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Cord Sandberg, image- Jay Floyd Following the organization's announcement that Double-A outfielder Cord Sandberg retired from baseball on Tuesday, the 23-year-old teased via a pair of social media posts that he's ready to pursue a dream in another sport. Sandberg, who was a well regarded quarterback in high school and was committed to Mississippi State prior to being selected by the Phillies in the 3rd round of the 2013 MLB amateur draft, posted images of himself on the gridiron playing quarterback. I want to thank the @Phillies for allowing me to chase a dream of mine for the last 6 seasons, but it’s time to chase another one. pic.twitter.com/TsFAiK2r3F — Cord Sandberg (@sandberg_cord) July 4, 2018 The lefty batting Florida native was hitting .231 with three homers and 11 RBI through 54 games with Reading this year. In his pro career Sandberg sported a .243/.298/.348 slash line. If the Twitter and Instagram teases prove true, he'll be the third Phillies ...

David Martinelli, image- Jay Floyd As a member of the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws this season, David Martinelli has had a steady presence in the club's lineup.  He's helped the team compete all season long as the 'Claws remain hopeful of having an outstanding final month and locking down a postseason berth. Martinelli, the Phillies' 6th round draft selection last season out of Dallas Baptist, has posted a .207 average with six home runs and 26 RBI in 87 games played. I recently spoke with the lefty batting Texas native about his season, teammates Mickey Moniak and Daniel Brito, his draft experience last year and plenty more.  Read ahead for that full interview. -I'm hoping to get your thoughts on your 2017 with the BlueClaws. Yeah, we're a different team now than we were at the start of the season.  There's a lot of new guys, a lot of new faces.  We have a shot here, we have 30-some games left.  We have a shot to win some games, make the playoffs ...

It's been a week since I have published anything on the site here, with life getting in the way at times, it can be difficult to always have fresh material. Without anything new ready to go, I wanted to post a pair of fun interviews I did with some talented outfielders in the Phillies' system that were published elsewhere online. Throughout the season this year I will be contributing exclusive interviews to John Stolnis' top-notch podcast known as the Felske Files. Recently, he debuted an older never-before-published interview with Triple-A Lehigh Valley's Nick Williams , who was a big part of the Cole Hamels to Texas trade. Also on the show, a brand new interview with Class A Lakewood's Cord Sandberg was released. Williams, a 23-year-old lefty batter, sports a .261 average with three homers, 13 RBI and three steals in 38 games thus far this season. The Texas native was the Rangers' 2nd round draft choice in 2012. Sandberg, a 22-year-old left-handed ...

Marty Malloy, image- Jay Floyd During their opening home stand recently I had the opportunity to chat with new skipper of the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws Marty Malloy.  The 45-year-old spent time as a player in the big leagues with the Braves and Marlins.  Since he retired from playing, Malloy, the 12th manager in BlueClaws history, has managed the Astros' Gulf Coast League team for the past three seasons. Among the topics Malloy touches on are highly ranked prospects such as starting pitcher Sixto Sanchez and outfielder Mickey Moniak .  He also speaks on the leadership of some returning players, the crowds in Lakewood and more.  Read ahead for those quotes. -I asked about his early impressions on Sixto Sanchez as well as Mickey Moniak... It's a great impression what they've done.  You know, I'm very fortunate, lucky if you will, to have two guys of that caliber at that age at this level on this team.  And what they do bring to the table, it can ...

Photo courtesy of Cord Sandberg, pictured 3rd from right It’s all part of it! Are you wondering what that means? That’s okay. You’ll be in the know soon enough. It's a simple saying that has become a slogan for baseball players for life inside and outside of the game.  In a sport where its competitors are faced with an immense amount of failure while life presents similar outcomes at times, It's All Part of It has become an important adage for scores of players to lean on for reassurance and motivation. “Whatever happens, the bus breaks down (or) you break a bat- hey, that’s all part of it,” Phillies outfield prospect Cord Sandberg excitedly shared in the home dugout of Lakewood’s FirstEnergy Park recently. Seems like an insightful thought process. The motto has really caught on quite a bit and seems to be making an impression at multiple levels, in various organizations and even across continents. The phrase “It’s all part of it” or sometimes referred to a...

Throughout the off-season, we'll be bringing you details on Phillies players participating in fall and winter leagues from around the globe. Read ahead for a rundown of how many players have performed to date. Stats are current through games played on Friday except ABL notes, which include stats for Saturday's games. Australian Baseball League- Cord Sandberg, image- Jay Floyd Outfielder Cord Sandberg is hitting a lofty .444 with a double, four walks and a steal in six games for Canberra. The 20-year-old was one of nine minor league Gold Glove Award winner as a member of the Lakewood BlueClaws this year. Sandberg was a 3rd round draft selection in 2013. Through seven games for the Sydney Blue Sox, first baseman Rhys Hoskins is batting .240 with five doubles, a homer and five RBI. In a double header on Saturday, Hoskins went 3-for-6 with two doubles and a home run. The 22-year-old was a 5th round draft pick by the Phils last year. He batted .319 with 17 home r...

Aaron Altherr, image- Jay Floyd On Monday, Minor League Baseball announced that right fielder Aaron Altherr and left fielder Cord Sandberg were honored as Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners. Altherr spent time this season with Double-A Reading as well as Triple-A Lehigh Valley before he was promoted to the majors. He was perfect in 107 games in the field, recording 279 chances and eight assists without an error. The 24-year-old was a 9th round draft choice by the Phils in 2009. The 20-year-old Sandberg, who was the Phils' 3rd round draft selection in 2013, recorded a .983 fielding percentage in 120 games for Class A Lakewood. Sandberg had 232 chances, recording 13 assists. According to a release, players must have participated in one of the 10 domestic-based, full-season leagues, and shown outstanding defensive skills to be eligible to receive the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. The award was re-introduced to Minor League Baseball in 2011 after an almost 50-year hiatus...

Tug and Jay are back with the latest edition on the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast. On the 77th edition of the show, the guys talk about Jake Fox 's transition to Korea, Mark Leiter Jr.'s, Brandon Leibrandt 's and J.P. Crawford 's excellent efforts for Clearwater as well as Carlos Tocci posting terrific numbers in the Sally League. Reading slugger Art Charles joins the show for the segment Nine Silly-ass Questions, plus Marlins pitching prospect Ben Holmes (AKA Ben Wetzler) takes time to answer questions about the Phillies reporting him to the NCAA for having an agent represent him at the negotiation table in 2013. Use the media player below to stream the full episode, or simply download it by clicking HERE . You can also check out previous episodes and subscribe on iTunes . Thanks so much to the thousands of you that listen to each episode. We appreciate you.

Cord Sandberg, image- Jay Floyd Lakewood outfielder Cord Sandberg is off to a quiet start this season in the Class A Sally League. The 20-year-old, through 24 games, is batting .235 with three doubles, eight RBI with a stolen base. Praised by coaches for his toolsy skill set, his leadership qualities and his professionalism, the Phillies have high hopes for the 2013 third round draft selection. Recently, I spoke with Cord about his game, his manager, his roommate and more. Read ahead for that full interview with the lefty batting Florida native, who is not related to Phils manager Ryne Sandberg. -I've heard some great feedback on you with the coaches citing you as a leader for the team. When you've the coaches really believing in you and maybe teammates looking to you, even at 20 years old, as a leader, what does that mean to you? That definitely means a lot. As far as other players looking up to me, I mean playing quarterback in high school, there are leader...

Joe Jordan, image- Jay Floyd Recently, I caught up with the Phillies' director of player development Joe Jordan to discuss several key subjects throughout the minor leagues. Jordan, who took over his current role following the 2011 season, commented on pitching prospects Adam Morgan and Ricardo Pinto as well as outfielders Cord Sandberg , Roman Quinn , Cam Perkins and Aaron Altherr along with catcher Tommy Joseph . Also a topic of discussion is the realignment of some minor league coaches this year plus field coordinator Doug Mansolino. Read ahead for the comments from Jordan and click here for his exclusive injury updates from last week. - Adam Morgan (0-1, 5.00 ERA in two starts) is back in action at the Triple-A level for the IronPigs. What's the outlook for Adam right now? Adam had a good camp. He just progressed all the way. We got him built up there at the end, so he was ready to go to Lehigh. Adam looks good, you know. He’s fine. He just needs to ...

Offense was the primary focus early in this year's draft for the Phillies.  With their each of their first five selections and eight of 11 picks to start the draft focused on position players, the Phillies seem to be realizing that the core of home grown talent that helped the team achieve all of their success in recent years is aging and the time has come to focus on filling voids that players like Chase Utley , Carlos Ruiz , Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard will inevitably leave. As we previously reviewed , the Phils selected high school shortstop J.P. Crawford and college catcher Andrew Knapp in the opening night of the annual draft on Thursday.  In the 3rd round of the draft on Friday, the Phillies went back to their usual style of drafting, picking a "toolsy" position player when they selected outfielder Cord Sandberg with the 89th pick.  The 6-foot-3 215-pounder is a product of Manatee High School in Florida, where he was the quarterback for the school'...