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I invite you to visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work and get access to material like this before anyone.  Plus you'll get exclusive interviews as well as other content you won't be able to enjoy anywhere else.  I could use, and I would value, your backing. Francisco Morales, image- Jay Floyd Right-handed pitcher Francisco Morales has emerged as not only one of the Phillies' best prospects but quite possibly one of the best young arms in the sport. Signed by the Phils in 2016 at age 16, for a reported $900,000, the Venezuela native participated that year in the Florida Instructional League. He would make his regular season minor league debut the following year with the Rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies, posting a 3-2 record with a 3.05 ERA, a .225 batting average against and a 9.6 K/9 mark in 10 games (nine starts). In 2018 the six-foot-four 185-pounder stepped up to the Class A short-season New York-Penn League.  The...

I invite you to visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work and get access to material like this before anyone, plus you'll get interviews as well as other exclusive content you won't be able to consume anywhere else.  I could use and I would appreciate your backing. At long last, Phillies minor league coaching staffs began to trickle out via each team's news feed on Friday with a few notable additions to the organization's developmental field staffs.  Here is a complete rundown of each team's coaching staff. The Class A Short-season Williamsport Crosscutters will be headed by Milver Reyes.  The 37-year-old Venezuelan played as high as the Triple-A level during his playing career before turning to coaching.  Reyes played with the CrossCutters in 2003 and 2004 as a member of the Pirates organization, before Williamsport was affiliated with the Phillies. The Cutters' pitching coach is set to be a returning Hector Berrios while hittin...

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 Over on my Patreon page , I am serving up a multi-part interview with 2019 Class A Lakewood pitching coach Matt Hockenberry. Part one features Big Hock talking about 22-year-old Dominican righty Rafi Gonell and his progress.  Part two includes quotes from Hockenberry discussing righty reliever Albertus Barber 's story of reaching the pro ranks and excelling as an undrafted free agent and his progress.  Also in part two, the subject of pitches thrown in two-strike counts by the BlueClaws and improving their walk rate throughout the season is addressed. Part three will land later this week and will include insight on promising hurler Francisco Morales . To access exclusive content such as these quotes from Hockenberry, please visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz and support my work. Sample of the material included in the Hockenberry interview excerpts... I think it’s a great story.  The fact  that (Barber) played some ju...

Albertus Barber, image- MiLB.com Right-handed reliever Albertus Barber was signed by the Phillies as an undrafted free agent this summer. Since beginning his professional career, the Oklahoma Baptist product has played at three levels in the minors, tallying a remarkable 1.23 ERA with a 3-0 record and a save through 12 appearances. Last week I talked with the 23-year-old about his path to the Phillies, working with Class A Lakewood pitching coach Matt Hockenberry, the culture within the organization, his history with the Driveline training facility, a popular New Jersey food item and plenty more.  Read ahead for that complete interview. -Your name is pretty unique.  Do you have a nickname that you go by more commonly, or no? A lot of people call me Berty. -Oh, I heard someone say that earlier and it didn't even click for me. Yeah, a lot of people call me Berty, Bertus, Albert, Albertus, Barber.  It's just whatever works for you honestly. -Alright....

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 Andrew Schultz, image- Jay Floyd Taken with the Phillies sixth round pick in this year's draft, righty reliever Andrew Schultz is off to a good start in his professional career. The Tennessee product quickly signed with the Phillies last month and promptly made his professional debut in the Gulf Coast League.  After putting his considerable velocity, which steadily clocks in the upper 90's, the organization promoted the six-foot-four 190-pounder to Class A Lakewood. In 26 outings this year as a junior with the Vols, the 21-year-old tossed 25 innings, recording a 3-1 record, two saves, a 3.24 ERA and a 14.0 K/9 mark. Outside of a troublesome debut with Lakewood, Schultz has looked impressive in the initial weeks of his professional career. Recently, I spoke with Schultz about his roug...

Earlier this week I published a feature on Class A Lakewood pitcher Dominic Pipkin . In the piece, which can be read by clicking here , the 19-year-old's success and outstanding skill set are discussed with quotes from the player himself along with his pitching coach. Through nine appearances (four starts) for the BlueClaws, Pipkin sports a 2-1 record with a 3.73 ERA, a .261 batting average against and a 6.9 K/9 mark. Below, I have included quotes from the talented right-handed California native talking about his pitch repertoire, his family which Phillies pitcher he draws comparisons to and much much. -What sorts of feedback are you getting from the coaching staff of late? They give all kinds of feedback. They give you pretty much every measurement your ball has, whether it’s vertical, horizontal. They have this ZXY-whatever. They tell you how hard you threw it. They tell you if it was effective. Spin efficiency. Spin rate. They give you every bit of information...

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'...

Dominic Pipkin, image- Jay Floyd HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL SEASON LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON!- https://www.patreon.com/phoulballz LAKEWOOD, NJ-- In his initial outing this season, his first appearance in full-season professional baseball, right-hander Dominic Pipkin surrendered a home run on the very first pitch he threw. Two errors and two additional runs later, the 19-year-old was an inning into his first full minor league season and wasn't about to let that sort of debut impact his outlook. Pipkin moved forward, later surrendering another extra-base hit to Rangers top catching prospect Sam Huff, that one a double to go along with his round-tripper, but otherwise turned out a nearly flawless pair of frames to wrap up his outing. According to Pipkin, he was initially in disbelief, but the impact of Huff's long ball may have helped him. "I remember thinking to myself, 'Did that really just happen? The first pitch I threw jus...

Kevin Gowdy, image- Jay Floyd HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL SEASON LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON!- https://www.patreon.com/phoulballz Recently, I wrote a feature on talented righty hurler Kevin Gowdy 's recovery from an elbow injury and mental hurdles .  Not featured in that piece are the interview excerpts below. Through four starts with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, the 21-year-old sports a 1.84 ERA with no decisions, a .140 batting average against while striking out 13 and walking 13 in 14 2/3 innings pitched. Read ahead for my exclusive quotes from Kevin. -Speaking on his and the team's excitement level for the new season... We’re really stoked.  It’s a really fun team with really good, really athletic team and we should be able to swing it a little bit and it’s gonna be a really fun year. -On the group of guys he bonded greatly with during the rehab process... It was Grant Dyer , who was here a couple years ago and Trevor...

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...

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...

Photo via Logan O'Hoppe's Twitter The Phillies Gulf Coast League West team saw a promising backstop emerge last summer as 18-year-old Logan O'Hoppe impressed with his statistics and his work behind the dish. Selected in the 23rd round of last year's draft by the Phillies, O'Hoppe quickly signed and made an impact in the Rookie level short-season GCL. In 34 games, the righty batting Long Island native sported a .367/.411/.532 slash line and was a standout leader for his pitching staff according to coaches. If O'Hoppe continues to pile on the production and enjoys some swift progress, it won't be long before the youngster is impacting betting odds, like those found on this page . Recently, I chatted with O'Hoppe about his thoughts on his initial professional campaign, an injury he suffered at Fall Instructs, how he's preparing for his first full professional season in 2019 and more.  Read ahead for that complete interview. -In hinds...