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Dylan Cozens, image- Jay Floyd With the unveiling of the Double-A Eastern League All-Star rosters on Thursday, it was announced that six Reading Fightin Phils players have been honored to play in the annual exhibition that is set to take place in Akron, OH on Wednesday, July 13th. Catcher Jorge Alfaro , first baseman Rhys Hoskins , outfielder Dylan Cozens , infielder Jesmuel Valentin , starting pitcher Nick Pivetta and reliever Hoby Milner are slated to take part in the EL All-Star Game. Cozens, who is tied with teammate Hoskins for the minor league lead in home runs with 21, was thankful for the chance to represent Reading and the Phillies in the league's midsummer classic. "It feels good to get recognized and to get the opportunity to play with some of the best guys in minor league baseball," Cozens said. Overall in 77 games Cozens has a .276 average, 22 doubles and 62 RBI to go along with his remarkable home run total. The 22-year-old was the Phill

Imhof, image Jay Floyd Left-handed pitching prospect Matt Imhof , who made news recently following a freak accident with workout equipment, announced via his personal Instagram account that the injury he suffered resulted in the loss of his right eye. Reportedly Imhof was taking part in a stretching routine following a recent Clearwater Threshers game and equipment he was using snapped, causing part of it to strike Imhof in his right eye. According to the player, he suffered a fractured nose, two fractured orbital bones and severe damage to his eye that caused immediate loss of vision. He has undergone multiple surgeries since the incident. In his statement (see embedded post below), Imhof stated: "Even thought I suffered some bad luck, I'm not dead. I'm gonna be alright, I'm gonna perservere and I'm gonna succeed." In the two years since he was the Phillies’ second round draft choice out of Cal Poly the 22-year-old tallied a 13-10 record with

Nick Williams, image- Nick Williams In Monday's 5-3 loss to Columbus Lehigh Valley outfielder Nick Williams ended an 0-for-4 night with a grounder back to the pitcher. Frustration with coming up short for his team seemed to be displayed and urgency was missing from his stride heading toward first base and heading back to the dugout. He was immediately removed from the game and benched for the IronPigs' following game. It was his second benching for such an issue this month. The 22-year-old standout, who was acquired from Texas as part of last summer's Cole Hamels trade, missed two games just a couple weeks back when he was benched for a lack of urgency on the base paths as well. While Williams initially played coy and told media members following Monday's game that he received no explanation for being pulled from that night's contest and then asserted during a Comcast SportsNet interview on Tuesday that he felt other players would have done the same thing

The Phillies announced on Wednesday that righty pitcher Mark Appel had undergone surgery to remove a bone spur from his throwing elbow. Appel had previously gone on the disabled list with shoulder soreness following his May 22nd start for Lehigh Valley. Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan told me recently that Appel was throwing pain free and the team expected him to be back in action by July 15th. IronPigs manager Dave Brundage stated that he suspected there was more to Appel's physical issues than just the sore shoulder. "Something had to be bothering him, something had to be there, where his stuff had dropped off, you know, his last couple outings, had dropped off significantly," Brundage stated. "I had a hard time believing it was just out of the stretch. It was something more and obviously he was putting a lot of effort into his pitches there and it's a tough break for him, but obviously, you can get (the elbow) cleaned up and ge

In the midst of Monday's WWE Raw program on the USA Network, a tag team was billed as having the names of two Phillies prospects who were actually in the midst of a game at home in Clearwater, FL. The show, being broadcast live from nearby Tampa, featured a pair of new-comer, enhancement talents billed as Carlos Tocci and Mitch Walding who were set to face off against the rising superstar duo known as Enzo and Cass. The match ended in a squash with the known stars going over in a quick fashion. Around the time of the match airing on TV, the Threshers were heading toward extra-innings against division rival Daytona.  Clearwater would go on to lose 6-5 in 10 innings.  Tocci went 1-for-5 and Walding was 1-for-4 with a walk in the contest. Check out the embedded Instagram post below for video of the pair's announcement.  Below that is an image of the imposter Phils prospects. *UPDATE*- The players offered their thoughts .  See below for that also. Shout out to @carl

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

This past year I became a first-time father. There is nothing in my life that I have looked forward to more than becoming a dad and being able to guide a child through life, bringing him or her up to be as outstanding and as beautiful of a person as my wife is and as much of a baseball fan as I became. In recent months I have felt a tremendous bond with my son and I wondered, at times, how great the connection will grow but also how long it might stay intact. I treasure the opportunity to watch him learn and develop, but I feel like there will be a day when he doesn’t need my insight or coaching. I don't have a father, so, without an example of my own to go by, I worry that he'll outgrow our relationship. Wondering if that's accurate, I began asking players and coaches that I know for their thoughts on how close each one is with his dad, when it comes to his career and sometimes life as well. I mainly targeted men whose dads also had a career-path in profess

Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan took time today prior to opening night in Williamsport to chat on the phone about the team's developmental system, providing injury updates on several players including right-hander Jimmy Cordero , Triple-A Starter Mark Appel and last year's first round draft selection Cornelius Randolph . Jordan also spoke about short-season Class A Williamsport getting their season underway, Matt Imhof 's change of roles with Clearwater, today's roster moves and plenty more. Read ahead for that full interview. Jimmy Cordero, image- Jay Floyd -The first guy I wanted to ask about was injured reliever Jimmy Cordero (biceps issue). Any updates on him? Yeah, he's making progress. We've taken a real slow process to get him ready, so he's throwing again, but he's somewhat early still in his throwing progression. You know, we're hoping that by the middle of July he's ready. He feels good, but we've

Luke Leftwich, image- Jay Floyd The list of third-generation major league pitchers is a short one. The list: Casey Coleman Phillies pitching prospect Luke Leftwich hopes to double the length of that list someday. Leftwich, a right-hander, was a seventh-round draft selection last year out of Wofford College. Following his pro debut, the 6'3", 205-pounder posted a 2-2 record with a 2.76 ERA in 11 games for short-season Class A Williamsport. Through 11 starts this season for Class A Lakewood, he has tallied a 6-3 record with a 2.15 ERA and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings en route to being named a South Atlantic League All-Star. Through college and in the early stages of his professional career it has been reported in Leftwich’s biographical notes that his father and grandfather played in the big leagues. But if not for the sleuthing of his father, Phil Leftwich , the 22-year-old would not have known that he could become the majors' second third-generati

  Major League Baseball announced on Thursday that Phillies minor league pitcher Alec Asher has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, a performance enhancing drug. Asher was on the disabled list with a lower calf contusion after being hit in the leg with a batted ball for Triple-A Lehigh Valley last month. The 24-year-old posted a 4-2 record with a 2.30 ERA and a .193 batting average against in eight minor league starts this season after opening the 2016 campaign with Double-A Reading. After he was acquired from Texas as part of the Cole Hamels trade last season, Asher tallied a 0-6 record with a 9.31 ERA in seven big league starts. Asher is the second Phillies player busted for this substance in 2016. Rule 5 acquisition and lefty pitcher Daniel Stumpf was suspended earlier this season after appearing in three games for the Phils. Also of note from the farm... CF prospect Roman Quinn hit the disabled list for AA Readi

The Phillies opened the second day of this year's amateur draft by selecting SS Cole Stobbe out of Millard West High School in Nebraska with the initial pick of the 3rd round (78th overall). The six-foot-two 195-pounder features incredible bat speed, which scouts were very high on. The righty batter hit .437 with 14 home runs as a senior this spring. Stobbe, who had a commitment to play college ball at Arkansas, told the media that he intends to fly to Philadelphia to sign a pro contract. Defensively, it has been said that the Phils would likely change Stobbe's position to third base or possibly second base. In the 4th round, the Phillies chose lefty pitcher JoJo Romero out of Yavapai College, the same school they drafted Ken Giles out of in 2011. The five-foot-11, 190-pounder sports a fastball that gets as high as the mid-90's. He also features a slider, curve ball and a change up that is said to have nice potential . I would expect Romero to be best suited

The Phillies took high school pitcher Kevin Gowdy with their 2nd pick (42nd overall) in the 2016 MLB amateur draft on Thursday night. The pick marked the second time on the first day of this year's draft that the Phils selected a high school player committed to Chase Utley's alma mater, UCLA.  They took outfielder Mickey Moniak with the top overall pick in the draft just hours earlier. Gowdy, a 6-foot-4 175-pound right-hander, has a lean frame that could fill out nicely.  He features a 90-94 MPH fastball along with a strong slider, a good change up and mechanics that are described as smooth.  With a 1.59 ERA along with 93 strike outs and just five walks in 56 2/3 innings in his senior season at Santa Barbara High School, Gowdy was impressive all year. He was a member of the USA 18U team that won a gold medal last autumn in Japan. It's said that the Phillies love Gowdy's ceiling and see him having the potential to become a front line pitcher. Honored to h

The mystery and intrigue is finally over, as the Phillies selected outfielder Mickey Moniak La Costa Canyon High School in California with the first pick in the 2016 MLB amateur draft. The lefty swinging Moniak has big time offensive upside.  He is said to sport considerable bat speed and gets his stick through the zone with noteworthy torque, both in his hips as well as his arms.  He drives the ball well to all fields.  Additionally, Moniak, who stands six-foot-two and weights 190 pounds, is strong defensively as a center fielder. Praised for being mature and composed, the athletic Moniak, described as a natural on the baseball field, has the make up to be a strong performer along with a modest star that leads by example. This year marked just the second time in their history that the Phillies had the top pick in the draft.  The previous time was 1998 when they took Pat Burrell out of Miami. Last year's top pick by the Phillies, Cornelius Randolph (taken 10th overall),

Eflin with Reading in 2015, image- Jay Floyd Following Vincent Velasquez leaving his start after just two pitches for the Phillies on Wednesday, righty prospect Zach Eflin was pulled from his start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley at Gwinnett. The 22-year-old sports a 5-1 record with a 3.14 ERA and a .210 batting average against in 10 starts for the IronPigs this season. He could take the place of Velasquez if he is required to miss any additional time. Initial word on Velasquez after he threw two fastballs that clocked in the 86-87 MPH range (considerably slower than the 94 MPH he averages) and was swiftly pulled from his outing, is that he has a biceps strain. He'll be further evaluated in the coming days. Prior to the regular season, Eflin got a taste of competing against big leaguers when he was charged with 12 runs (nine earned) on 11 hits while striking out two and walking one with a wild pitch in three innings of work in an intrasquad exhibition that pitted the Phils

Jose Pujols, image- Jay Floyd On Tuesday, rosters for the Class A South Atlantic League All-Star teams, including two Phillies propsects, were announced. Lakewood second baseman Josh Tobias and outfielder Jose Pujols were honored and will represent the Northern Division roster when the game takes place at Whitaker Ballpark in Lexington, KY on June 21 st . Tobias, who was a 10 th round draft selection by the Phillies last year out of the University of Florida, has a .2868 average with five home runs and 33 RBI through 52 games for the BlueClaws. The switch-hitter has 14 multi-hit games this season. The 20-year-old Pujols sports a .243 average with a league-best 10 home runs and 34 RBI through 53 games this season. The righty slugger was recently profiled by Phillies Nation ( click here for that feature ). In that interview, the Dominican born Pujols was asked about the possibility of being nominated as an All-Star. "It would be great," Pujols stated.

Shawn Williams, image- Jay Floyd I recently sat down with Class A Lakewood manager Shawn Williams to discuss his BlueClaws team. Topics ranged from injured players, a returning pitcher, a pitching prospect's improvements, his team's backstops and plenty more. Read ahead for the full interview. -Firstly, I wanted to start out by asking about a pair of guys that have been on the disabled list for a while. Last year's Phillies first round pick Cornelius Randolph (shoulder) and outfielder Zach Coppola (hamstring) have been sidelined for a while. Any update on those guys nearing a return? The only thing I have is that Randolph has started doing some hitting stuff, some tee stuff and I don't know what the time table is for him. I just know he's hitting again, so I probably couldn't even tell you. I know Zach is a lot closer than Cornelius. I think he's almost into games here in the next couple days, probably just getting his legs going, I mean, po

Jose Pujols, image- Jay Floyd LAKEWOOD-- Jose Pujols is making a name for himself as one of the Class A BlueClaws' most talented prospects in recent memory. Tied for the South Atlantic League lead in home runs, the 20-year-old outfielder has shown considerable power, improved plate discipline and gleaming defense. It was just four years ago that another young slugger garnered a lot of attention at Lakewood's FirstEnergy Park. At a similar point in his career, third baseman Maikel Franco , as a blossoming slugger, began impressing many with his bat. Pujols calls Franco a friend and says the current Phillies star took him under his wing a bit during spring training this year. The one-on-one guidance, which Pujols says was in relation to on-field matters and life away from the diamond, meant a great deal to the younger ball player. "It means a lot because that means that you have it in you to be in the Major Leagues and they see that, so when people like that