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Season's greetings to all!  It's that time of the year to celebrate and enjoy the holiday season.  Every year at Christmas time, I survey a group of Phillies prospects about what they get excited for during the holidays.  This year I included a throwback Phils name as well. Individuals taking part in this year's 11th annual Christmas favorites survey include former Phillies All-Star and coach Mickey Morandini as well as pitching prospects Dominic Pipkin , Erik Miller and Ben Brown along with corner infielder Matt Kroon. Inquiries and responses regarding each player's holly jolly favorites lie ahead...   -What's your favorite Christmas song and which version? Morandini- All I Want For Christmas by Mariah Carey. Pipkin- Blue Christmas by Elvis.  It's just unbeatable.   Miller- I don't like Christmas music, to be honest. Kroon- I am a big fan of the original Jingle Bells. It reminds me of being a kid again. It reminds me of all the holid...

Gone too soon; Chace Numata (left) w/ the late Roy Halladay, image- Jay Floyd In extremely sad news, catcher Chace Numata succumbed on Monday to injuries sustained in an apparent skateboarding accident last week. Numata, a switch-hitting Hawaii native, was originally a 14th round draft selection by the Phillies in 2010.  He was named an All-Star with Class A Lakewood in 2013 and with Class A Advanced Clearwater in 2016.  He would play in the Phils organization through the 2017 and left to free agency, later playing in the Yankees system and then this year with the Tigers organization. In 77 combined games this season at Triple-A and Double-A, the 27-year-old has tallied a .244 average with four home runs and 28 RBI. Per a release from the Erie Seawolves , Numata's family issued the following statement: It is with deep sorrow that the Numata Ohana announces that Chace Kekoa Kenji Numata, our beloved son, brother, and a friend to all, has passed away on September...

Image- Jay Floyd The national pastime is changing.  At least at the developmental level for affiliated professional teams. In a rule change announced by Minor League Baseball on Wednesday, all extra innings will start with a runner on second base. The goal with the rule adjustment is to expedite games and reduce any over-usage of pitchers. Specifics on the announcement from MiLB are listed below. The runner at second base will be the player in the batting order position previous to the lead-off batter of the inning (or a substitute for that player). By way of example, if the number five hitter in the batting order is due to lead off the 10th inning, the number four player in the batting order (or a pinch-runner for such player) shall begin the inning on second base. Any runner or batter removed from the game for a substitute shall be ineligible to return to the game, as is the case in all circumstances under the Official Baseball Rules. The extra inning rule c...

Mickey Morandini, image- Jay Floyd The Phillies announced on Monday that former infielder Mickey Morandini would be added to their staff next year as the team's first base coach. Morandini spent the last five seasons coaching in the minor leagues in the organization that drafted him in the 5th round in 1988. He began his coaching career as the manager of the Class A short season Williamsport Crosscutters in 2011. He would go on to manage Class A Lakewood the following season, spending two seasons there. He coached at the Triple-A level in 2014 and at Double-A this year. In those roles with Lehigh Valley and Reading, Morandini spent time overseeing base running and assisted with hitting as well. Previously, the 49-year-old was a guest instructor for the big league team in spring training in 2009 and 2010. As a coach in the higher levels, he was utilized in recent seasons during big league spring training as well. During his playing career, Morandini, a second baseman, rep...

On this week's edition of Phillies Nation, Pat and Corey talked about the resignation of Ryne Sandberg as the Phils' manager, movement in the team's front office, Chase Utley 's injury and the hot bat of rookie third baseman Maikel Franco . The episode also features a profile on top prospect J.P. Crawford with remarks from Reading coach Mickey Morandini as well as a segment from the Hamels Foundations' Diamonds and Denim charity event featuring comments from Ryan Howard , Cody Asche and Cole Hamels . Check out the full episode in the media player below. New episodes premiere each Tuesday at 6PM on The Comcast Network.

Morandini, image- Jay Floyd During the Double-A Reading Fightins' road series at Trenton last week, former Phillies All-Star second baseman and current minor league coach Mickey Morandini sat down for the Phillies Nation TV cameras.  During the interview, he spoke on various topics including Reading's recent home stand in which they played three consecutive extra inning games and were forced to use position players to pitch.  Morandini, who was part of the famed 1993 Phillies, also spoke of what type of clubhouse the Fightins have this season.  Read ahead for those interview excerpts.  -On his club tallying 45 innings over a three-game stretch including an 18-inning affair against Altoona on June 11th in which first baseman Brock Stassi played 15 innings on defense, collected four hits and threw three scoreless innings to earn the win... It's tough.  We played a stretch there where we went 18, 13 and 15 (innings) and the 18 inning game was long enough wh...

Jesse Biddle, image- Jay Floyd TRENTON, NJ- Jesse Biddle thrived in his home away from home to turn in a strong outing and help the Reading Fightins (34-29) lock down an 8-2 win in their series opener against the Trenton Thunder (35-29) on Tuesday night. The left-hander threw 7 2/3 innings, allowed two runs, one of those earned, while striking out four and walking one to notch a win and help move his team within a half game of the second place Thunder and 1 1/2 games behind the division leading New Britain Rock Cats in the Double-A Eastern League Eastern division. Biddle, the Phillies' first round draft choice from 2010, is from nearby Philadelphia and has a following of loved ones whenever he takes the mound at Trenton's Arm & Hammer Park. "Every time I come here, the first thing I do is write names down on the pass list," Biddle said with a smile. "It's a lot of fun to have people come to the game and cheer me on, especially when we're o...

Art Charles, image- Jay Floyd Across all levels of organized baseball, it would likely be impossible to find a hotter player than Reading first baseman Art Charles right now. The lefty hitting slugger wrapped up a six-game stretch on Sunday during which he went 14-for-23 (.609 avg) with five doubles, five home runs and nine RBI. Currently, the 24-yeear-old Charles leads the Double-A Eastern League in average (.400) and slugging percentage (.800), while also ranking second (tie) in on-base percentage (.442). Charles has gained more at bats lately with his recent success, as he had been splitting time in the lineup with teammate Brock Stassi , who has a league-leading 23 RBI. Time on the bench wasn't discouraging, though, as it made the California native value the chances he was getting more. "It's been a little tough, but I get my playing time," Charles said last week at Reading's FirstEnergy Stadium. "I enjoy the time I get. I've been doin...

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...

The Lehigh Valley coaching staff includes some reinforcements this year, at the expense of the local shore team, with former Phillies second baseman Mickey Morandini added to the Triple-A team's dugout personnel. Taking on the newly created duty of bench coach, the 1996 National League All-Star hopes to use his third professional coaching assignment as a stepping stone back to the top level of the sport. It's not just players that want to ascend upward in the ranks. Having been the manager of the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws for each of the past two seasons and the skipper of short-season Class A Williamsport prior to that, Morandini took on the new role with the IronPigs after advising the Phillies that he wanted to do whatever he could to move closer to the major leagues. Joining incumbent manager Dave Brundage, hitting coach Sal Rende and pitching coach Ray Burris , Morandini is absorbing as much as he can and is slated to take on various levels of duties with Leh...

-Both the Triple-A Lehigh Valley and Double-A Reading coaching staffs openly addressed an organization-wide focus on small ball prior to both clubs opening their seasons. The directive, handed down by new Phils skipper Ryne Sandberg , will have the entire Phillies system playing a more aggressive style of baseball. Dusty Wathan, Image- Jay Floyd "I think we're going to utilize a National League style of baseball dating back to the 70's a little bit. You'll see some triples, some hit-and-run and some bunting. I think it's kind of an organizational philosophy since Ryne has taken over. You're going to see it implemented not only at the big league level, but at the minor league level. It's something we really stress, is base running, being aggressive, taking extra bases, sacrifice bunting, hitting and running. So, you're going to see a very aggressive game and it's going to be a lot of fun to watch," Reading manager Dusty Wathan said ...

Mickey Morandini, Image- Jay Floyd This week, the Phillies announced that Mickey Morandini , who had managed their full-season Class A affiliate in Lakewood for the past two season, would be assigned to the coaching staff of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs for the upcoming season. The switch wasn't very surprising, as each year there's some realignment of members of the developmental coaching staff and more so considering that no manager in the BlueClaws' 13-year history had every managed the team for more than two consecutive seasons. Based on that trend, it was likely that Morandini would be coaching elsewhere this year. The 47-year-old was drafted by the Phillies in the 5th round of the 1988 amateur draft and batted .268 with 32 homers and 351 RBI for the Phils, Cubs and Blue Jays over 11 big league seasons. He was on the Phillies club that won the National League pennant in 1993 and represented the organization as an All-Star in 1995. Following some time a...

A news release from the Phillies on Wednesday addressed upcoming changes to the team's broadcast staff, which features the removal of Chris Wheeler and Gary Matthews from the television "airwaves". Wheeler and "Sarge" were often mocked by fans, with the former being hated by viewers while the latter was a beloved character chock full of catchphrases and neat hats. The Phillies' statement: As the longest-tenured member of the Phillies broadcasting team, Chris Wheeler will return to his club roots after stepping down from his role as a Phillies broadcaster. With 37 years of broadcasting experience, combined with his front office background where he began his Phillies career, ‘Wheels’ will take on a new role allowing the organization to continue to benefit from his knowledge, experience and dedication to the game. Additionally, Gary Matthews will continue to work with the Phillies bringing his exceptional background as a major league ballplayer, bro...

As the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws wrapped up their regular season with a rain out on Monday, I spoke with manager Mickey Morandini about several of his players' progress this year.  Additionally, first baseman Art Charles and outfielder Jiandido Tromp shared some thoughts on their 2013 season and what the off-season might hold.  Read ahead for quotes from all three men. Mickey Morandini: Off the top, Morandini shared a list of BlueClaws that will be participating in the Florida Instructional League- RHP Zach Cooper , RHP Delvi Francisco , RHP Kevin Walter , RHP Shane Watson , SS J.P. Crawford , 1B Art Charles, OF Larry Greene Jr. and OF Carlos Tocci . Morandini spoke about which of those players would benefit most from more time on the field with the Phillies' coaches and minor league staff... Larry needs to go down there and continue to work on his swing.  Tocci really needs to go down there and get stronger.  I don't think he needs a...

J.P. Crawford, Image- Jay Floyd Last week, this year's top Phillies draft pick shortstop J.P. Crawford was promoted two levels, from the Gulf Coast League to the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. After leading the rookie level league in batting for a considerable stretch and posting a .345 average with a homer, 19 RBI and 12 stolen bases through 39 games, the 18-year-old lefty batter was offered a bigger challenge of playing in the South Atlantic League. The move made it clear that another much hyped shortstop, Roman Quinn (2nd round, 2011), wouldn't be able to return from his broken wrist before season's end, but the silver lining of Crawford's addition to the 'Claws' roster was certainly welcome. Crawford, who was selected 16th overall by the Phils, stands six-foot-two and weighs about 180 pounds. He's the third Phillies first round pick out of Lakewood High School in California to play for the Lakewood BlueClaws. The other two are catcher Travis...

Roy Halladay and Chace Numata talk prior to Tuesday's game, image- Jay Floyd These quotes, from prior to Phillies hurler Roy Halladay 's rehab appearance with Class A Lakewood, were initially intended to be posted on the site before Tuesday's game got underway.  WiFi connection issues at the ballpark resulted in some delay, but here they are, in a delayed fashion. Questions for Halladay's battery mate Chace Numata , BlueClaws manager Mickey Morandini and pitching coach Aaron Fultz are all included.  Chace Numata... - You're probably the most excited guy out here on the side of the field, being paired up with Roy Halladay for his rehab game.  Talk about that a bit. Most definitely.  I get to catch Roy Halladay.  He's a great pitcher and he's coming back off his injury.  I'm hoping to learn a lot tonight.  You know, just how he throws and what his thinking is about the game and how he throws. - Typically, batteries will meet prio...