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Garett Claypool in 2011, Photo- Jay Floyd Once promising righty hurler Garett Claypool was released by the Phillies on Friday morning.  The UCLA product was selected in the 11th round of the 2010 amateur draft by the Phils. The 24-year-old right-hander had a breakout season, with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws in 2011, when he posted a 5-7 record with a 3.47 ERA and led the league in strike outs over 27 outings (23 starts).  Claypool, a California native, did not show the same potential that landed him among the Phillies' top 25 prospects in 2012 upon climbing the developmental ladder to Class A Advanced Clearwater in 2012.  There, the six-foot-two 180-pounder tallied a 3-2 record with a 7.30 ERA over 20 appearances (one start). Additionally, the Phillies have continued some housekeeping among their rosters, reassigning second baseman Cesar Hernandez and relief pitcher Justin Friend to the minors .  In 11 games with the big league Phils this spring, Her...

Welcome to the (semi-)weekly minor league wrap up.  This edition takes a glance at each level of the Phillies' developmental system and details hot and cold players from each club. Lakewood Who's Hot- Local product Bob Stumpo (pictured, right) has been hot for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws through his first 5 games with the club. The West Chester University grad, who was a 33rd round draft selection in 2010, has gone 10-for-21 in the South Atlantic League thus far, after being re-assigned from Clearwater. Combined at two levels this year, the switch-hitting catcher posted a .405 batting average through action on Saturday. Who's Not- Brian Pointer , who had been a standout star for the BlueClaws in the opening three weeks of the season, hit a slow spell this week, going 1-for-20 over a stretch of five games to drop his batting average over 50 points. Pointer still sported a .253 average with 5 HR and 19 RBI through 26 games through action on Saturday. T...

Right-handed pitcher Garett Claypool is a UCLA product that was selected in the 11th round of the 2010 draft by the Phillies. The 6-foot-2-inch 175-pounder broke out, in 2011, with an All-Star campaign for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. Armed with a fastball that ranges from 90-92 MPH, a strong slider which he uses to put hitters away, as well as a curve ball and a change up that are definitely improving, Claypool ranked in the top 10 among South Atlantic League pitchers in several key statistical categories. His ERA (3.47) ranked 8th, and he was tops in strike outs (151). That dominance is even more impressive considering he was 21 K's ahead of the next highest total while only having the 11th highest innings pitched total (137 1/3) in the league. According to Claypool himself, the key to his success has been getting ahead of opposing batters by targeting both sides of the plate with his fastball. He also utilizes a bit of deception with his front side, as he winds up, whic...

When the Class A South Atlanic League All-star Game gets underway on Tuesday, June 21st, in Salisbury, MD, five Lakewood BlueClaws will be there representing the Northern Division. On Tuesday it was announced that pitchers David Buchanan , Garett Claypool and Lisalberto Bonilla will join first baseman Jim Murphy and outfielder Anthony Hewitt will all represent the two-time defending league champions in the annual exhibition. Lakewood's five representatives ties Hagerstown for most by a team from the Northern Division. David Buchanan in action against Hagerstown in May Buchanan, a Georgia native, is slated to start the SAL All-star Game for the Northern Division. Buchanan, 22, was a 7th round draft selection by the Phillies last year. In 11 starts, Buchanan has posted a 7-2 record with a 2.15 ERA. His teammates playfully refer to the right-handed Buchanan as "Buck Nasty". Claypool, a UCLA product, began the season in the bullpen, but has since proven himself worthy of a...

Garett Claypool is a name that folks all around the South Atlantic League are being forced to take notice of. The Phillies' 11th round draft pick from last season has been excellent thus far in 2011, pitching in multiple roles and holding opposing hitters to a .188 batting average through 12 games for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. The 6-foot-2-inch 175-pound UCLA grad began the season in the Lakewood bullpen, but after breaking into the rotation, when the club was forced to play multiple double headers brought on by rain outs, Claypool proved himself worthy of sticking as a starter going forward. Armed with a fastball that is regularly clocked at 91-92 MPH, Claypool has posted a 1-2 record and leads the South Atlantic League with a 2.00 ERA. Additionally, the 22-year-old California native's 66 strike outs, in 54 innings pitched, rank 2nd in the league. After signing with the Phillies and making his professional debut with the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters last year...

The Phillies Class A affiliate, the Lakewood BlueClaws, have had some noteworthy success lately. The club has won 11 of their last 12 games and their starting pitchers are on a hot streak of not allowing any earned runs in their past 4 outings (a stretch of 28 innings). Two standout stars in the 'Claws' pitching rotation have emerged. Righties David Buchanan (7th round, 2010) and Garett Claypool (11th round, 2010) rank 1st and 2nd in the South Atlantic League in ERA with marks of 1.97 and 2.00 respectively. Two forces on the offensive side during the team's current hot streak have proven to be 25-year-old first baseman Jim Murphy, who has a SAL leading 13 homeruns on the season to go along with 37 RBI in 49 games played, and former top Phils draft pick 22-year-old OF/DH Anthony Hewitt, who has posted a .317 batting average in his last 10 games and has smashed all 6 of his homers this season in May. On the current homestand, I spoke with Lakewood manager, and former Major Le...

LAKEWOOD, NJ- With Phillies' left-handed reliever JC Romero on hand, the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws locked down a win to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Mets affiliate, the Savannah Sand Gnats, on Tuesday night. Romero was on a rehab assignment after being placed on the disabled list on April 19th with a right calf strain. Set to throw one inning, the first batter that Romero faced put up quite a fight and refused to be retired by the left-hander's best off-speed stuff. Savannah left fielder Cory Vaughn, son of former Major League player Greg Vaughn, worked a full count and fouled off many of Romero's toughest offerings until he worked a walk. "Right from the get go I had a great battle with (Cory) Vaughn. I faced his dad and I guess I got his daddy out, but I couldn't get the son," Romero said. Romero faced Greg Vaughn three times in regular season MLB action, and retired him all three times. Good memory by JC. Unable to retire the younger Vaughn at the pla...

I had the opportunity to speak with Chris Truby, former Major Leaguer and manager of the Class A level Lakewood BlueClaws about several different matters related to the team. Following Lakewood's 11-1 victory over the Charleston RiverDogs on Tuesday night, I asked Truby about outfielder Zach Collier who had recently sat out of action for a week with a back strain, his pitching staff- including versatile right-hander Garett Claypool, his frequent lineup tweeks and plenty more. Check out the media player below to listen to the full interview. ___________________________________________________________ You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE . You can also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE .

The season is still brand new, but there have already been plenty of performances worth noting throughout the Phillies developmental system in the early going. A reputation that has become attached to the Philadelphia organization is that the club is stacked with extremely good talent, but only at the lower levels. From the looks of things this year, the Phillies have players at every level that can and will help the big club in the future. Here is your report on the Phillies' minor league system through games played on Wednesday, April 20th. The Triple A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs have a 7-6 record, which ranks them third in the International League's North Division, 1 game behind first place Scranton and 1/2 game behind second place Pawtucket. Infielder Ronnie Belliard leads the team in batting, with a .348 batting average through 13 games played. Belliard was an American League All-star in 2004 with Cleveland. Delwyn Young's 3 homers lead the IronPigs club, but he is bat...

On Wednesday, relief pitcher Garett Claypool made a spot start in game 2 of Class A Lakewood's double header against the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins affiliate). Claypool, an 11th round selection by Philadelphia in last year's amateur draft, performed great. In 4 innings, the 22-year-old right-hander struck out 7 batters, walked 1 and allowed no runs while scattering 4 hits. The California native, who stands 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds, pitched with short-season Williamsport last season, after signing with the Phillies. In 12 games (4 starts) with the Crosscutters in 2010, Claypool posted a 3-3 record with 45 strike outs in 34 innings. Check out the media player below to see footage of Claypool's wind up and hear his comments from an exclusive postgame interview. Also, click HERE for the game story. _____________________________________________________________ You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE . You can also connect with PhoulBallz...

LAKEWOOD, NJ- After dropping somewhat of an agonizing contest in the front end of the double header Wednesday night, the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws rode strong pitching and some luck into a split of the two seven-inning games. In the opener, the Marlins affiliate, the Greensboro Grasshoppers, touched up Lakewood starter Ervin Manzanillo for 7 earned runs over 2-plus innings pitched, and the defending South Atlantic League champions cold not bounce back. Greensboro downed the BlueClaws 9-2 in the night's first game. First baseman Jim Murphy homered to lead off the bottom of the second inning, in the night cap, to put Lakewood up 1-0. Murphy bats in the 2nd game of Wednesday's double header The BlueClaws offense struggled to get much more done throughout the remainder of the game, but managed to add 3 more runs in the bottom of the 6th inning, when catcher Torre Langley plated Aaron Altherr with a sacrifice fly, and a double steal led to two runs. With runners on 1st and 3rd, A...