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Friscia, image- Jay Floyd What's up with that Vito Friscia guy?  Well, he's a 24-year-old righty batting catcher that was drafted by the Phillies out of Hofstra University in 2019 with the team's final selection, 1200th overall, in the 40th round. But what's his deal?  Friscia opened the season with Class A Advanced Jersey Shore, where, in 16 games, he notched a .264 batting average with a pair of home runs, five doubles and seven RBI.  Last week, when Triple-A Lehigh Valley needed a reserve backstop, Friscia was promoted to fill their void.  When Rafael Marchan returned from a short stint in the big leagues, Friscia was assigned to the Double-A Reading roster.   Is he just a backup catcher?  For now, it seems that's his role.  But check out this quote from BlueClaws skipper Chris Adamson from earlier this month when I asked him about which player stood out to him as a guy that deserved recognition, but may not be getting it. "Vito Friscia is a ...

On Thursday, I spoke with Class A Advanced Jersey Shore BlueClaws manager Chris Adamson .  In the one-on-one interview, the man known as "Tank" talked about the origins of his nick name, the team's offensive struggles as well as several of his players including Victor Santos , Josh Hendrickson , Adam Leverett , Hunter Markwardt , Jonathan Guzman, Vito Friscia , Logan O'Hoppe and others.   Full audio of the interview is available exclusively on my Patreon page, Patreon.com/PhoulBallz .   Below are a couple of excerpts from the interview, where Adamson offers his thoughts on a pair of his standout hurlers, right-hander Victor Santos and left-hander Josh Hendrickson.   I asked about Santos...the 20-year-old Domincan Republic native sports a 1-1 record with a save, a 0.73 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and a 10.9 K/9 mark in six relief appearances this season.  Adamson had the following to say-  He's really impressive.  I didn't actually have a hole lot t...

Ben Brown, image- Jay Floyd LAKEWOOD, NJ- In the inagural contest under their new moniker and their initial contest as a Class A Advanced level club, the Jersey Shore BlueClaws were victorious, as they downed the Hudson Valley Renegades by a score of 6-2 on Tuesday night. Starting pitcher Ben Brown, who underwent Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2019, tossed four scoreless frames, striking out six and walking one.   After the Renegades took a 1-0 lead on an RBI double by third baseman James Nelson off of reliever Tyler McKay in the top of the 5th inning, the BlueClaws did not wait long to clap back.   A looping opposite field single by right fielder Jhailyn Ortiz plated two runs to give the BlueClaws the lead.  Catcher Logan O'Hoppe launched a homer in convincing fashion, plating Ortiz, to pad the home club's lead. Jersey Shore's third and fourth batters in the lineup lead the offense again in the 7th inning when Ortiz plated another run on a single and O'Hop...

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...

I invite you to visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work and get access to material like this before anyone, plus you'll get interviews as well as other exclusive content you won't be able to consume anywhere else.  I could use and I would appreciate your backing. At long last, Phillies minor league coaching staffs began to trickle out via each team's news feed on Friday with a few notable additions to the organization's developmental field staffs.  Here is a complete rundown of each team's coaching staff. The Class A Short-season Williamsport Crosscutters will be headed by Milver Reyes.  The 37-year-old Venezuelan played as high as the Triple-A level during his playing career before turning to coaching.  Reyes played with the CrossCutters in 2003 and 2004 as a member of the Pirates organization, before Williamsport was affiliated with the Phillies. The Cutters' pitching coach is set to be a returning Hector Berrios while hittin...