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Aaron Brown, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and subscribe to  my Patreon page .  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 post.  Thank you. Aaron Brown was released last Friday after nearly six years in the Phillies organization. Brown, the Phils' 3rd round draft selection in 2014 out of Pepperdine, was primarily an outfielder after turning pro.  A two-way player in college, Brown switched to pitching in 2017 after struggling on offense (.224/.313/.360) at the Double-A level. A dominant hurler in college, Brown posted a 13-1 record along with a 1.95 ERA in 17 starts in 2014.  A solid performer on the minor league mound as well, the California native notched a 5-4 record with a pair of saves, a 3.82 ERA along with an 11.0 K/9 mark in 45 relief appearances for the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils last season. With free ...

Leibrandt w/ Reading in 2017, image-Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and subscribe to  my Patreon page .  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 post.  Thank you. On Monday I learned that roughly two dozen Phillies minor leaguers were released over the weekend as the organization prepares for this year's amateur draft. Via sources, I quickly confirmed a few of the individuals, namely righty hitting outfielder Ben Aklinski along with lefty pitcher Brandon Leibrandt .  I also communicated with lefty reliever Aaron Brown , who confirmed to be that he had been released by the organization. Aklinski, 23, with the Phils' 32nd round draft pick in 2018.  He notched a .560 OPS last year with Class A Advanced Clearwater.   Leibrandt had been out of action since July of 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.  The 27-...

Aaron Brown, image- Jay Floyd Aaron Brown was a two-way player at Pepperdine, standing out both as an outfielder as well as a pitcher.  The Phillies' 3rd round draft selection in 2014 was slated to play exclusively on the offensive side after signing that year.  But, after reaching the Double-A level as an offensive player and seeing his batting average come in under .225, he was switched back to the pitching role in 2017. Combined at Class A Advanced Clearwater and Double-A Reading last year, Brown posted a 3-6 record with a 4.90 ERA, a .271 batting average against along with an 8.8 K/9 mark in 46 total appearances. Entering his second full season as a professional pitcher, the 26-year-old will open the 2019 campaign back with Reading, where he ended last season.  Brown appeared in four games this spring with the major league Phillies, surrendering one earned run on two hits while striking out three and walking none in 2 2/3 innings of work. This wee...

Aaron Brown, image- Jay Floyd Aaron Brown was a two-way player at Pepperdine, standing out both as an outfielder as well as a pitcher.  The Phillies' 3rd round draft selection in 2014 was slated to play exclusively on the offensive side after signing that year.  After reaching the Double-A level and seeing his batting average come in under .225, he was switched back to the pitching role last year. During the final week of the 2018 season, I talked with the 26-year-old left-hander about the transition and his first full year pitching in the professional ranks. Read ahead for my exclusive interview with Aaron. -It’s been more than a year since your transition from outfielder to pitcher took place. Talk about the past year with the move that you made. Honestly, it was a big opportunity for me to make that transition at the time and I just took full advantage of it. It was towards the end of the year last year. I started my pitching program June 2nd, I believe,...

Running down some numbers from a crop of Phillies players participating in the prestigious Arizona Fall League. Statistics listed are through games played on Saturday, November 11 th .   In the AFL, which wraps up at the end of this week, Phillies minor leaguers play on the Glendale Desert Dogs along with players from the Dodgers, Indians, Pirates and White Sox.  The team is managed by 2017 Clearwater Threshers skipper Shawn Williams.  Typcially, the Arizona Fall League features many prospects on the verge of the big leagues.  With close proximity to the majors, it's not far-fetched to think that it won't be long before some of these players aren't far from making an impact at BetOnline.ag Sportsbook .   Right-handed pitcher J.D. Hammer is having tremendous success in the AFL.  The six-foot-three 215-pounder has a 0.00 ERA and is holding opponents to a .081 average through nine appearances.  Hammer, 23, was acquired from the Rocki...

Leftwich in 2016 with Lakewood, image- Jay Floyd Right-handed hurler Luke Leftwich has had a successful campaign in 2017 that has seen the youngster change roles from a starter to a reliever.  Following an April in which he posted a 5.84 ERA in seven appearances with the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers, the 23-year-old has tallied a 2.20 ERA in 33 games since then.  Additionally, Leftwich sports an overall 10.8 K/9 mark, has notched eight saves and leads Florida State League relievers in innings pitched with 73 2/3. Last year as a starter with Class A Lakewood and Clearwater, Leftwich posted a 10-7 combined record with a 3.38 ERA in 23 games. The six-foot-three 205-pounder was the Phillies' 7th round draft selection in 2015.  I recently talked with Luke about his success this year, his switch to the bullpen, his approach in the new role, facing Tim Tebow and plenty more.  Read ahead for that full interview. -You've enjoyed success this year.  ...

Throughout each season, I get opportunities to chat with Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan.  The boss of the Phils' minors is always open and offers solid insight on his players.  This time around I asked Joe to talk about loads of prospects including bust out pitching performers like Jose Taveras, Nick Fanti and Cole Irvin.  He also shared thoughts out the team's past three first round draft picks Adam Haseley, Mickey Moniak and Cornelius Randolph, a trio of outfielders.  Aaron Brown's conversion from outfielder to pitcher was discussed, as was Lakewood offensive stud Darick Hall.  Additionally, he spoke on the organization's acquisitions from the trade deadline, a pair of top performers for the Gulf Coast League team and plenty more.  Read ahead of the interview. Taveras w/ Lakewood in 2016, image- Jay Floyd -Jose Taveras has had an excellent season and has been a lot of fun to watch.  Can you share some thoughts on him? I ...

Scott Kingery, image- Jay Floyd Second baseman Scott Kingery is slated to represent the Phillies in the Arizona Fall League's All-Star Game on Saturday night. The 22-year-old righty batting speedster was the Phils' 2nd round draft selection last year out of Arizona. In time split this year with Class A Advanced Clearwater and Double-A Reading, Kingery posted a .281 average with five homers, 46 RBI and 30 stolen bases. Through 13 contests with the Scorpions in the AFL, Kingery has tallied a .245 average with a home, two RBI and two steals. I spoke with Scott on Friday to gain some insight on the level of competition in the AFL and what the honor of playing in the prestigious league means to him. Kingery also spoke about working with personnel from other organizations, teammate Tim Tebow and plenty more. Read ahead for the full interview. - Does it mean a lot to you to be able to represent the Phillies as an All-Star there in the Arizona Fall League? I mean, of ...

Aaron Brown, image- Jay Floyd The Double-A Reading Fightin Phils are headed to the postseason at the Eastern League's East division champions. All season long, the team has been led by its offense, that has seen the club tally a minor league best 182 home runs heading into action on Monday, the last day of the regular season. This weekend I chatted with outfielder Aaron Brown and starting pitcher Tyler Viza about Reading's offense. Brown, a 24-year-old lefty batter, also spoke about learning from those around him as well as his up and down season while Viza, a 21-year-old right-hander, offered thoughts on four levels of the Phillies' minor league system reaching the playoffs in their respective leagues, plus more. Read ahead for those interview excerpts with both players. AARON BROWN: -It's become quite a rivalry here with Reading and Trenton, with the two teams battling over the top spot in the division, know you'll face each other in the opening ro...

Dylan Cozens, image- Jay Floyd TRENTON-- Outfielder Dylan Cozens launched a three-run home run in the third inning Saturday and the Reading Fightins (88-51) never looked back against the host Thunder, clinching first place in their division and home field advantage in next week's Double-A Eastern League Division Series. Cozens, a 22-year-old lefty masher, launched three-run shot to right, his 39th, putting the Fightin Phils up 3-1 over the Thunder in the third frame and kept them in the rear view mirror the rest of the way. The long ball was the 39th of the season for Cozens which pushed him past Darin Ruf (2012) for the Reading single season home run record. Cozens, the Phillies' 2nd round draft selection from 2011, is the favorite to be named as the Eastern League's Most Valuable Player, as he sports a .277 average with 39 homers and 123 RBI in 132 games played this season. In the contest veteran Jake Fox slugged his 23rd home run of the season while center ...

The dawn of a near year brings along with it our annual “Prospect Nation” rankings, which counts down the Phillies organization’s top 25 up and coming young players. Over the next several weeks, with the organization in rebuild mode, I’ll be bringing you reviews for each of the top developmental talents that appear to have the brightest futures for the Phillies. Always taken into consideration when compiling this list is age, minor league performance relative to levels played, value to the organization as well as future potential and proximity to the big leagues. These rankings do not include players over 25 years old or individuals that have spent lengthy stretches in the big leagues. For instance, a talented youngster such as Darnell Sweeney , who wrapped up the regular season on the Major League roster after having played in 37 games for the Phils last year, will not be on this list. Hurlers Alec Asher and Severino Gonzalez , who each made seven starts in the majors last s...