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Imhof, image Jay Floyd Left-handed pitching prospect Matt Imhof , who made news recently following a freak accident with workout equipment, announced via his personal Instagram account that the injury he suffered resulted in the loss of his right eye. Reportedly Imhof was taking part in a stretching routine following a recent Clearwater Threshers game and equipment he was using snapped, causing part of it to strike Imhof in his right eye. According to the player, he suffered a fractured nose, two fractured orbital bones and severe damage to his eye that caused immediate loss of vision. He has undergone multiple surgeries since the incident. In his statement (see embedded post below), Imhof stated: "Even thought I suffered some bad luck, I'm not dead. I'm gonna be alright, I'm gonna perservere and I'm gonna succeed." In the two years since he was the Phillies’ second round draft choice out of Cal Poly the 22-year-old tallied a 13-10 record with...

Matt Imhof, image- Jay Floyd Lefty hurler Matt Imhof quickly shot toward the rankings of Phillies top prospects after being selected as their 2nd round pick in 2014.  Following a season in which he suffered an injury to his throwing arm, Imhof's position on such lists has taken a hit. Regarded as a polished college hurler, the Cal Poly product looked tremendous in his junior season, posting a 10-4 record with a 2.45 ERA and an 11.24 K/9 mark in 15 starts while earning second team All-American honors and leading to him being drafted 47th overall. He wrapped up his college career with an 18-7 record and a 2.68 ERA in 48 games. After the draft, Imhof quickly signed his first pro deal and proceeded to pitch at three levels of the developmental ranks in 2014. Following his initial outing in which he tossed three scoreless frames for the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies, Imhof was promoted to short-season A level Williamsport. As a member of the Crosscutters, h...

Matt Imhof, image- Jay Floyd On Thursday night, lefty pitcher Matt Imhof returned to action, after eight weeks on the shelf with a bicep strain, to notch the win for the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers. In five innings of work against Bradenton (Pirates affiliate), the 21-year-old tossed five strong innings, allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out four and walking two. It was Imhof's first start for the Threshers since April 14th. Fresh off a rehab appearance with the Phillies' extended spring training club last weekend in which he threw five innings, Imhof, who was the Phillies' second round draft selection a year ago, took the mound, throwing all three of his pitches with confidence and held nothing back, feeding off the excitement of being back on the mound for a game that counts in the standings. "It was good to get back out there. When you're on rehab for seven weeks, or whatever it was, you get a little pent up, so I think t...

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...

Hollands, image- MLB.com In early April it was announced that Phillies lefty reliever Mario Hollands would undergo Tommy John surgery. The accompanying prognosis for being sidelined with that type of procedure is about a year or more. Despite likely being two months away from beginning a throwing program, the 26-year-old UC Santa Barbara product is already in Clearwater, at the Phillies' spring training home, rehabbing under the supervision of the organization's training staff. According to Hollands, who commented via text message on Friday, he has been in Florida rehabbing for the past week and is feeling good. As a rookie last year, Hollands tallied a 2-2 record with a 4.40 ERA in 50 appearances with the big league team. The California native was a 10th round draft selection of the Phillies in 2010. In other injury news, last year's 2nd round draft pick Matt Imhof , who is sideline with bicep tendinitis, is rehabbing the ailment without a timetable for a r...

Matt Imhof, image- Jay Floyd Chosen with the Phillies' second round draft pick last year, hurler Matt Imhof quickly jumped into the Phillies prospect ranks and looks poised to make a big impact in the minor leagues this year following an impressive professional debut. In his junior season at Cal Poly last year, the left-hander posted a 10-4 record with a 2.45 ERA and an 11.24 K/9 mark in 15 starts while earning second team All-American honors. He wrapped up his college career with an 18-7 record and a 2.68 ERA in 48 games. After being selected 47th overall by the Phillies in June, Imhof quickly signed his first pro deal and proceeded to pitch at three levels of the developmental ranks. Following his initial outing in which he tossed three scoreless frames for the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies, Imhof was promoted to short-season A level Williamsport. As a member of the Crosscutters, he posted a 1-0 record while allowing just one earned run in 12 innings (0.75 E...

Matt Imhof, photo editing- Eric Floyd Everybody loves the holidays and baseball players are certainly no different. Each year at Christmas time, I survey a group of Phillies prospects about what they get excited for during the holiday season. Players that took part in this year's questionnaire include 2014 second round draft selection lefty hurler Matt Imhof , this year's 7th overall pick right-handed pitcher Aaron Nola , top pick from 2012 righty pitcher Shane Watson , second baseman Andrew Pullin , righty pitcher Tyler Viza as well as third baseman Zach Green . Questions and answers detailing each player’s holly jolly holiday favorites are ahead… What is your favorite holiday movie or TV show? Imhof- I've always been a big fan of Charlie Brown Christmas. That's a huge one for me. I watch it every year. I've watched it ever since I was little. It's a tradition in the Imhof household. We all get together and watch it. Nola- Favorite holida...

On the 73rd edition of the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast Tug and Jay are joined by lefty pitching prospect Matt Imhof , who was the Phillies' 2nd round draft choice this year. Additionally, the guys talk about the Phils' rebuild mode kicked off by the team trading former National League MVP Jimmy Rollins and what Rollins', as well as other core team members', places in team history should be. Wondering if Cole Hamels is next to go and the organization's cranky fan base are also a topics of discussion. 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 .

In this round of exclusive quotes from the Class A Lakewood locker room, I talked with this year's second round draft pick Matt Imhof about working with a new catcher after joining the BlueClaws recently, his boost in social networking popularity after being selected by the Phillies and plenty more. Also, I spoke with Lakewood manager Greg Legg about the progress of outfielder Dylan Cozens as well as the contributions of "the Andrews", Andrew Pullin and Andrew Knapp . Pitching coach Les Lancaster shared some thoughts on righty hurler Ranfi Casimiro as well. From my interview with Imhof (check out the feature by clicking HERE , if you missed it) the 20-year-old talked about his surge in online followers after he was drafted- I got a lot of text messages. I think I got 400 (new) followers on Twitter in about an hour.  It was awesome. It kind of takes a while to set in. You go to bed and you don't really feel any different and then the next day, you...

Matt Imhof, Image- MiLB.com When lefty pitcher Matt Imhof was drafted by the Phillies with the 47th overall pick this year, it came as a surprise to the young hurler. The transition to the professional ranks isn't something that has surprised the 20-year-old though, as he feels he knew exactly what to expect. The Cal Poly product took time after the draft to wrap up his final exams, then headed straight to Philadelphia to sign with the Phils, who weren't really on his personal radar as a team that might select him in the draft until minutes before the pick was announced. "We were watching from the first pick and I got a call from my advisor at, like, pick 45 and he said, 'The Phillies are going to pick you at 47.' I got that call and let my family know and pick 47 came up and my name flashed across the screen and everyone stood up and screamed and my dad knocked a chair over," an excited Imhof explained. "There was a level of surprise. I did...

The Phillies altered their typical early round approach this year, going with college hurlers for their top two selections. Choosing 7th overall, their highest pick in 13 years, the Phils chose LSU junior righty Aaron Nola. Additionally, in the 2nd round, the team picked lefty Matt Imhof out of Cal Poly with the 47th overall pick. Nola, a First Team All-American, posted an 11-1 record along with a 1.47 ERA and a 10.37 K/9 mark in 16 starts. The Louisiana native enjoyed a tremendous college career, twice winning SEC Player of the Year honors while compiling a 30-6 overall record with a 2.09 ERA in three seasons. Nola, 21, stands six-foot-one and weighs 196 pounds. He is often praised for his precision control and is projected as a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. Nola was previously selected out of high school in the 22nd round of the 2011 draft by Toronto, but did not sign. His college coach, Paul Mainieri, also coached Brad Lidge at Notre dame. Recent players selected with t...