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Jose Pujols, image- Jay Floyd It was announced that the Phillies released outfield prospect Jose Pujols along with two minor league pitchers on Wednesday. The 24-year-old righty hitting Dominican missed all of the 2019 regular season following a reported Achilles tendon injury. Pujols made a name for himself during his first campaign in full-season Class A in 2016,  when he set Lakewood's single season home run record at the time, at that time, with a mark of 24. Overall in 128 games in the South Atlantic League that year, Pujols tallied a .241 batting average with 82 runs batted in. In six minor league seasons, the six-foot-three 180-pounder notched a .238/.304/.406 slash line.  The father of two posted a message about the release on his Instagram account on Wednesday night.  An image of that statement is embedded below. Tip of the cap to OF Jose Pujols, who was released yesterday by the #Phillies . He posted a statement about it on his Instagram a...

Jose Pujols, image- Jay Floyd Thanks to the return of his power stroke, outfield prospect Jose Pujols finds himself back among the Phillies most promising prospects this year. Fresh off a season that saw him honored as the Class A Advanced Florida State League’s Player of the Year, the 23-year-old looks like he could have a very promising future. The Dominican native was signed by the Phillies in 2012 at the age of 16. That year he participated in the Florida Instructional League after the regular season. Opening his official playing career as a member of the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2013, Pujols sported a .188 batting average with six home runs and 18 RBI in 45 games. The following year, Pujols split time between the GCL and short-season Class A Williamsport. In 57 combined games, the righty batter posted a .226/.273/.377 slash line. In 2015, Pujols continued to show improvement with a .241 average, four homers and 30 RBI in 66 games for Williamsport....

With the deadline for 40 man roster additions set for Tuesday, the Phillies made moves to add some promising names to their list of protected players. The Phillies announced the additions of shortstop Arquimedes Gamboa along with right-handed pitchers Adonis Medina and Edgar Garcia are the players added to the Phillies roster. Arquimedes Gamboa, image- Jay Floyd Gamboa, a native of Venezuela, is a talented defender who played in the Arizona Fall League over the past month, sprinkling in some time at third base there, though his bat doesn't feature enough pop to think he will be an impact guy at that position.  Gamboa, a 21-year-old switch hitter, posted a .214/.304/.279 slash line with Class A Advanced Clearwater this year. Medina, a 21-year-old Dominican, is one of the Phils' top prospects and is always a name that pops up when fans and media discuss big trade proposals.  With Clearwater this year, Medina tallied a 10-4 record, a 4.12 ERA and a 9.9 K/9 in 22 ...

Jose Pujols, image- Jay Floyd Following a pair of up and down years, Phillies outfield prospect Jose Pujols has taken strides to improve his approach as well as his outlook and the positive results have been apparent.   Two seasons ago he looked like a promising slugger who made improvements. Last year he moved up a level and appeared to struggle. This year he’s returned to resembling a talented player on the rise and he's focus on staying on that path. Pujols, signed as an international free agent at the age of 16 in 2012, was always promising, but showed he could be a powerhouse during his first year of full-season baseball in 2016. As a member, then, of the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, the six-foot-three 175-pounder set that club’s single-season home run record at the time with a mark of 24. Overall in 128 games in the South Atlantic League that year, Pujols tallied a .241 batting average with 82 runs batted in. He would move up to Class A Advanced Clearwater...

Happy weekend to all.  For your Friday afternoon commute or for your casual weekend listening or perhaps your delayed and laid back effort to catch up sometime later, check out John Stolnis's wonderful Phillies podcast Hittin' Season, as yours truly spends time chatting it up about some top prospects from the organization. Not only does John recap the week in Phils action, lay out some remarkable statistics and unveil his updated MLB top 10 teams power rankings, but he and I discuss the likes of top minor leagues names like Sixto Sanchez , Mickey Moniak , Adam Haseley , Kyle Dohy , Jose Pujols as well as Spencer Howard plus more. Check out the program and other recent episodes in the embedded media player below or head on over to SoundCloud.com/TheFelskeFiles !

Joe Jordan, image- Jay Floyd On Sunday, Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan took some time to talk with me about plenty of prospects throughout the Phils developmental levels. Topics discussed include injury updates for several hurlers including Jose Taveras , Nick Fanti , Bailey Falter and a critical note on Triple-A reliever Brandon Leibrandt .  Also mentioned are outfielders Jhailyn Ortiz and Jose Pujols , catcher Deivi Grullon , Lakewood starters Will Stewart and David Parkinson as well as impressive Double-A reliever Kyle Dohy along with Triple-A reliever Tyler Gilbert. Read onward for much of my interview with Joe and check back in the coming days for his thoughts on some other names that are worthy of interest.  -Kyle Dohy's graduated out of Lakewood and Clearwater, landing in Reading.  He's started to get some attention, after he was a 16th round draft pick and pitched in short-season Class A last year.  Can you talk...

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...

Throughout each season, I get opportunities to chat with Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan.  The boss of the Phils' minors is always open and offers solid insight on his players.  This time around I asked Joe to talk about loads of prospects including bust out pitching performers like Jose Taveras, Nick Fanti and Cole Irvin.  He also shared thoughts out the team's past three first round draft picks Adam Haseley, Mickey Moniak and Cornelius Randolph, a trio of outfielders.  Aaron Brown's conversion from outfielder to pitcher was discussed, as was Lakewood offensive stud Darick Hall.  Additionally, he spoke on the organization's acquisitions from the trade deadline, a pair of top performers for the Gulf Coast League team and plenty more.  Read ahead of the interview. Taveras w/ Lakewood in 2016, image- Jay Floyd -Jose Taveras has had an excellent season and has been a lot of fun to watch.  Can you share some thoughts on him? I ...

Just a quick rundown of some noteworthy performers throughout the Phillies minor leagues. Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs-  Hoskins & Kingery, image- Jay Floyd International League All-Star Rhys Hoskins went 1-for-2 with a single and was hit by a pitch in Sunday's MLB All-Star Futures Game.  In 88 games this season, the righty hitting first baseman has a .289 batting average with 20 home runs and 66 RBI. Also in the Futures Game, second baseman Scott Kingery went 0-for-1.  In 12 games since he was promoted to Triple-A, the 23-year-old is batting .306 with four homers, eight RBI and four steals. Right-handed pitcher Tom Eshelman sports a 7-2 record with a 1.96 ERA through 11 starts as a member of the Lehigh Valley rotation.  Eshelman was acquired as part of the Ken Giles trade to Houston in 2015. Double-A Reading Fightin Phils- Third baseman Mitch Walding has been ripping up the opposition of late.  Named the Eastern League player of the month...

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...

Jose Pujols, image- Jay Floyd Thanks to a powerful offensive display last season, outfielder Jose Pujols has become a prospect worth knowing in the Phillies’ organization. The Dominican native was signed by the Phillies in 2012 at the age of 16. Opening his professional playing  career as a member of the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2013, Pujols sported a .188 batting average with six home runs and 18 RBI in 45 contests. The following year, Pujols split time between the GCL and short-season Class A Williamsport. In 57 combined games, the righty batter posted a .226/.273/.377 slash line. In 2015, Pujols continued to show improvement with a .241 average, four homers and 30 RBI in 66 games with Williamsport. He followed up that campaign by breaking out and setting the single-season home run record for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws with 24. Additionally, Pujols would post a .241 average with 21 doubles, three triples and 82 RBI in 128 games. As Pujols g...

On Friday night, the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws locked down their first playoff berth since 2010 with a 10-4 win over Greensboro (Miami affiliate) at FirstEnergy Park. With the win, which was the BlueClaws' 21st victory in their last 27 contests, the team won the South Atlantic League's Northern division second-half title. They'll face Hagerstown, the first-half division winners, in the opening round of the playoffs beginning on Wednesday in Lakewood. The 'Claws (42-25 in the second half, 71-65 overall) took considerable strides to improve since a slow start which saw their record on April 30th (5-16) as the second worst in the minors. I spoke with Lakewood manager Shawn Williams this weekend to get his feedback on the team's position in the standings, some of his club's leaders and plenty more. Read ahead for that interview. Grenny Cumana, image- Jay Floyd -Infielder/outfielder Grenny Cumana has been a big contributor for the team in the sec...