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Kevin Markham, image- Jay Floyd Through much of the season, outfielder Kevin Markham has been a contributor for his team.  The 24-year-old opened the 2018 campaign with Class A Lakewood where he helped that club win the first half division title and clinch a playoff berth by sporting a .282 batting average with a pair of homers, 15 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 53 games. Following a promotion to Class A Advanced Clearwater the lefty batter has tallied a .275 average with four doubles, two triples, seven RBI and four steals in 29 games.  The Threshers lead their division in the second half standings and appear to be headed for a post-season berth of their own. Markham was the 24th round draft pick of the Phillies last year out of the University of Texas at San Antonio. Recently, I interviewed the Texas native about his successful first full year in the minors, his team, playing along side rehabbing major league players and more.  Read ahead for that interview. -...

Each year I compile my annual prospect rankings and count down the Phillies organization’s top 25 rising minor league talents. In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting reviews for each of the top developmental talents that appear to have the brightest futures for the Phils organization. Taken into consideration when compiling the list is age, minor league performance relative to levels played to date, value to the organization as well as the player’s future potential and proximity to the big leagues. These rankings will not include players over the age of 25 or individuals that have already spent lengthy stretches in the big leagues. JP Crawford, image- Jay Floyd For example, J.P. Crawford and Jorge Alfaro, who are both previously, highly-ranked Phillies prospects, graduated to the big leagues last season and spent a month or more at the top level and won't be included in this year's rankings. Others moving to the majors and progressing out of prospect status are pi...

JP Crawford, image- Jay Floyd IronPigs beat reporter Tom Housenick was first to report , with others confirming, that top Phillies prospect J.P. Crawford is slated to join the Phillies for their road series against the Mets that gets underway on Monday night. Crawford, 22, struggled in the early going this season, but sported a .287 average with nine home runs and 29 RBI in 51 games since the International League All-Star break. Overall on the season, the Phils first round draft choice from 2013 posted a .243 average with 15 homers and 63 RBI in 127 games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Crawford, an outstanding defensive shortstop, has added third base and second base to his defensive skill set in recent weeks, playing six games and five games at those positions respectively.   With Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis yet to sit out a game this season, the Phillies may need to get creative in order to squeeze Crawford into their lineup.

Scott Kingery, image- Jay Floyd Recently Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle conducted a survey of media members that cover and broadcast the Phillies minor league teams , designed to rank the top talents in the organization's developmental system. The participating individuals were asked to rank their personal top 30, which were tabulated on a points system based on each ranking to determine the paper's published list of top prospects. Participating individuals included Lehigh Valley beat reporter Tom Housenick, Tony Graham of the Lakewood BlueClaws, Mike Ventola of the Reading Fightins, Williamsport beat writer Mitch Rupert, Matt Winkleman of Crashburn Alley and several others including me.  Second baseman Scott Kingery, who represented the Phillies in the MLB All-Star Futures Game this summer and has been raking all year in a split season between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, tallied the most overall points.  Ranked best overall by the group, the 23-y...

Prior to Thursday's game, Lehigh Valley IronPigs manager Dusty Wathan spoke with members of the media and offered thoughts on some of his club's most talented players. Among the key topics were International League All-Star and MLB All-Star Futures Game representative Rhys Hoskins, who is batting .300 with 19 home runs and 63 RBI in 82 games, starting pitcher Tom Eshelman, who sports a 6-2 record with two complete games and a 2.15 ERA in 10 starts for the IronPigs, shortstop J.P. Crawford, who is batting .207 in 69 games, and starter Mark Appel, who has posted a 5-4 record with a 4.87 ERA through 16 starts. Read ahead for Wathan's quotes... On Rhys Hoskins' work ethic- He's the first one at the ballpark every.  He's out there taking ground balls.  He prepares himself as good, if not better than anybody I've ever had. When asked about Tom Eshelman's performance since a promotion from Double-A Reading, Wathan joked- I'm a little disa...

Last week I was happy to join John Stolnis on his Felske Files Podcast to talk about many promising young players in the Phillies' developmental ranks. Included in the discussion were oft-injured Roman Quinn, slugging outfielder Nick Williams, talented hurler Franklyn Kilome and plenty more. Also on this episode, John talked with my old pal, from the Shore Sports Report days, Joe Giglio about many key Phillies related topics. Check out the show in the embedded media player below.

Occasionally, Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan takes time to chat with me about the organization's rising prospects and he was generous once again this week to offer his insight.  With some top names like J.P. Crawford and Dylan Cozens struggling out of the gate and other well-regarded prospects like Nick Pivetta and the talented pitchers at Class A and High-A doing great jobs, Jordan discussed those players as well as first round draft picks outfielder Cornelius Randolph and RHP Shane Watson . Outfielders Jose Pujols and Andrew Pullin , lefty pitcher Austin Davis and others were also among the topics. Read ahead for all the exclusive comments. Franklyn Kilome, image- Jay Floyd -Joe, thus far this season the Threshers pitching staff was been excellent, with great ERA's at 2.28 or under from Franklyn Kilome , Jose Taveras, Alberto Tirado, Seranthony Dominguez and company. How pleased are you with the production from this group? They're of...

JP Crawford, image- Jay Floyd One of the primary stories out of the Phillies developmental levels in the early going this season is the weak offensive production of minor league shortstop J.P. Crawford and two poor outings from promising hurler Jake Thompson . Crawford, the organization's first round draft choice in 2013, is among the youngest players in the Triple-A International League, at 22 years old. Through 10 games for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the talented lefty batter sports a .086 average with a triple and one RBI. Thompson, who was a significant part of the return from Texas in the 2015 Cole Hamels trade, has been alarmingly ineffective in two starts for Lehigh Valley. In both outings he has lasted just 2 1/3 innings, while allowing nine earned runs on opening night and being tagged for six earned runs in his second game. In 4 2/3 total innings, the 23-year-old has allowed 15 hits and three walks while striking out three. Entering the season, Crawford ...

Wathan, image- Jay Floyd This week Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs manager Dusty Wathan spoke with the media and shared his thoughts on many topics including top prospects Roman Quinn , Jorge Alfaro and J.P. Crawford .  Additionally, I spoke with new Phillies minor league coach Charlie Hayes (feature at this link ) about his playing days in Philadelphia. Read ahead for quotes from both coaches. -Dusty on how important staying healthy is for OF Roman Quinn to have a big year... I mean, well I think that's the biggest thing with Roman.  I mean, we've seen when Roman's on the field, it's a special thing and he can do special things.  He can impact the game in so many ways, you know with his speed, his power, his defense, his arm.  It's a big year for him, just to stay healthy and get him back to Philadelphia and let him contribute at that level. -Dusty on where Quinn will play in the Lehigh Valley outfield... Roman, he'll play a majority of center, b...