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I'll be posting rundowns throughout the off-season to shine a light on Phillies prospects making an impact in various leagues around the world.  This is the first of my regular updates throughout the colder months touching on action in the Arizona Fall League, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and other places.  Statistics are current through games on Saturday. Arizona Fall League (all Phillies representatives here play for the Scottsdale Scorpions)- Luke Leftwich, image- Jay Floyd Righty pitcher Luke Leftwich has not allowed a run in 5 2/3 innings over four appearances.  He has notched eight strike outs and surrendered two walks.  Leftwich, 24, posted a 3.73 ERA in 44 appearances for Double-A Reading this year.  The Wofford College product was a 7th round draft choice of the Phils in 2015. Lefty hurler Jonathan Hennigan has allowed two hits and an earned run in three innings of work.  He tallied a 2.39 ERA in 37 combined games for Class A La...

JoJo Romero, image- Jay Floyd Reading starter JoJo Romero has finally arrived.  Well, what I mean is; the JoJo Romero you may have read about during last off-season seems to be doing the sorts of things a highly regarded prospect is supposed to do after not doing those things in the early going this season. After sporting a 7.18 ERA through his first five Double-A starts, the 21-year-old left-hander has tallied a 2.97 ERA in his most recent five starts. This week I talked with Romero, the Phillies 4th round draft choice in 2016, about his turnaround, his team, attention that comes with being ranked highly as a prospect and plenty more.  Read ahead for that full interview. -I just want to get your thoughts on your efforts so far in the Eastern League.   I’ve definitely learned a lot over these past couple months, or whatever.  So, you know, just adjusting to that and it’s a very hitter-friendly league, so as a pitcher you have to adjust to that ...

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...