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Pullin, image- Jay Floyd In a lineup that features a pair of sluggers battling it out for the minor leagues' home run title, mild mannered and average framed outfielder Andrew Pullin somehow stands outs. The Double-A Reading Fightin Phils include the leading home run hitter in the developmental ranks in first baseman Rhys Hoskins , who has mashed 30 round trippers, as well as impact outfielder Dylan Cozens , who is chasing his teammate with 26 dingers of his own. The Fightins also have veteran professional hitter Jake Fox , whose 19 homers are tied for third best in the EL as well as highly touted backstop Jorge Alfaro . Additionally, top prospect J.P. Crawford and promising speedster Roman Quinn have been in this team's lineup this season. For the generously listed six-foot, 190-pound Pullin to garner attention, among that collection of bats, it's remarkable. Pullin, who was a 5th round draft selection by the Phils in 2012, has impressed many with his ability to...

The Philadelphia Phillies came into the season with low expectations because the team is undergoing a rebuilding process, which means they won’t be in contention anytime soon. At the start of the season, the Phillies played hard and out-performed expectations, but the team finally came down to earth and is trying to get back to playing .500 ball. Due to their rebuilding, the Phillies have one of the worst online MLB sports betting odds , but the team is still competitive and capable of big wins every now and then. With the trade deadline approaching, the Phillies can try to get rid of the few remaining bad contracts that they have, and also get some young talent that can be important to the team’s success in the future. By trading some players away, the Phillies will also have to figure out which young players to call up to the majors, so they can get some experience heading into the offseason. Currently, Philadelphia’s most valuable trading chip is Jeremy Hellicks...

Josh Tobias, image- Jay Floyd It didn't take long for second base prospect Josh Tobias to make an impact with the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers following his promotion there earlier this week. On Thursday, in his second game in the Florida State League, the switch-hitting 23-year-old notched a 4-for-4 game while drawing a walk. Tobias was part of a chain reaction series of promotions for second basemen that saw Taylor Featherston come to the big leagues, Jesmuel Valentin go to Triple-A and Scott Kingery join the Double-A ranks after Phillies utility man Andres Blanco was sidelined with an injury this week. An All-Star for Class A Lakewood this season, Tobias, who was the Phillies' 10th round draft choice last year, posted a .304 average with seven home runs and 55 RBI in 93 games in the South Atlantic League. Prior to his promotion, I spoke to Josh about his All-Star experience, his progress this season, a certain BlueClaws promotion and plenty more. ...

To kick off Tuesday night's twin bill at BB&T Ballpark, Williamsport left-hander Ranger Suarez was on point, mowing down the Auburn Doubledays (Nationals affiliate) lineup to notch a seven-inning no-hit shutout in the Crosscutters' 4-0 win. The only batter to reach base for Auburn was lead-off man Blake Perkins in the opening frame. He would quickly be erased when the next batter grounded into a double play. It would be smooth sailing for Suarez from that point on. The effort was the first complete game of the 20-year-old Venezuelan's pro career. During his current hot streak, Suarez has a 3-0 record with a 1.17 ERA over his last four starts. Overall, he sports a 4-0 record with a 2.09 ERA in seven games. The offensive star in the gem was first baseman Darick Hall , who laced two doubles and drove in three runs for the Cutters. Following the historic win, Williamsport would sweep the double header with a 6-2 victory in the night cap.  Double header games i...

Here's a quick rundown of the Phillies minor league hot list. Details are up to date prior to game action on Tuesday, July 26th. Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs (61-41, 2 nd place North Div. International League) Right-handed Jake Thompson continues his tremendous stretch for the IronPigs and remains the top option for a promotion if a vacancy opens up in the Phillies’ rotation. In his last nine starts, the 22-year-old sports a 6-0 record with a 0.58 ERA and a 5.3 K/9 mark. In 19 starts this season, Thompson, who was acquired from Texas as part of last summer’s Cole Hamels trade, has a 9-5 record with a 2.29 ERA and a .224 batting average against. Righty pitcher David Buchanan has allowed just two earned runs in 22 innings (0.82 ERA) over his last three starts. In 19 games (18 starts) this season for the Pigs, the 27-year-old has a 7-5 record with a 4.05 ERA and a .257 batting average against. In 11 games since the Triple-A All-Star Break, outfielder Nick Williams ...

Dusty Wathan, image- Jay Floyd Recently I sat down with the manager of the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils. During the chat, Wathan, who is primed to walk away from this week with Reading's all-time managerial wins record, spoke about his team's power hitting duo, veteran Jake Fox , starting pitcher Nick Pivetta , the wins record and more. Read ahead for that interview. -Last week you got to go along with six of your players to the Eastern League All-Star Game in Akron. What can you share about that? It was a tremendous group of guys. We had a lot of fun. They represented themselves well. It was just a fun time and to have those guys on the field at one time, it’s special to be able to be the manager for that. -Many fans are having a blast online and otherwise watching the power duo of Rhys Hoskins and Dylan Cozens slugging it out for the minor league lead in homers. There's excitement each night following them, seeing what each guy did. Is it...

Jorge Alfaro, image- Jay Floyd For Phillies catching prospect Jorge Alfaro , his skills on the field are what have earned him consideration as one of the team's most promising prospect s, but his killer instinct and aggressive style of play are what fans will come to find as the most endearing things about him. When he went 3-for-3 in last week's Eastern League All-Star Game, the 23-year-old Colombian did so with a unique approach. While many players on the diamond that night were going through the motions or taking it easy, Alfaro tackled the exhibition contest with a different approach. He looked at that game with the same mentality that he goes about during the season. To Alfaro, if a game is on the schedule, it's meant to be won. "It's another game and I know it's an All-Star Game, but I didn't try to do too much, I just tried to calm down a little bit and play like it's any other game, like I have to win," Alfaro said. "I ...

Brian Sweeney, image- Jay Floyd Last week I sat down with Lakewood pitching coach Brian Sweeney to chat about his Class A BlueClaws pitching staff. He talked about the progress of his hurlers, the improvements made by rising prospect Franklyn Kilome , Alberto Tirado changing roles and levels this season and plenty more. Read ahead for that full interview... -The starting rotation has had some good success lately. What are your thoughts on that? We’re on a good little roll right now. Guys are doing things right, attacking the zone with clean deliveries and confidence. They’re fun to watch and I’m glad to see them succeed. -Is there anyone on the staff you have noticed making the most progress since the season opened? Everybody’s made improvements and that’s really exciting. At the beginning of the year we had our struggles, so really any step forward was an improvement, but these guys are really embracing the process and I see good things especially from guy...

Tyler Viza, image- Jay Floyd TRENTON- Tyler Viza wasn't pleased with his initial frame as he kicked off the second half of the season for the team with the best record in baseball. Shaking off a two-run home run with just one out in the contest, he would shut down 23 consecutive opposing batters to help the Reading Fightin Phils notch a 4-2 win over the Trenton Thunder. Following a lead-off single to Tyler Wade in the 1st inning and a Dustin Fowler line out, third baseman Miguel Andujar launched a change up that was left up in the strike zone deep out to left field, giving Trenton a two-run lead. For the next 7 2/3 innings, no other member of the Thunder lineup would reach base against Viza. The next 23 Trenton batters were retired in order. The 21-year-old Viza would go eight innings, recording seven strike outs with no walks. He threw 66 of his 93 pitches for strikes. "He was mixing his pitches well," pitching coach Steve Schrenk stated. "I th...

Edward Mujica, image- Jay Floyd The Phillies granted right-handed pitcher Edward Mujica his release on Thursday. The 32-year-old Venezuelan sported a 0-3 record with a 3.69 ERA and an International League leading 23 saves in 36 outings for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. One day prior to his departure from the team, Mujica notched the save in the IL's 4-2 victory over the Pacific Coast League in Wednesday night's Triple-A All-Star Game. In spring training with the Phillies this year, Mujica posted a 0-1 record with a 2.16 ERA in seven relief appearances. He struck out seven and walked two in 8 1/3 innings in Grapefruit League action. Mujica was an All-Star closer for St. Louis in 2013. Having spent parts of 10 seasons in the big leagues, Mujica is a veteran that will surely find employment and very like a roster spot in the majors very soon. Additionally, the team announced that righty pitcher Severino Gonzalez has been added to the IronPigs' roster following ...

Andrew Knapp, image- Jay Floyd Phillies catching prospect Andrew Knapp launched a solo home run to help the International League All-Stars down the Pacific Coast League team in the Triple-A All-Star Game by a score of 4-2 on Wednesday in Charlotte. In 69 games with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs this season, the switch-hitting 24-year-old sports a .264 average with seven homers and 32 RBI. Recently, I spoke to Knapp about his All-Star nod, learning from veterans, his own progress, the Lehigh Valley staff and plenty more. Read ahead for that full interview. -With the All-Star honor coming your way, what were your feelings on that? Do you feel a level of accomplishment? Yeah, it's awesome. It's great to get any acknowledgement. A lot of hard work went in. I really hammered the defensive stuff this year and I've kind of been battling through the offense, you know? Not getting too down on myself early in the year and being able to put together some good at b...

The 2016 season didn't start off the way righty pitcher Skylar Hunter had hoped it might. During spring training, it was announced that the 22-year-old had tested positive for an illegal drug and would miss the first 50 games of the season. Last year after the Phillies drafted Hunter in the 12th round out of the Citadel, Hunter posted a 3-3 record with a 3.38 ERA in 22 relief appearances for short-season A level Williamsport. This year, since being activated, he sports a 1-1 record with a 4.80 ERA in nine outings with Class A Lakewood. This week I spoke with Skylar about the suspension, his season to date, recent news related to police shootings and plenty more. Read ahead for that full interview. -With the disciplinary issues that you faced, can that be a big learning experience for you? It definitely is. You get the consequence of your actions and you get a life lesson. I feel like it made me stronger and I feel like I’m ready to go. -When that takes plac...

Dylan Cozens, image- Jay Floyd Outfielder Dylan Cozens and pitcher Ricardo Pinto represented the Phillies as Major League Baseball kicked off its All-Star week festivities on Sunday with the MLB All-Star Futures Game in San Diego. The pair had minimal impact on the game that saw the World team pound the United State team by a score of 11-3. Cozens was 0-for-1 in a single plate appearance for the US, while Pinto retired both batters he faced for the World club. The Phils prospects would serve up a pair of defensive gems as Pinto allowed a deep fly ball to the second batter he faced that could have been a home run if not for a spectacular over-the-wall catch by Padres center field prospect Manny Margot. In his turn at bat, Cozens would lace a drive toward the right field corner that was also caught in tremendous fashion by Cubs prospect Eloy Jimenez. Cozens, a powerful lefty batter, has had an outstanding season with Double-A Reading, where he's been honored as a...

On Sunday, three Threshers hurlers combined to toss a no-hitters as they downed St. Lucie 4-0 in front of a home crowd at Clearwater's Bright House Field. Making his first start in the Class A Advanced Florida State League, righty Drew Anderson made the start, going four innings. A 44- minute lighting delay chased the 22-year-old from the game. He was relieved by righty Will Morris , who notched the win with four frames, while Victor Arano closed things out in the 9th inning. Each pitcher allowed one base runner via a walk. Anderson, a 21st round draft selection in 2012, returned from Tommy John surgery earlier this season with Class A Lakewood, where he posted a 1-13 record with a 3.38 ERA and a 9.9 K/9 mark in seven starts prior to his promotion to Clearwater. Morris was a 24th round pick in 2013 out of the College of Southern Nevada. The 23-year-old sports a 5-2 record with a 3.16 ERA in 17 appearances for the Threshers this season. Arano, 21, was acquired as a p...