Cozens, Hoskins and Lively honored as 2016 Paul Owens Award winners

Ben Lively, image- Jay Floyd

None of the names honored as the 2016 Paul Owens Award winners were a surprise, as each of the men dominated throughout the season. It was announced on Friday that right-hander Ben Lively was named the top pitcher while Dylan Cozens and Rhys Hoskins were co-winners on the offensive side.

Lively, who opened the season at Double-A Reading and helped lead the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs into the postseason following a promotion in May, tallied an 18-5 record along with a 2.69 ERA and a .192 batting average against in 28 combined starts at the two levels. The 24-year-old was acquired from the Reds in the 2014-2015 off-season in the trade for Marlon Byrd, who won the Paul Owens Award in 2000 and 2001.

Cozens, the Eastern League's Most Valuable Player, sported a .276 average with 40 home runs and 125 RBI in 134 games with Reading this season. The lefty batting 22-year-old right fielder was the Phillies' 2nd round draft pick out of high school in 2012.

Hoskins, a 23-year-old righty batting first baseman, posted a .281 batting average with 38 home runs and 116 RBI in 135 games for Reading this year. A Sacramento State product, Hoskins was the Phillies 5th round draft selection in 2014.

Instituted in 1986, the Paul Owens Award is named after the man who spent 48 years in the Phillies organization as a scout, farm director, general manager, manager and senior advisor. It is given to the top performers each season in the Phils' developmental ranks.

Winners of the award last year were catcher Andrew Knapp and pitcher Ricardo Pinto. Other previous winners include Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Ricky Bottalico and Cole Hamels.

Comments

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. ...

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...

Drabek Preparing For Next Step

The transition has been easy for Kyle Drabek. In December, he was part of a package of young prospects that was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for ace pitcher Roy Halladay. Now, as though nothing has changed, he's right back where he was last season...the star prospect on the pitching staff of a team in the Double A Eastern League. Drabek has often stated that he wanted to stay in the Philadelphia organization, who drafted him in the first round of the 2006 amateur draft. The 22-year-old thought after the midseason trade rumors, that surrounded him possibly going to Toronto last year, passed with no action that all the turmoil was over and that he could simply relax and focus on getting to the big leagues with the Phillies. That wasn't the case, as the deal eventually came to fruition over the off-season. In the Blue Jays system this season, Drabek doesn't have to worry about being dealt. He only has to concern himself with opposing batters and working on his secondary pit...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog