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With the minor league season set to get started on Tuesday, May 4th, the Phillies' four full-season teams unveiled their initial rosters today. Of note is the absense of rising infield prospect Kendall Simmons, who is apparently sidelined with an undisclosed injury.  The middle infielder was active in spring training action in recent weeks, but was contributing as a designated hitter.  He's likely being kept at the Phillies' complex in Florida in order to focus on recovery and limit unnecesary travel. Also, as reported recently on my Patreon page , pitcher Albertus Barber got a late start to his spring season due to an unspecified nerve issue.  He's healthy, but needs to ramp up his efforts in order to get game-ready before he joins a team. One of the Phils' most promision pitching prospects, Erik Miller, is also absent from these lists.  No word yet on what the situation is with this hard throwing 24-year-old, who was ranked as the organization's 5th best prosp...

I invite you to head on over the Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work and get access to material like this before anyone else and get access to interviews as well as other exclusive content you can't get anywhere else.   Each winter I compile prospect rankings and count down the Phillies organization’s top 25 minor league players. In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting reviews for each of the top developmental talents that appear to have the brightest futures for the Phils organization. Taken into consideration when compiling the list is age, minor league performance relative to levels played to date, value to the organization as well as each player's future potential along with proximity to the big leagues. These rankings won't contain players over the age of 25 or individuals that have already spent lengthy stretches in the big leagues. For example, an individual such as JoJo Romero, who was included on last year's edition ...

Logan O'Hoppe, image- Jay Floyd Phillies catching prospect Logan O'Hoppe was the subject of a recent player feature I posted here three days early.  When I talked with Logan, he was kind enough to not only chat about some serious baseball related topics, he also had some fun with me and answered Nine Silly-Ass Questions! In this interview, the 20-year-old, who was an All-Star with Class A short-season Williamsport last year, offered his thoughts on his experiences playing in Australia last off-season, super powers, some surprising movies he's never seen, teammate Albertus Barber and plenty more.  Read ahead for some excerpts from this Silly-ass interview... -You can 4-for-4 and your team loses, or you can get hit in the groin and your team wins...which do you choose? I mean, if we win, then the whole team has a good night, so I have to go with that one.  That really benefits everybody. -Tell me, if you can, four words to describe Albertus Barber . One,...

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...

Kevin Gowdy, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and subscribe to  my Patreon page .  Your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and early access to all of my other content.  Thank you. While baseball is on hiatus, I've been chatting with some pro baseball personnel to catch up and see how guys are using their time away from the diamond.  Most recently, Phillies pitching prospect Kevin Gowdy offered some time to let me know how he's staying fit, how he's killing time during quarantine and plenty more. Last year, after missing two seasons following UCL reconstruction in his pitching arm, the righty posted a 0-7 record with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP in 28 appearance for Class A Lakewood. Gowdy, a six-foot-four 170-pounder was the Phils' 2nd round draft selection in 2016. Read ahead for that complete interview with Kevin. -What was it like getting the news that the baseball season was being put on hold due to the Coronavirus pand...

Albertus Barber, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and subscribe to  my Patreon page .  Your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and early access to all of my content. If you simply mind the masses on social networking platforms, you'd think minor league players are really getting the shaft as baseball, among other sports, has shut down completely while the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic.  That's not the case in every prospect's mind. While there were recently loads of people advocating for teams to pay their minor league talent as it became clear that members of each big league club's 40-man roster won't miss a payday and that stadium staffers can expect to be taken care of as well, some individuals in the minors already feel like they are being compensated quite well. Pitcher Albertus Barber is perfectly happy with every single bit of treatment by his parent club to date, as the Phillies are still hosting many out...

Kevin Gowdy, image- Jay Floyd Season's greetings to all!  Around here, we surely adore the holidays and, of course, baseball players are no exception. Every year at Christmas time, I survey a group of Phillies prospects about what they get excited for during the holiday season. Players taking part in this year's TENTH annual Christmas favorites survey are pitchers Albertus Barber , Tyler Carr , Keylan Killgore , Kevin Gowdy , Connor Hinchliffe and Jonathan Hennigan .  Additionally, outfielder Matt Vierling took time to share his thoughts as well. Inquiries and responses regarding each player's holly jolly favorites lie ahead... -What is your favorite Christmas song? Barber- It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas. Big fan of the song. Hinchliffe- ​All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey. Gowdy- My favorite Christmas song is Mele Kalikimaka by Jimmy Buffett. My parents have always been huge Jimmy Buffett fans, so it was always on d...

Matt Hockenberry, image- Jay Floyd Over on my Patreon page , I am serving up a multi-part interview with 2019 Class A Lakewood pitching coach Matt Hockenberry. Part one features Big Hock talking about 22-year-old Dominican righty Rafi Gonell and his progress.  Part two includes quotes from Hockenberry discussing righty reliever Albertus Barber 's story of reaching the pro ranks and excelling as an undrafted free agent and his progress.  Also in part two, the subject of pitches thrown in two-strike counts by the BlueClaws and improving their walk rate throughout the season is addressed. Part three will land later this week and will include insight on promising hurler Francisco Morales . To access exclusive content such as these quotes from Hockenberry, please visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz and support my work. Sample of the material included in the Hockenberry interview excerpts... I think it’s a great story.  The fact  that (Barber) played some ju...

Rookie reporter and second generation PhoulBallz correspondent Evan Floyd took his first day on the job very seriously as he sat down with Lakewood pitcher Albertus Barber to talk about the hard-hitting topics.  Included in their chat were exchanges about each of the young men's favorite dinosaurs, their favorite super heroes and most importantly their favorite baseball players plus plenty more. Barber, a 23-year-old Oklahoma native, was an undrafted free agent signed by the Phillies for a bonus of $1,000 this summer. In 15 appearances in the minors this year, the right-hander sports a 4-0 record with a 0.96 ERA, a .227 batting average against as well as a 0.87 WHIP. Check out the media player below to see these two dynamic young men hash out the important matters. HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL SEASON LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON!  Get early access to posts like this, EXCLUSIVE interviews and bonus quotes from Kendall Simmons in the Pa...

Albertus Barber, image- MiLB.com Right-handed reliever Albertus Barber was signed by the Phillies as an undrafted free agent this summer. Since beginning his professional career, the Oklahoma Baptist product has played at three levels in the minors, tallying a remarkable 1.23 ERA with a 3-0 record and a save through 12 appearances. Last week I talked with the 23-year-old about his path to the Phillies, working with Class A Lakewood pitching coach Matt Hockenberry, the culture within the organization, his history with the Driveline training facility, a popular New Jersey food item and plenty more.  Read ahead for that complete interview. -Your name is pretty unique.  Do you have a nickname that you go by more commonly, or no? A lot of people call me Berty. -Oh, I heard someone say that earlier and it didn't even click for me. Yeah, a lot of people call me Berty, Bertus, Albert, Albertus, Barber.  It's just whatever works for you honestly. -Alright....