progress, Severino Gonzalez 's season and plenty more. Read ahead for those exclusive comments from Wathan. Kelly Dugan, image- Jay Floyd -Speaking about Kelly Dugan, who entered action on Friday sporting a .330/.423/.481 line in 32 games since the All-Star break... Kelly's been very good. I think he's done a nice job with his swing, he's flattened it out a little bit. He's driving balls the other way better than I've ever seen him. You know, I think he's really learning his swing, becoming a better hitter. I think his power numbers are a little down and some people have voice their concerns about that, not inside the organization, but media. But, to me that's no big deal. To me, he's a better hitt

Jesse Biddle, image- Jay Floyd After a miserable stretch of starts in June, lefty pitcher Jesse Biddle was placed on Double-A Reading's temporary inactive list. On Saturday, he'll make his long awaited return to the FirstEnergy Stadium mound when he starts the first game of the Fightins' scheduled double header against Binghamton. The 22-year-old posted a 0-4 record with a 12.64 ERA in four June starts. It was clear that there was something quite wrong with Biddle, who had missed a start in late May after being pelted with hail and suffering a concussion. A mixture of feelings including confusion and anger were firmly settling in while Biddle's efforts on the mound were not. The Phils saw a need for the Philadelphia native and Germantown Friends School product to take a break. Exams discovered lasting impact on Biddle stemming from the concussion and time off was required. "For me it was an important time not only to take a mental break and to go down

This week I spoke with a pair of solid Class A hitters that have increased their offensive numbers considerably in the second half of the season. Lakewood third baseman Mitch Walding and outfielder Dylan Cozens have improved quite a bit since the South Atlantic League All-Star break with Walding sporting an OPS that's 255 points higher in his last 49 games than it was in his first 46 games this year, while Cozens has posted an OPS mark 85 points higher than he did before the break. I asked both players about the uptick in production and more.  Read ahead for those exclusive quotes. -Walding, the Phillies' 5th round pick in 2011, spoke about what he attributes to his recent success... You know, at first I was doing some things and I was exactly feeling too comfortable at the plate.  I was kind of struggling really hard with getting pitches and doing some things and I talked with our hitting coordinator (Andy) Tracy and my hitting coach Lino Connell.  We changed so