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Continuing with my multi-part exclusive interview with 2019 Lakewood pitching coach Matt Hockenberry, here's another entry. In this post, Hockenberry talks about the success of his young staff and their improvements throughout the season this year.  He also discusses exciting 19-year-old right-hander Francisco Morales , his ceiling and what the future could hold for the talented Venezuelan.  He also discusses hurler Victor Santos and plenty more. Morales, who stands six-foot-four and is listed at 85 pounds, notched a 3.82 ERA, a .226 batting average against, a 1.32 WHIP as well as a 12.0 K/9 mark in 27 appearances for the BlueClaws. Read ahead for this portion of my interview with Matt Hockenberry that can't be found anywhere else! Here's a brief sample of "Hock" chatting about his team keeping momentum going throughout the 2019 campaign: You’ve got guys like Manny Silva, Francisco  Morales, you’ve got (Victor) Santos that have continued to tak...

Matt Hockenberry, image- Jay Floyd Recently, I sat down with Class A Lakewood pitching coach Matt Hockenberry to talk about his pitching staff. Hockenberry, in his second season as a professional coach, was the Phillies' 9th round pick out of Temple University in 2014.  He pitched for four seasons in the minors before making his coaching debut with the Gulf Coast League Phillies West team last year. Among the players discussed were left-handers Manuel Silva and Ethan Lindow along with right-handers Kevin Gowdy , Kyle Glogoski , James McArthur and Ben Brown as well as plenty more. Read ahead for all the exclusive remarks from Hockenberry. -What can you tell me about Manuel Silva (0-1, 4.50 ERA in 4g), who joined the team a few weeks into the season? To be honest I think he's got a bright future ahead of him.  He's the kind of guy that's just now starting to understand like the smart side of baseball.  Like actually thinking about what he'...

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 ...