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. ...

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...