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Herlis Rodriguez, image- Jay Floyd For those who haven't realized that off-season baseball leagues are underway, Phillies outfield prospect Herlis Rodriguez served up an news flash about the action that's already popping off, as he hit for the cycle on Saturday in Zulia's 16-3 win over La Guairá in the Venezuelan Winter League. As the nine-hole hitter for the Aguilas, the 22-year-old lefty batter, who spent his 2016 regular season this year with Class A Advanced Clearwater, got his night rolling with a run scoring double in the 2nd inning. In the 3rd inning, Rodriguez would single home another pair of runs. After grounding into a double play in his next at bat, Rodriguez, who played center field and left field in the game, would slug a home run in the 6th, leaving him a triple shy of the rare feat. In his last plate appearance of the night, the native of Colon, VZ would lace a triple deep to right field that scored a pair of runs that completed the onslaught f...

Carlos Tocci, image- Jay Floyd Just as the big league postseason is heating up, minor league players have gotten action rolling in the international off-season leagues, with top outfield prospect Carlos Tocci and promising backstop Gabriel Lino leading the way in the Venezuelan Winter League. With Aragua on Wednesday, the 20-year-old Tocci went 3-for-6 with a stolen base. All of his hits were singles. Tocci, widely ranked among the Phillies' top 10 prospects, posted a .287/.339/.363 combined slash line in 127 games with Class A Lakewood and Class A Advanced Clearwater in 2015. Also for Aragua in the VWL, outfielder Herlis Rodriguez went 1-for-1 with two RBI as a pinch hitter and later played right field. The 21-year-old lefty batter tallied a .284 average with 10 home runs, 61 RBI and 16 steals in 120 games for Lakewood this season. Lino, who was acquired from Baltimore in 2012 for Jim Thome, went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strike out for Lara in the VWL on Wednesday...

On Tuesday night in the opener for the Florida State League playoff, the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers would lose to Daytona. There were two outs in the 7th frame before the Threshers would collect their first hit, a single by first baseman Rhys Hoskins . They would wrap up the contest with just two singles, the other coming off the bat of third baseman Mitch Walding . Right-hander Ricardo Pinto took the loss, allowing three runs in six innings of work while striking out six and walking three. Lefty pitcher Amir Garrett notched the win for the Tortugas, as he fanned 12 Threshers batters without a walk over seven shutout innings.

Shawn Williams, image- Jay Floyd The Class A BlueClaws are 10-3 in their last 13 games and have won 13 of their last 18 contests. Currently, Lakewood sits in 2nd place in the South Atlantic League's Northern Division, two games behind the first place West Virginia Power (Pirates affiliate). Following Lakewood's 4-0 victory over the Power on Wednesday, team manager Shawn Williams spoke with Phillies Nation about a pair of the game's winning pitcher, some of the standout offensive contributors as well as the team's recent success following some roster turnover. I asked Williams about right-handed hurler Ranfi Casimiro , who notched the win with 7 2/3 scoreless innings on three hits, while striking out six and walking two... He was awesome. He threw the ball really well. He's been throwing like that all year, but he put together 7 2/3 (innings) and I'm really impressed with his outing. The slider was really good. His change up is always good, but ...

This week I chatted with Class A Lakewood manager Shawn Williams and pitching coach Aaron Fultz about several young players currently in the thick of things with the BlueClaws. Williams, in his first season with Lakewood, spoke about new additions and 2015 Phillies draft picks Scott Kingery and Kyle Martin along with June's Sally League player of the month Herlis Rodriguez . Fultz took time to comment on hurlers Elniery Garcia , Ranfi Casimiro , Alexis Rivero plus more. Read ahead for comments from both coaches. Shawn Williams: -Speaking on 2nd round draft choice Scott Kingery and his impressions of the youngster thus far... He's an exciting player. He's a baseball player. He fits in with the rest of us here and he's an exciting player out there, especially defensively. He's outstanding at second, turning double plays. He can run. He puts together great at bats every game. He's had some tough luck where he's had a lot of hard outs. Jut lo...

Here's another dose of the Phillies minor league hot list as we rundown the organization's top performers of late from the various levels of the developmental system. Class A Lakewood BlueClaws- Ranfi Casimiro, image- Jay Floyd In his last five starts, righty pitcher Ranfi Casimiro has a 2-1 record with a 1.00 ERA. Listed at six-foot-eight and 200 pounds, Casimiro has a 2-3 record with a 2.74 ERA, a .217 batting average against and a 0.94 WHIP in seven starts this year. The Dominican Republic native is 22 years old. Outfielder Herlis Rodriguez has notched three straight muti-hit games and is batting .322 in 15 May games. The 20-year-old Venezuelan has posted a .257 average with two homers, 18 RBI and six steals in 32 overall games this season. Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers- Righty pitcher Mark Leiter Jr. is 2-0 with a 1.01 ERA in four outings since joining the Threshers' rotation. Overall in 10 games, the 24-year-old has a 3-0 record with a sav...

Prior to the start of the opener Class A Lakewood's home stand on Wednesday, I sat down with BlueClaws manager Shawn Williams to chat about his club that currently has a 13-13 record and sits in fourth place in the South Atlantic League's Northern Division. Williams remarked on reigning Sally League player of the week, Rhys Hoskins , exciting outfield prospect Carlos Tocci , outfielder Jiandido Tromp 's lackluster production and plenty more. Read ahead for that interview. Rhys Hoskins, image- Jay Floyd -First baseman Rhys Hoskins is really posting some excellent numbers of late, 22-for-51 (.431 avg), 4 HR, 12 RBI over last 13 games heading into action on Wednesday. What can you tell me about Rhys and how he's helping the team? He's been swinging the bat, obviously, really well. For me, it seems like every at bat he has, he's having a quality at bat and that's all you're really looking for and can ask for. For me, that's a huge thing fo...