Skip to main content

Hoskins, Tocci, three other BlueClaws honored as Sally League All-Stars

LAKEWOOD, NJ- Five Phillies prospects, including top performers Carlos Tocci and Rhys Hoskins will represent the Lakewood BlueClaws in the Class A South Atlantic League All-Star game in Asheville, NC on June 23rd.

Tocci, a 19-year-old center fielder, is batting .324 with a home run, 23 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 54 games with Lakewood.

According to a press release from the BlueClaws, Tocci received more votes than any other player in the SAL, marking the second straight year that the team has had the leading vote-getter, following shortstop J.P. Crawford in 2014.

R Hoskins2
Rhys Hoskin, image- Jay Floyd
Last year's 5th round draft pick by the Phillies, Hoskins, has a league leading .335 batting average with seven home runs and 40 RBI.

The 22-year-old first baseman was recently honored as the Phillies' minor league player of the month for May, after posting a .342 average with two homers and 23 RBI in 29 games. The righty batting slugger has been a bit reserved in regards to that honor, stating that he doesn't want to let the organizational recognition consume his thoughts, but expressed enthusiasm on what it would mean to be able to head to the All-Star Game with his teammates.

"It'll be awesome for the fans. It'll be awesome for the team in general," Hoskins stated. "Being recognized for the hard work that we've been putting in these last couple months is something that's pretty special.

Lakewood's hitting coach Nelson Prada feels the honor to be an All-Star is a very big deal.

"To be one of the best in the league, it's always got to be an honor," Prada said. "You've got to be proud, because you don't have the chance to go every year. You know...a lot of times, you don't have a good year every year in this game. I think they're very proud about. And they talk about it and I think when they go, they're going to have fun over there."

Also joining the Tocci and Hoskins at the SAL All-Star Game will be shortstop Malquin Canelo as well as relief pitchers Alexis Rivero and Joey DeNato.

Canelo, 20, is batting .302 with two home runs, 11 RBI and eight stolen bases as the BlueClaws' lead-off man.

Rivero, a 20-year-old righty, has a 2-0 record with six saves and a 2.35 ERA in 17 relief appearances.

DeNato, 23, was the Phils' 19th round pick a year ago. In 17 games, the left-hander sports a 2-1 record with a 1.46 ERA.

Hoskins, Tocci, and Canelo are all slated to start for the Northern Division squad  in less than two weeks and each could be in line for promotions following the annual exhibition.

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. ...

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...

Drabek Preparing For Next Step

The transition has been easy for Kyle Drabek. In December, he was part of a package of young prospects that was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for ace pitcher Roy Halladay. Now, as though nothing has changed, he's right back where he was last season...the star prospect on the pitching staff of a team in the Double A Eastern League. Drabek has often stated that he wanted to stay in the Philadelphia organization, who drafted him in the first round of the 2006 amateur draft. The 22-year-old thought after the midseason trade rumors, that surrounded him possibly going to Toronto last year, passed with no action that all the turmoil was over and that he could simply relax and focus on getting to the big leagues with the Phillies. That wasn't the case, as the deal eventually came to fruition over the off-season. In the Blue Jays system this season, Drabek doesn't have to worry about being dealt. He only has to concern himself with opposing batters and working on his secondary pit...