PhoulBallz.com

Frank Cacciatore, image- Jay Floyd Throughout the season, the Reading Fightin Phils' offense has been one of the biggest stories across minor league baseball. As the team's collection of strong hitters mashed for power and rocked opposing pitchers all season long in the Double-A Eastern League, the team's hitting coach, Frank Cacciatore, has gotten a good look at the best show in the sport. Over the weekend, I sat down with Cacciatore to gain some insight on the likes of the homer hitting duo Dylan Cozens and Rhys Hoskins along with emerging players such as Scott Kingery and Andrew Pullin . He also offered feedback on talented switch-hitter Roman Quinn as well as veteran Jake Fox and plenty more. Cacciatore played in the Detroit organization in the 1970's and has been part of the Phillies' developmental coaching staff since 2008. Read ahead for my full interview with Coach Frank. -Outfielder Dylan Cozens has had an outstanding season, leading the l...

Jake Thompson, image- Jay Floyd Jake Thompson starred once again for the Double-A Reading Fightins on Thursday, as he led his club to a 9-3 victory over the Bowie Baysox to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Eastern League Championship Series. The 21-year-old right-hander got the win, allowing one earned run on four hits over seven innings while striking out five and walking three. The victory for Thompson put his record at 6-1 with a 1.48 ERA over nine starts for Reading since he was acquired from Texas in the Cole Hamels trade this summer. Eight of the nine Fightin Phils batters collected at least one hit. Center fielder Nick Williams , another talented youngster the Phils brought over from Texas, notched two hits including a home run, his third of the postseason, and drove in a pair of runs. Shortstop J.P. Crawford went 2-for-3 with a walk while driving in a run on a sacrifice fly. The organization's top prospect is 10-for-21 (.476 avg) in six postseason contests...

This week I spoke with several members of the Double-A Reading Fightins roster. Outfielder Aaron Altherr , who spent a handful of days with the big league club last year, rising prospect Roman Quinn and 2011 second round pick Harold Martinez all took time to share their thoughts on various subjects. Read ahead for those exclusive quotes. Aaron Altherr, image- Jay Floyd Aaron Altherr: -The 24-year-old spoke about what drives him in the game... I gotta get back up there this season and hopefully I can stay up there. It drives each and every one of us. That's the ultimate goal is to get up to the big leagues and produce up there. -Commenting on which players with the big club stood out as leaving an impression on him... I always looked at Utley, the way he goes about his business. And even a younger guy like Domonic Brown , you know, he'd always come up to me and talk to me and show me the ropes. Guys like that really help you get comfortable up there and kn...

Dusty Wathan, image- Jay Floyd This week I spent some time chatting with Double-A Reading Fightins skipper Dusty Wathan . The club is well touted this year with a collection of excellent pitching prospects along with some solid producers on offense. In the interview excerpts below, Wathan shares some thoughts on Cam Perkin's dip in production this year, if the Fightin Five rotation makes his job easier and if the offense coming from his bench presents any difficulty in his role. Read ahead for this exclusive interview from the farm. -Off the top, I've got a two part question. Do you feel in any way that the solid production from some of your guys that haven't played every day, like Art Charles and Harold Martinez , makes your job more difficult? On the other side, does the starting rotation, which includes last year's top draft pick Aaron Nola along with Jesse Biddle , Zach Eflin , Tom Windle and Eastern League Pitcher of the Week Ben Lively , make your spot ...

On the 60th edition of the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast, Tug and Jay talk about prospects galore, including Tyson Gillies , Cameron Perkins and Mookie Betts . The guys also discuss the struggling Clearwater Threshers and their disappointing output. The show also features an exclusive interview with pitcher Mark Leiter Jr., with a sweet vocal cameo from Lakewood standout Willians Astudillo . 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 .  

Here's our weekly rundown of top performers and those players that have cooled off as of late.  Stats and notes current through games played on Saturday. Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs... Who's hot- IronPigs Third baseman Cody Asche Third baseman Cody Asche is 13-for-34 (.382 avg) with two doubles, a triple, a homer and three RBI in his last nine games.  Asche, a lefty batter, was the Phillies' 4th round draft pick in 2011.  The 22-year-old is batting .281 with seven home runs and 40 RBI in 65 games this year. Upon making his Triple-A debut, catcher Cameron Rupp went 4-for-11 (.367 avg) with three RBI in his first three contests.  Rupp, 24, was the Phillies' 3rd round draft choice in 2010 out of the University of Texas. Who's not- In his last nine games, outfielder Leandro Castro is 6-for-35 (.171 avg) with a double, a triple and four RBI.  The Dominican native celebrated his 24th birthday this weekend.  Overall, Castro is sporting a ...

The PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast is back with episode number 19.  In this edition of the program, Jay and Tug discuss Phillies prospects Harold Martinez , Colby Shreve , Kenny Giles and Tyler Knigge .  In addition, the duo compares their excitement levels for opening day and WrestleMania.  The IronPigs' new urinal gaming system is discussed, as are local player Bill Rice and Phils' versatile youngster Freddy Galvis . Check out the media player below to hear the full episode, or simply download it by clicking HERE . You can also check out previous episodes and subscribe on iTunes .

Truby with Lakewood in 2011- Photo by Jay Floyd Former big league third baseman Chris Truby is entering his fifth season as a manager in the Phillies' developmental ranks.  The 39-year-old began his coaching career in 2008 in the Pittsburgh organization after retiring from playing a year earlier. He joined the Phillies in 2009, spending two seasons as the manager for Class A short-season Williamsport prior to managing Class A Lakewood in 2011, then earning another promotion to be the skipper with the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers last year. During his playing days, Truby saw time with Houston, Montreal, Detroit and Tampa Bay.  The Indiana native batted .231 with 23 homers and 107 RBI in 263 career big league games. This week I spoke with Chris about several subjects, among them the Phils' well regarded third base prospects, how he balances his goals to excel as a coach while helping his players improve and other players on the rise.  Read ahead for tha...

On episode 15 of the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast, Tug and I run down the depth of third base prospects in the Phillies system and deliver an exclusive interview with young slugger Maikel Franco . Additionally, we review Brody Colvin 's struggles, share an update on Freddy Galvis and loads more baseball goodness! Check out the media player below to hear the full show, or download it by clicking HERE . Additionally, click HERE to listen to previous episodes of the program. You can also subscribe on iTunes .

On the latest edition of the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast, Tug and I discuss how it's Tyler Cloyd's time to join the Phillies' rotation, Double-A and Triple-A All-Stars, Cody Asche's & Harold Martinez's ascent upward in the developmental ranks and Jay's time at Fenway Park. We also took listeners questions, played the Twitter Game and plenty more. Check out the media player below to listen to the full show, or download it by clicking HERE . Additionally, click HERE to listen to previous episodes of the program. You can also subscribe on iTunes .

Once again, the weekly minor league wrap up is back, taking a look at each of the Phillies' four full season minor league clubs.  This time around, we'll take a look at the hot and cold lists from each team. Class A Lakewood BlueClaws 15-25, 6th place out of 7 (14.5 GB) in South Atlantic League Northern Division. Who’s hot- 1st baseman/3rd baseman Harold Martinez (pictured left), through action on Saturday, has strung together a stretch of 7 games where he has gone 10-for-24 (.417 avg) to boost his season batting average 58 points. Martinez, 22, was the Phillies’ 2nd round draft selection out of the University of Miami last year. Right-handed reliever Matt Campbell has been a solid contributor out of the Lakewood bullpen. Since joining the club in late April, the 24th round draft pick from last season has a 1-1 record with 2 saves and a 1.46 ERA while striking out 12 batters in 12 1/3 innings pitched. Campbell has thrown more than 1 inning in 5 of 6 of his outings...

Last year's 2nd round draft pick of the Phillies, Harold Martinez has begun to get hot after a bit of a slow start to his 2012 regular season. After beginning the season rehabbing his injured left hand and playing some games in extended spring training, Harold joined the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws on April 24th.  Through his first 16 games with Lakewood, Martinez was batting .213, but after a hot week, the Cuban born first baseman/third baseman has his average up to .272 against South Atlantic League pitching. The 22-year-old righty hitter came over to the United States at a young age and has dreamed of playing professional baseball ever since. Last year, in his first season of pro ball, Martinez, a University of Miami product, sported a .251 batting average with 2 homers and 31 RBI in 67 games for the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters of the NY-Penn League. Recently, I spoke with Harold about his draft experience, his journey from Cuba to the U.S., playing for Lakew...

Lakewood first baseman Kelly Dugan (pictured, left) has been sent to the Phillies' spring traning home in Clearwater, FL to rehab his injured ankle. The switch-hitting Dugan has been sidelined since the Class A BlueClaws' game at Hagerstown on April 20th, when he stepped on first base awkwardly, while taking a throw on a ground out, and turned his left ankle. According to Lakewood manager Mickey Morandini, there is no time frame for a return for Dugan, but the injury is not very serious. "It's basically a twisted ankle. Once the swelling goes down and the pain goes away, he'll resume some strengthening (exercises) and he'll start running again," Morandini stated. Morandini added that Dugan spent some time in a protective boot, after suffering the injury, to limit the range of motion and to keep the swelling contained. The 21-year-old Dugan was the Phillies' top draft selection (2nd round) out of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, CA in 20...