Skip to main content

Lively promoted, Appel to DL, Hollands & Asche to continue rehab

Ben Lively, image- Jay Floyd
The Reading Fightins announced a transaction this afternoon, as righty starting pitcher Ben Lively has earned a promotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Lively, a 4th round pick of Cincinnati in 2013, was acquired by the Phillies in a trade for Marlon Byrd two 0ff-seasons ago.

In nine starts for Double-A Reading this season, the 24-year-old posted a 7-0 record with a 1.87 ERA while striking out 49 and walking 15 in 53 innings pitched. Last season with Reading, Lively sported an 8-7 record with a 4.13 ERA in 25 games.

Recently, I spoke with Lively, who noted that the key to his success this year was throwing more quality pitches early in at bats.

He'll make his Triple-A debut, starting on Friday night for the IronPigs.

Mark Appel has been placed on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain. The 24-year-old left his most recent start for the IronPigs on Sunday after being charged with four earned runs in just 2/3 of an inning.

Appel has a 3-3 record with a 4.46 ERA and a .267 batting average against in eight starts this season. He was a key acquisition in last off-season's Ken Giles trade and was the top overall draft pick by Houston in 2013.

Additionally, left-handed pitcher Mario Hollands (Tommy John surgery) and left fielder Cody Asche (oblique) will continue to rehab from injuries with Lehigh Valley as well.

Hollands, 27, has a 1.04 ERA while striking out 12 and walking one in 8 2/3 innings on his rehab stint to date.

In nine minor league contests, the 25-year-old Asche is batting .147 with two home runs.

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...

Q&A with Justin De Fratus

Justin De Fratus is a 21 year old right handed relief pitcher with the Lakewood BlueClaws. An 11th round draft choice in 2007, Justin had been a starter in his first two seasons in the Phillies organization. Informed this spring that he'd be switched from the rotation to the bullpen, Justin has excelled and become one of the most reliable pitchers on the Lakewood staff. In 19 games this season, Justin is 2-0, with a 1.83 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 39 1/3 innings pitched. PhoulBallz.com spoke with Justin De Fratus just last night. Here's how that went down... Justin, South Atlantic League all star selections were announced this week, and you were named to the team. Can I get your reaction to that? How excited were you? Very excited about it. Well, especially this year because I just got moved to the bullpen, so this is a new role for me. So, if anything, it's reassuring that I'm doing my job. It's the first time in my pro career that I've been selected as an all star...

Catching prospect O'Hoppe tabbed to join Phillies

Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and via my Patreon page .  For a small monthly fee, your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and other prospect related material as well as early access to all of my other content such as this feature.  Thank you.   On Friday, the Phillies added a pair of catchers to their 2020 player pool.  Minor leaguers Logan O'Hoppe (pronounced Oh-HOP-ee) and Henri Lartigue arrived in Philadelphia to help catch bullpen sessions for the team's collection of approximately 30 pitchers. The call to O'Hoppe was extremely welcome as the 20-year-old had been staying as active as he possibly could, working out with other players that have been been waiting out quarantine due to the current pandemic at his home on Long Island.  However, he had been very eager to step back onto an actual baseball field. "I just hope I can play soon.  Where ever that is or whatever form that is, that'd be aw...