PhoulBallz.com

Last week I spoke with Triple-A Lehigh Valley pitching coach Dave Lundquist.  Among the topics of discussion were promising pitching prospects Enyel De Los Santos, Cole Irvin, Brandon Leibrandy, Drew Anderson, Tyler Gilbert and plenty others. Lundquist pitched in the major leagues with the White Sox and the Padres prior to joining the coaching ranks.  He has been with the Phillies developmental staff since 2008. Read ahead for the full interview... -You've got a couple International League All-Stars on your pitching staff.  Can you comment on those guys and the honor? Yeah, we got De Los Santos, who's been selected to be the starter for that game.  You know, that's a huge honor.  It goes back to his work ethic and what he's done, what he's accomplished all year.  The guy's had, you know, a tremendous first half.  Let him go enjoy that game and pick up the second half where he left off.   Cole Irvin, image- Jay Floyd With Irvin...

Image- Jay Floyd Entering action this week, the Phillies resided just ½ game out of first place in the National League East division and confidence in the team among its fan base was growing by the day. With playoff fever consuming local 76ers supporters and Super Bowl dreams fulfilled this year for Eagles Nation, high hopes are abound for the local nine. A remarkable turnaround, led by a new regime, has fans, media types and baseball insiders alike wondering that the Phillies’ odds of reaching or winning the World Series could be. This week I gathered feedback from several sports authorities that are familiar with the Phillies, seeking insight on their early impressions and thoughts on the team’s potential for postseason glory. Read on for those remarks. TV anchor/reporter Marshall Harris , formerly of Comcast SportsNet/NBCSN Philly- To say the Phillies are off to a good start is an understatement. I thought if they got enough good starting pitching behind Jake Arrieta ...

This past year I became a first-time father. There is nothing in my life that I have looked forward to more than becoming a dad and being able to guide a child through life, bringing him or her up to be as outstanding and as beautiful of a person as my wife is and as much of a baseball fan as I became. In recent months I have felt a tremendous bond with my son and I wondered, at times, how great the connection will grow but also how long it might stay intact. I treasure the opportunity to watch him learn and develop, but I feel like there will be a day when he doesn’t need my insight or coaching. I don't have a father, so, without an example of my own to go by, I worry that he'll outgrow our relationship. Wondering if that's accurate, I began asking players and coaches that I know for their thoughts on how close each one is with his dad, when it comes to his career and sometimes life as well. I mainly targeted men whose dads also had a career-path in profess...

Tommy Joseph, image- Jay Floyd The standout player on any hotlist of late should be the man that I receive daily tweets from fans about, asking when he’ll be called up to replace Darin Ruf or Philadelphia legend Ryan Howard . The man who was recently an afterthought or a player most fans thought was a fizzled out prospect who had been ravaged by concussions. The player that had to abandon his catching position due to those injuries and moved elsewhere on the diamond in order to continue his career. The guy that was acquired from the Giants in a trade for Hunter Pence back in 2012, Tommy Joseph . The 24-year-old first baseman/designated hitter has been on fire, excelling at the plate all season. In 23 games for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, he sports a .392 average and a 1.126 OPS, both of which lead the Triple-A International League. Joseph a right-handed hitter, has slammed seven doubles and six homers while driving in a team-best 17 runs. He’s playing like someone very deser...

On Friday, Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan took time to chat with Phillies Nation's Jay Floyd about an array of topics out of minor league camp. Jordan, who is entering his fifth season in his role, spoke about recently reassigned prospects, top names and what to expect from them, some injuries and much more. Read ahead for the full interview. Carlos Tocci, image- Jay Floyd -I noticed that Carlos Tocci is playing with group 2, the team that will become the Double-A Fightins. It's common for players to play up a level during spring. Is there anyone that might take a notable jump to open the regular season ?   Well, I mean it's too early to read anything too much into the work groups. I mean, normally, you know, this spring training's no different than any other. You've got guys playing up a level. As we start getting guys back from big league camp you have guys start getting pushed. Really it won't be till that last week till y...

On this week's edition of Phillies Nation, I sat down with rising catching prospect "The California Kid" Andrew Knapp to discuss his recent success. Since he was promoted to Double-A Reading in June, the 23-year-old switch-hitter is batting .380 with 10 homers and 51 RBI in 46 games. The segment also features remarks from teammates Jake Thompson , Nick Pivetta and Mark Leiter Jr. Don't miss this profile...check it out in the media player below and look for new episodes of PNTV premiering each Tuesday at 6PM on The Comcast Network.

On this week's edition of Phillies Nation, Corey and Rachel are joined by Phillies beat writer Kevin Cooney. The trio chats about the Phils' extremely poor record though the opening half of the season, Maikel Franco being the team's bright spot and possible upcoming trades. PN's minor league insider Jay Floyd caught up with Reading hurler Mark Leiter Jr. and also joins the panel to discuss some rising prospects such as Aaron Nola , J.P. Crawford , Andrew Knapp and Rhys Hoskins . The episode, featured in the media player below, also includes a segment with hitting instructor Kevin Wilson, fantasy baseball tips and more. New episodes of Phillies Nation premiere each Tuesday at 6PM on The Comcast Network and replay throughout each week on TCN and Comcast Sportsnet.

Andrew Knapp, image- Jay Floyd Last week the Florida State League announced the rosters for its 54th annual All-Star Game with five Phillies prospects being honored. Leading the way among the group that will represent Clearwater is standout catcher Andrew Knapp . The switch-hitting Knapp was the Phillies' second round draft selection in 2013 out of California. With the Class A Advanced Threshers this season, the 23-year-old has a .258 average with 10 doubles, three triples, two home runs and 28 RBI in 57 games. He missed a portion of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Following a disappointing stretch in which he tallied a .157/.222/.205 slash line initially in 24 games at Clearwater, Knapp joined the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws and got things back on track. In 75 games with the 'Claws, Knapp posted a .290 average with five homers and 25 RBI. The six-foot-one 190-pounder ranked 25th on the organization's prospect ranking prior to this season, ac...

After their top offensive contributor J.P. Crawford was promoted this week, some fans may have wondered which remaining players could be catalysts for the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers lineup going forward. Middle infielder Angelo Mora now stands as the team's leading hitter with a .350 average while outfielder Andrew Pullin seems to be the club's most consistent batter, as he's tied for the team lead in hits (51) and total bases (72). I heard from both offensive stars this week to gain some insight on their success at the plate and also got righty pitcher Mark Leiter Jr. to speak about his recent impressive efforts on the mound. Read ahead for those quotes. Angelo Mora with Lakewood in 2013, image- Jay Floyd -Mora, who is a 22-year-old Dominican Republic native, spoke on if players at higher levels inspire him to achieve bigger things and how his coaches on the field, and one off the field, have helped him... "Yes, they inspire many baseba...

Tug and Jay are back with the latest edition on the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast. On the 77th edition of the show, the guys talk about Jake Fox 's transition to Korea, Mark Leiter Jr.'s, Brandon Leibrandt 's and J.P. Crawford 's excellent efforts for Clearwater as well as Carlos Tocci posting terrific numbers in the Sally League. Reading slugger Art Charles joins the show for the segment Nine Silly-ass Questions, plus Marlins pitching prospect Ben Holmes (AKA Ben Wetzler) takes time to answer questions about the Phillies reporting him to the NCAA for having an agent represent him at the negotiation table in 2013. 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 . Thanks so much to the thousands of you that listen to each episode. We appreciate you.

About a month ago, Phillies Nation featured a post with prospects Brian Pointer and Mark Leiter Jr. predicting the outcome of the entire WrestleMania 31 card. Now, as the biggest boxing match in history approaches, those two and others took time to offer their thoughts on Saturday night's huge title match between undefeated Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao with the unified welterweight championship on the line. Read ahead for comments from Pointer and Leiter as well as Phils relievers Justin De Fratus and Mario Hollands , Phillies backstop Cameron Rupp , pitching prospect Matt Imhof , Lehigh Valley righty hurler Tyler Knigge , top prospect J.P. Crawford, Clearwater third baseman Mitch Walding , Reading's speedy center fielder Roman Quinn along with former Phillies All-Star and current minor league coach Mickey Morandini . Pointer - Money Mayweather will win in a unanimous decision. Leiter - I'll take Pac-man. Turn it into a three-fight...

After roughly a week and a half of the minor league schedule has past, so here's a quick run down of the top performers from the Phillies' developmental ranks thus far in the young baseball season. Triple-A Lehigh Valley... 3B/1B Maikel Franco - The righty hitting slugger sports a .386 average with a homer and eight RBI through 10 games. After going 0-for-3 on opening day, the 22-year-old has put together a nine-game hitting streak with at least one extra-base hit in eight of those games. RHP Phillippe Aumont - In three appearances, the 26-year-old has allowed one earned run in eight innings (1.13 ERA) while striking out 10 and walking four. Aumont has a career 6.13 ERA in 45 big league outings. Double-A Reading... RHP Zach Eflin - In two starts, the 21-year-old right has a 2-0 record while throwing 14 scoreless frames, having struck out seven and walked two. Eflin was acquired over the off-season from the Dodgers in the Jimmy Rollins trade. LHP Jesse Biddle - T...

For those of you that read the site regularly and perhaps also follow a few Phillies Nation staffers on Twitter, you know that some of us are lifelong professional wrestling fanatics. Not surprisingly, some Phillies minor league players have also long enjoyed action in the squared circle as well. This weekend marks the Super Bowl of the pro wrestling world, with WWE's WrestleMania set to take place in California. I caught up with minor league hurler Mark Leiter Jr. along with outfield prospect Brian Pointer to get their predictions on the full card. Here is how the two youngsters see the event shaking out along with some insight from each man on the World Champ Brock Lesnar's part time/special attraction status with the company as well as if they each see his main event challenger Roman Reigns as a viable contender for the championship strap: WWE World Heavyweight Title Match, Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns Leiter- I like Reigns, but whoever wrote that ending to the...

We're back with another rundown of top performers from the Phillies' developmental ranks, with some less than stellar performers mixed in for good measure. Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs... Tyler Henson with coach Mickey Morandini Infielder Tyler Henson is batting .448 with a home run and eight RBI over his last 10 games played. In 90 games this season, the 26-year-old sports a .282 average with six homers and 36 RBI. 3B/1B Maikel Franco has tallied a .365 batting average with nine doubles, two triples, a homer and 15 RBI in 15 games played this month. Franco went 0-for-2 in last week's All-Star Futures Game. The 21-year-old Dominican has a .236/.286/.370 overall slash line in 96 contests this season. Tyler Knigge let up 10 earned runs over five innings (18.00 ERA) in his most recent four games with the Pigs. The troublesome stretch earned Knigge a demotion back to Double-A Reading this weekend. The 25-year-old sported a 2.69 ERA in his first 11 Tripl...

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...

On the 60th edition of the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast, Tug and Jay talk about prospects galore, including Tyson Gillies , Cameron Perkins and Mookie Betts . The guys also discuss the struggling Clearwater Threshers and their disappointing output. The show also features an exclusive interview with pitcher Mark Leiter Jr., with a sweet vocal cameo from Lakewood standout Willians Astudillo . 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 .  

It's another edition of our weekly minor league round up, where we take a look at the hottest players in the Phillies system. Read ahead for all the notes on your standout prospects and a shining pro vet. Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs- Maikel Franco, Image- Jay Floyd Third baseman Maikel Franco is 9-for-31 (.290 avg) with three doubles, a homer and five RBI in his last seven games. The 21-year-old Domincan was batting .111 on the season prior to that stretch of games. Righty hurler Greg Smith has been on fire in his past three starts, posting a 2-0 record with a 0.90 ERA while striking out 15 and walking one in 20 innings during that stretch. Smith tallied a 3.31 ERA in 23 games with the IronPigs last season. The 30-year-old has pitched in the big leagues with Oakland and Colorado. Double-A Reading Fightins- Outfielder Cam Perkins has maintained his strong output since the start of the season and, after notching his 12th multi-hit game of the year on Monday,...

Mark Leiter Jr. (center), Image- BlueClaws Wins have been hard to come by for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws this season, but every fifth day, when their ace is on the mound, the team appears to have excellent chances at notching a victory. For the BlueClaws team that sits in last place in the South Atlantic League's Northern division with a 6-16 record, Mark Leiter Jr. has been the most solid contributor on the pitching staff. The 23-year-old sports a 3-1 record along with a 1.97 ERA and a .209 batting average against through five starts. Possessing half of the team's wins, the right-hander is pleased with his own dominant output, which is displayed by his 1.31 ERA with Lakewood dating back to last season, but Leiter, a Forked River, NJ native, credits his teammates for his personal success. "I'm playing with a lot of really good players and I'm fortunate to throw to some really good catchers and this year, with (Gabriel) Lino, we've been on the sam...