Skip to main content

Five Fightins honored as Eastern League All-Stars

B Stassi
Brock Stassi, image- Jay Floyd
The Reading Fightins will be well represented at the 2015 Eastern League All-Star Game later this month in Portland, Maine when five members of the team head to the annual exhibition. Shortstop J.P. Crawford, outfielders Cam Perkins and Roman Quinn along with starting pitcher Zach Eflin as well as first baseman Brock Stassi have been named to the Eastern Division roster for the game set to be played on July 15th.

Crawford, the Phillies' top prospect, joined Reading just over a month ago and has posted a .267/.377/.405 slash line in 31 games with the Fightins. The lefty batting 20-year-0ld was the 16th overall draft pick in 2013.

Perkins, who is currently on the disabled list with a back issue, has a .252 average with eight home runs and 33 RBI in 61 games. The 24-year-old was the Phillies' 6th round draft choice in 2012.

Quinn, also on the disabled list, sported a .306 average with four homers and 15 RBI along with a league-leading 29 stolen bases when he tore his hip flexor in mid-June. The switch-hitting 22-year-old was the Phils' second round pick in 2011.

Eflin, the prized prospect acquired in the Jimmy Rollins to Los Angeles trade, has a 5-4 record with 2.88 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP in 14 games started. The 21-year-old righty sports a 1.80 ERA over his last five outings.

Stassi, the league leader in RBI with 52, is also among the top ranking players in average (.317), OPS (.856), and hits (82). The 25-year-old has been the offensive catalyst all season long for the Fightins. Stassi was a 33rd round draft selection by the Phillies in 2011.

Speaking recently with Phillies Nation on the possibility of being honored as an All-Star, Stassi was reserved on the topic.

"It'd be an honor," Stassi said. "I haven't made an All-Star team in my career yet and, you know, I don't even know how to put it. I'm not trying to look that far ahead. I really take pride in taking it one pitch at a time, one game at a time, one day at a time. I mean that would be a huge honor, definitely the biggest one in my career thus far, besides being drafted."

Reading's five All-Stars are tied with Portland, Trenton, Akron, and Altoona for most players from one team slated to play in this year's contest.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...

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...

High Hopes...post season schedule and roster

It's a week later and the Phillies have a 1.5 games lead in the NL eastern division. The Fightin' Phillies control their own fate. It's not 2007, where the good guys were trailing. It's 2008 and the bad guys have fallen behind. According to the TBS web site, the first two days of the playoffs will include both National League games. Wednesday October 1st and Thursday October 2nd would be the first two games of the Phillies' post season. The NL wild card winner and the NL east division champ will determine who plays when and where. Should the Phillies win the east, and the Mets win the wild card, the Phillies would play the 2nd of three scheduled TV times for TBS's national broadcasts, against the west division winner. The game times would be 5pm or 6:30pm both days. If the Brewers win the wild card, the Cubs would not be able to play them in the first round, due to the rule of "wild card winners do not face the champ of their own division in the first round...