PhoulBallz.com

Throughout the off-season, I'll offer a roundup of how some Phillies prospects and players are performing around the world in fall/winter leagues. Here are the latest noteworthy details. Colombian League- Jorge Alfaro, image- Jay Floyd Catcher Jorge Alfaro is batting .271 with a pair of home runs in 13 games for the Toros.  Alfaro, 25, posted a .262 average with 10 home runs and 37 RBI in 108 games with the Phillies this year.  Arizona Fall League- With the AFL wrapping up play last week, the following stats are final for the month-long campaign with each of the players having competed for the Scottsdale Scorpions. First baseman Darick Hall batted .238 with four homers and 12 RBI in 18 games.  Hall, 23, was the 14th round pick of the Phillies in 2016 out of Dallas Baptist.  Hall blasted 26 homers and drove in 87 runs in 128 combined games with Clearwater and Reading this year. Outfielder/first baseman Austin Listi batted .250 and OPS'd .6...

Zach Green, image- Jay Floyd The Double-A Eastern League announced it's  All-Star rosters on Friday and they included four representatives from the Reading Fightin Phils. Corner infielder Zach Green, outfielder Jan Hernandez, catcher Deivi Grullon and relief pitcher Edgar Garcia have all been named to the Eastern Division roster.  The game is slated to take place at Trenton's ARM & HAMMER Park on Wednesday, July 11th at 7PM. Green, the Phillies' 3rd round draft pick in 2012 has had an outstanding offensive campaign this year. In 57 games the 24-year-old righty batter sports a .290 batting average with 15 homers and 46 RBI. Hernandez was the Phils' 3rd round draft pick in 2013.  In 63 games this season, the 23-year-old righty hitter has notched a .286 average with seven homers, 35 RBI and five stolen bases. Grullon, a 22-year-old Dominican backstop, has come into his own this year, displaying plenty of progress.  In 48 games, the right-handed ...

Jan Hernandez, image- Jay Floyd More than eight months after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, the island is still recovering and making headlines .  For natives of the island the hurdles and difficulties involved with trying to bounce back come along with huge lessons.  That holds true for Phillies prospect Jan Hernandez. The thing that will stick with Hernandez the most is a single notion. "Family is everything," Hernandez said at Trenton's ARM & HAMMER Park this week.  Hernandez, who resides in San Lorenzo, a town on the eastern side of the island, took on a role of provider for his family in the face of devastation last year.  He had to help his parents, his uncle and his grandmother.  Twice daily hunts for gasoline to run a generator for their home went along with constant searches for water.  A problem with being away from home during those trying times, Hernandez says, is that the family's property and any accumulated gas and water...

As minor league teams have reached roughly a third of the way through the minor league season, here's a quick run down on some of the standouts at all four full-season levels of the Phillies system.   -Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs (28-20, 1st place in the International League North Division)... Cole Irvin with Reading last season, image- Jay Floyd Thus far in the 2018 campaign, the IronPigs' Cole Irvin leads all Phillies minor leaguers in innings pitched with 54.  Through nine starts, the 24-year-old has a 5-1 record with a 3.17 ERA and an 8.2 K/9 mark.  Irvin, a lefty, was the Phils' 5th round draft choice in 2016. His rotation mate Enyel De Los Santos has a 5-2 record with a 1.40 ERA and a .194 batting average against in nine starts.  The right-handed native of the Dominican Republic also sports a 9.8 K/9 mark.  De Los Santos was acquired from San Diego last off-season in a trade for Freddy Galvis. First baseman Joey Meneses has been incredible ...

It's another round of updates from around the globe for Phillies playing in off-season leagues. While some players like Roman Quinn are done with their time abroad, other like Jorge Alfaro and Severino Gonzalez are just getting their extra time on the diamond under way. Read ahead for all the details.  Dominican Winter League- Maikel Franco, image- Jay Floyd Maikel Franco is batting .267 with two home runs and four RBI in 11 games thus far with the Gigantes. The 23-year-old tallied a .280 average with 14 homers and 50 RBI this year as a rookie for the Phillies. Joely Rodriguez is 0-2 with a 3.32 ERA and a .194 batting average against in eight games for the Gigantes. The lefty had a 6.12 combined ERA in 32 total outings for Reading and Lehigh Valley this year. Rodriguez was acquired from Pittsburgh last off-season in a swap for Antonio Bastardo . In six games righty Jimmy Cordero has a 2.16 ERA while striking out nine and walking six in 8 1/3 innings for the Leone...

On the 67th edition of the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast, Tug and Jay are joined by former minor league slugger Tagg Bozied, who chats about his college career, his time in the Phillies system, playing in China and much more. The guys also discuss the releases of Brody Colvin and Jiwan James , Jesse Biddle 's struggles as well as the hot output from the Williamsport Crosscutters' offense. 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 .

As this year's amateur draft draws near, this week's minor league rundown will focus exclusively on last year's draft selections. With only a portion of the 2013 class actually playing with full-season clubs, many of the Phillies' 2013 picks will be slated to open their season with short-season Class A Williamsport or possibly with the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies later this month, after spending the past eight weeks or so in extended spring training. Players on that list include 3rd round pick Cord Sandberg , 4th round selection Jake Sweaney as well as 7th rounder Trey Williams . Here's a look at how the active draft class from last year is performing this season. JP Crawford, Image- Jay Floyd Last year's top draft choice (16th overall) J.P. Crawford has quickly shot to the top of Phillies prospect rankings and will be among the top 25 prospects in all of baseball as those lists get refined and updated in the coming weeks and months. Th...

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'...