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First baseman/designated hitter Chris Serritella joined the Phillies as the team's 4th round draft selection in 2012. Since then, the lefty batting Southern Illinois University product has had some ups and downs, but he's working hard to improve his game. After debuting as a pro in his draft year with Class A short-season Williamsport, the six-foot-three 205-pounder impressed, posting a .297 average with six homers and a league leading 47 RBI. Serritella followed up that great effort with a more modest campaign with Class A Advanced Clearwater in 2013. In 126 games with the Threshers, the 24-year-old tallied a .247 average with 12 home runs and 53 RBI. This season, Serritella has struggled as a member of the Double-A Fightins, as he's batting .186 with two home runs and seven RBI in 35 games. Recently, I spoke with Chris about his production this year, his roommates, getting drafted by the Phillies and plenty more. Read ahead for that full interview. -Just loo...

Over the weekend, I shot video footage of some Double-A Reading players taking their pregame hacks. Included in the clip in the video player below are outfielders Aaron Altherr and Cameron Perkins , first baseman Chris Serritella and catcher Tommy Joseph . Altherr was the Phillies' 9th round draft pick in 2009.  Through 19 games with Reading this year, the 23-year-old, who opened the season on the disabled list with a wrist injury, is batting .234 with two homers, 10 RBI and a stolen base. Perkins had an outstanding start to his second full pro season.  The 23-year-old was the Phillies' 6th round draft pick in 2012.  In 33 games, Perkins sports a .338 average with two home runs, 18 RBI and four steals. Serritella has a .250 average with two home runs and seven RBI in 22 games.  The 24-year-old was the Phils' 4th round pick in 2012. Joseph, acquired from the Giants in the Hunter Pence trade, sports a .282 average with five home runs and 19 RBI throu...

From all throughout the Phillies' developmental ranks, here's our weekly rundown of top performers and those players that have struggled recently. Triple A Lehigh Valley IronPigs- Who's hot... Outfielder Darin Ruf has picked up the production with his batting average of late, but has displayed minimal power during that stretch. The 26-year-old righty hitting slugger is batting .306 with only one extra-base hit, a double, while driving in seven runs in his past 10 games.  In 75 games with the 'Pigs, Ruf is batting .270 with seven homers and 42 RBI. Who's not... Righty pitcher Tyler Cloyd took his 7th loss of the season on Saturday, when he allowed six earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. The 26-year-old is 0-3 with a 10.69 ERA in three starts for the IronPigs since returning from the majors this month. Double-A Reading Fightins- Who's hot... Outfielder Tyson Gillies has been on a tear, batting .400 with three homers, seven RBI and two steal...

Just one of the Phillies' four full season minor league affiliates are headed to the postseason. Taking all 142 games of their schedule to do so, the Double-A Reading Phils clinched their Wild Card berth with a 7-3 win over Portland on Monday, on the final day of the Eastern League's regular season. In the Eastern division standings, the R-Phils beat out New Britain by just one game for the right to take on division champ Trenton (Yankees affiliate) this week with a chance to play in the EL championship series on the line. To open the playoffs, Reading will host the Thunder for games 1 and 2, at Reading's First Energy Stadium on Wednesday and Thursday. Games 3, 4 and 5 will be played at Trenton's Waterfront Park on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, if necessary. Reading finished three games behind Trenton in the season standings, but the R-Phils downed the division champs in seven of 13 contests during the regular season. Reading's top offensive performer this season was...

The Williamsport Crosscutters' two representatives in the short-season New York-Penn All-Star festivities made a serious impact on Tuesday evening. Chris Serritella (pictured), who was selected in the 4th round of this year's amateur draft, started the night by winning the HR Derby, downing Mahoning Valley's Joe Sever in the finals. Serritella, a 22-year-old first baseman, has posted a .293 batting average with 20 doubles, five home runs and 33 RBI in 52 games thus far this season. Additionally, the Southern Illinois University product went 1-for-2 with a single in the actual All-Star Game. Serritella started the game as the National League affiliate team's designated hitter. Crosscutters teammate, shortstop Roman Quinn , entered the game in the bottom of the 6th and proceeded to go 2-for-2 with an inside-the-park homer and an RBI single. The round tripper was the first of Quinn's young pro career. The 19-year-old Quinn was the Phillies' second round pic...

It's time, once again, for the (sometimes) weekly minor league wrap up. Read ahead for a rundown of some of the Phillies' most noteworthy minor leaguers of late. GCL Phillies...2-8 record, 6th place, 8 GB of 1st place in the GCL North division- Catcher Willians Astudillo has looked great for the GCL club, posting a .423 batting average with 3 doubles and 3 RBI in 7 games played. The Venezuela native was signed by the Phillies in 2008 at the age of 17. Outfielder Dylan Cozens has posted a .286 average with 1 HR, 7 RBI and 2 SB in 8 games since making his pro debut. Cozens was drafted 77th overall by the Phillies this year. Williamsport Crosscutters...7-7 record, 2 GB in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League's Pinckney division- Christopher Serritella , the Phillies' 4th round draft pick this year, has been contributing quite well with the bat. The lefty hitting first baseman/designated hitter tallied a .280 average with 6 doubles, a homer and 9 RBI through the ...

Jim Callis, of Baseball America, reported via Twitter this evening that the Phillies have signed 14 draft picks, including supplemental 1st round selection Shane Watson for $1,291,300, which is the full pick value. Watson attended the same high school (Lakewood, California) that former 1st round draft pick Travis d'Arnaud attended when he was selected by the Phillies in 2007. d'Arnaud recently shared his thoughts about Watson exclusively with PhoulBallz.com. "I played with his older brother and used to watch (Shane) play a little," d'Arnaud stated. "I am really happy for him and I know he will enjoy the Phillies organization, as I did." Additionally, the Phillies have also signed their 2nd round pick, high school outfielder Dylan Cozens for $659,800, also at pick value. 4th round draft choice Southern Illinois first baseman Chris Serritella signed for $200,000, which is under pick value, and 6th rounder Purdue 3rd baseman Cameron Perkins has a...

With their first pick on day 2 of the 2012 MLB amateur draft, the Phillies selected outfielder Dylan Cozens with the 77th overall pick. The 6-foot-5-inch 230-pounder attended Scottsdale Chapparal High School in Arizona, where he posted a .520 batting average with a state-best 19 home runs and 52 RBI this season. The youngster, who has a scholarship in place to play football at the University of Arizona next year, is expected to sign with the Phillies. Cozens was a defensive end in high school and also had football scholarship offers from Boise State and Washington. The Phillies also chose right-hander Alec Rash with the 95th overall pick. Rash, from Adel Desoto Minburn High School (Iowa), stands 6-feet-5-inches tall and weighs 195 pounds.  His fastball reaches 95 MPH and he is armed with some solid secondary pitches. Rash is a Missouri recruit. In round 3, the Phils selected high school shortstop Zach Green. The Jesuit High (Carmichael, CA) product batted .417 this season. ...