PhoulBallz.com

Kevin Gowdy, image- Jay Floyd Please consider supporting my work and subscribe to  my Patreon page .  Your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and early access to all of my other content.  Thank you. While baseball is on hiatus, I've been chatting with some pro baseball personnel to catch up and see how guys are using their time away from the diamond.  Most recently, Phillies pitching prospect Kevin Gowdy offered some time to let me know how he's staying fit, how he's killing time during quarantine and plenty more. Last year, after missing two seasons following UCL reconstruction in his pitching arm, the righty posted a 0-7 record with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP in 28 appearance for Class A Lakewood. Gowdy, a six-foot-four 170-pounder was the Phils' 2nd round draft selection in 2016. Read ahead for that complete interview with Kevin. -What was it like getting the news that the baseball season was being put on hold due to the Coronavirus pand...

Ben Brown, image- MiLB.com HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL SEASON LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON!- https://www.patreon.com/phoulballz Last week, righty pitching prospect Ben Brown underwent elbow ligament reconstruction and will miss significant time while he recovers. Brown, 19, joins his pal and fellow Long Island native Kyle Young on the shelf as both hurlers face recovery from Tommy John surgery.  Young, a pitcher with Class A Advanced Clearwater, went under the knife earlier this month. In four games this year, Brown, the Phillies' 33rd round draft pick in 2017, did not allow a run while striking out 20 and walking three in 13 2/3 innings pitched. Brown began to garner plenty of attention last summer when, while pitching in the rookie level Gulf Coast League, he notched a 16 strike out effort in July.  He would move up to Class A short-season Williamsport to finish his 2018 campaign. In his brief professional career to date, the six-foot-...

Ben Brown, image- MiLB.com Right-handed pitcher Ben Brown , the Phillies' 33rd round draft selection in 2017, made a splash last year in the Rookie level Gulf Coast League, putting together a 4-2 record, a 3.12 ERA and an 11.4 K/9 mark in 10 appearances (eight starts).  Additionally, he earned a promotion to short-season Class A Williamsport and made two starts there before the end of the regular season. This week I spoke with the six-foot-six 210 pounder about his spring efforts, where he could possibly pitch this year, his relationships with other Phils prospects including last year first round pick Alec Bohm and plenty more.  Read ahead for a sampling of my chat with Ben and head on over to Patreon.com/PhoulBallz for the complete interview. -We're talking here while the Phillies' opening day game is going on and a lot of what I am hearing from people I know that are there and people online is saying that the atmosphere is exciting and different.  Once the...

Each year I compile my annual prospect rankings and count down the Phillies organization’s top 25 rising minor league players. 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 along with 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. For example, pitchers such as Victor Arano and Yacksel Rios, who exceeded rookie qualification limits last season will not be considered for this year's rankings.  Additionally, a hurler like Austin Davis that did not exceed rookie caps, but appeared in more than 30 big league contests will not be ranked here. Individuals that had shor...

The Comeback 'Claws were not able to match their tremendous resilience of one night prior when they fell to Lexington in game two of the South Atlantic League finals. It was familiar territory as the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws trailed their opponent by a score of 5-0 in the late innings.  Much like Monday's affair that saw Lakewood pound three straight ninth inning homers to climb back into that contest, they got their scoring started on Tuesday with a Rodolfo Duran roundtripper. That blast came in the 8th inning in game two, but those were the only runs that crossed the plate for the visitors and they fell to the Legends by a final of 5-2.  BlueClaws starting pitcher Kyle Young tossed four innings, allowing a pair of earned runs while striking out two and issuing two walks to take the loss.  Reliever Julian Garcia was tagged for three earned runs over 2 2/3 innings.  James McArthur, this year's 12th round draft pick by the Phillies, went 1 1/3 innings w...

Brad Bergesen, image- Jay Floyd Last week I talked with Class A Lakewood pitching coach Brad Bergesen about his staff, a group that leads the South Atlantic League with a 2.79 mark through action on Tuesday. Prospects discussed include relievers Connor Brogdon and Zach Warren , injured starter Kyle Young , as well as lefty starters David Parkinson and Will Stewart . Read ahead for that interview. -We saw Spencer Howard with a nice outing today.  What did you see from him? I saw a lot of good there today.  I was very, very pleased with the stuff he was featuring today.  I think he had four plus pitches.  There was a few hitters where- two, three hitters—where he got a little out of whack, but then he regained it, but overall I thought it was a very, very good outing for him. -Where does this outing rank among his other efforts this season? I think overall, just a solid outing for him.  I think it’s one he can build his confide...

Damon Jones, image- Jay Floyd The Lakewood BlueClaws pitching staff has been leading the Class A South Atlantic League in team ERA for several weeks.  In 62 contests, the Claws' staff features a 2.62 ERA.  Furthermore, the starting rotation has been marvelous, placing four of its six members in the top ten on the league's ERA leaderboard. Left-hander Damon Jones has had a hand in the club's remarkable production.  An 18th round draft selection by the Phillies last year out of Washington State, Jones has posted a 4-2 record with a 2.12 ERA, a .223 batting average against and a 9.7 K/9 mark through 10 starts. Recently, I sat down with Jones to talk about his efforts this year, his teammates in the BlueClaws' starting rotation, his pitch repertoire and more. Read on for that full interview. -Talk to me about your impressions of the league and maintaining your tremendous results thus far. It's a really good league.  I know we have a great rotation thus fa...

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...