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Talented 21-year-old infielder Luis Garcia remains worthy of being regarded as one of the Phillies' top prospects. After the team signed Garcia for a reported $2.5 million (second highest international signing in Phils history) in July of 2017, Garcia participated in the Florida Instructional League as a 16-year-old later that year. The Dominican Republic native would make his official professional debut in 2018. In the short-season Rookie level Gulf Coast League, Garcia led the league in batting average with a .369 mark.  Additionally, he posted a .433 on-base percentage with an impressive .921 OPS. The five-foot-11 175-pounder was named to the GCL’s post-season All-Star roster and was rated by Baseball America as the best prospect in the GCL at the time he played there. In 2019 Garcia played the entire season with Class A Lakewood at the age of 18.  There, he would struggle considerably at the plate.  In 127 games he tallied a .186 batting average with 14 doubles, three...

I invite you to visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work and get access to material like this before anyone else and get access to interviews as well as other exclusive content you can't get anywhere else.  Luis Garcia, image- Jay Floyd Despite a down season in 2019, Phillies infield prospect Luis Garcia is still one of the organization's most promising prospects. After the team signed Garcia for a reported $2.5 million (second highest international signing in Phils history) in July of 2017, Garcia participated in the Florida Instructional League as a 16-year-old later that year. The Dominican Republic native would make his official professional debut in 2018. In the short-season Rookie level Gulf Coast League, Garcia led the league batting average with a .369 mark.  Additionally, he posted a .433 on-base percentage with an impressive .921 OPS. The five-foot-11 170-pounder was named to the GCL’s post-season All-Star roster and was rated by ...

Subscribers of my Patreon site have gotten some details from the Phillies' Fall Instructs in recent days.   The Florida Instructional League is an annual month-long off-season combine that will feature workouts as well as practices and regularly pits players from different organizations against one another in exhibition games.  This year's version in a pandemic impacted world won't see different teams facing one another, but the Phillies' players will see exhibition competition, as the organization is slated to have some intrasquad games in the coming weeks. Players that are currently in Clearwater, FL seeing some long overdue time on the field include this year's first round draft selection Mick Abel.  The high school hurler inked a deal for over $4 million dollars after  being taken with the 15th overall pick in June. Francisco Morales, image- Jay Floyd Highly touted Venezuelan pitcher Francisco Morales is also in attendance.  The 20-year-old right-han...

Luis Garcia, image- Jay Floyd I invite you to visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work and get access to material like this before anyone else and get access to interviews as well as other exclusive content you can't get anywhere else.  Despite a down season in 2019, Phillies infield prospect Luis Garcia is still one of the organization's most promising prospects. After the team signed Garcia for a reported $2.5 million (second highest international signing in Phils history) in July of 2017, Garcia participated in the Florida Instructional League as a 16-year-old later that year. The Dominican Republic native would make his official professional debut in 2018. In the short-season Rookie level Gulf Coast League, Garcia was tops in batting average with a .369 mark.  Additionally, he posted a .433 on-base percentage with an impressive .921 OPS. The five-foot-11 170-pounder was named to the GCL’s post-season All-Star roster and was rated by...

This week I made my long awaited (by me only, I'd bet) to the Hittin' Season Podcast hosted by John Stolnis . The show's home is over on TheGoodPhight.com, of course, and I've contributed to the show plenty of times, appearing as a guest and contributing exclusive interviews to the program. The latest episode features John recapping the Phillies' series against the Tigers and a preview of the series to come against the division rival Braves. He also talks about what to expect as the MLB trading deadline approaches. Then I join John to discuss several promising Phils prospects such as Alec Bohm , Mickey Moniak , Bryson Stot t , Spencer Howard , Adonis Medina , Francisco Morales and others. Check out the embedded media player below to stream or download the episode and, if you like what you hear, subscribe to the show!

HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL SEASON LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON!  Get early access to my posts and EXCLUSIVE interviews- https://www.patreon.com/phoulballz Marchan and Marrero, image- Jay Floyd The Class A Lakewood BlueClaws are among the weakest offenses in the South Atlantic League. Overall, at the time of this writing, the team ranks last in the league in runs scored at 301 (29 runs fewer than the next closest team). The club also sits last in hits, batting average and OPS. This week I talked with Lakewood's hitting coach and former Phillies minor leaguer Christian Marrero. He offered his thoughts on several of Lakewood's standout names including catcher Rafael Marchan , middle infielders Jonathan Guzman and Luis Garcia as well as outfielder Malvin Matos , plus his thoughts on the lineup's overall struggles. Read ahead for that full, brief interview. -Rafael Marchan has been solid of late. He notched three separate three-hi...

HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL SEASON LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON!- https://www.patreon.com/phoulballz   Following the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws' exciting walk-off victory in the 10th inning against West Virginia (Mariners affiliate) on Thursday night, I spoke with the team's manager Mike Micucci about several of his team's standouts including starting pitcher Dom Pipkin, who had a less than ideal performance, middle infielder Luis Garcia, who notched the game's big hit and others.  Micucci also talked about the recent promotion of top prospect Alec Bohm, who opened this season with Lakewood and is headed to Double-A Reading.  Read ahead for those interview excerpts. Dom Pipkin, image- Jay Floyd -Not a very good start from Dominic Pipkin , who only lasts an inning and a third, gave up three earned runs and threw more balls than strikes... He looked a little rusty (coming off of the All-Star break), I thought.  Had a hard time getting ...

Mike Micucci, image- Jay Floyd I am back with another Patreon exclusive! Last weekend, I talked one-on-one with Class A Lakewood BlueClaws manager Mike Micucci about several topics including the defensive progress of middle infielders Luis Garcia and Jonathan Guzman, the promotion of Matt Kroon, the addition of Luke Miller, Cole Stobbe's playing time as well as the free base runner that starts extra innings in the minors. Please head on over to Patreon.com/PhoulBallz to subscribe and support my work.  Contributions there are helpful in simply allowing me to take less of a financial loss in producing this type of content for you, the readers.  Your patronage will get you early access to nearly all of my news and articles but more importantly exclusive interviews and other posts. I also intend to offer some baseball related giveaways once the patron count increases. Direct link to the interview is right here .   

Mike Micucci, image- Jay Floyd HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL SEASON LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON!- https://www.patreon.com/phoulballz This season Mike Micucci took over as the 13th manager of the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. A draft pick of the Cubs in 1994, Micucci played six season in the professional ranks and has been coaching or working in the developmental ranks virtually since that time. Recently, I sat down with the BlueClaws' new skipper to get to know him a bit.  He chatted about his local ties, his family and several of his players, including last year's Phillies first round draft pick Alec Bohm .  Read ahead for that interview. -Firstly, I want to ask you about Alec Bohm.  Some people are surprised he landed at this level, on this roster.  What have you seen from him? I mean honestly, we had talked a little bit. He basically showed up to our group on the last day of spring training. So, we haven’t even seen much of him...

Luis Garcia, image- @BaseballBetsy Youth and talent are two key things that stand out with Phillies shortstop prospect Luis Garcia . After the team signed the Dominican Republic native for a reported $2.5 million (second highest international signing in Phils history) in July of 2017, Garcia participated in the Florida Instructional League as a 16-year-old. He made his official professional debut last season. In the short-season Rookie level Gulf Coast League, the youngster was tops in batting average with a .369 mark and posted a .433 OBP with an impressive .921 OPS. He was also named to the GCL’s post-season All-Star roster. The five-foot-11 170-pounder was rated by Baseball America as the best prospect in that league last year. Defensively, Garcia is said to have an accurate, plus arm with quick feet. He fields his position smoothly. At the plate, the switch-hitter displays a mature approach with quick hands that could translate into more power as he ages. Garcia’...