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Micucci (right) with Luis Garcia in August, image- Jay Floyd Early on Monday, I tweeted a bit of a teaser about Phillies minor league staffing moves I had learned about from a pair of sources.  Unclear when the personnel had learned of their fates, I did not want to report the news until all parties had time to address the news in their own ways. As has been reported by at least another outlet to this point, I am able to confirm that 2019 Class A Lakewood manager Mike Micucci will not be returning to the organization.  Additionally, base running and bunting coordinator Rob Ducey , Gulf Coast League coach Charlie Hayes and Triple-A pitching coach Steve Schrenk are also done in the Phils system. Micucci was a north Jersey native in his youth and had been hired by the organization less than a year ago.  He worked with Phillies general manager Matt Klentak in Anaheim, which makes his termination even more surprising. Players that saw action for the BlueClaws thi...

HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL SEASON LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON!  Get early access to articles like this, EXCLUSIVE interviews and more- https://www.patreon.com/phoulballz Lakewood's roster sports two buzz worthy prospects right now with outfield Malvin Matos on an extremely hot streak and pitcher Francisco Morales continuing to draw plenty of interest from prospect heads. Malvin Matos, image- Jay Floyd Matos, a 22-year-old righty batter, wrapped up, on Sunday, a 17-game stretch in which he went 27-for-62 (.436 average) with five doubles, three home runs, 12 RBI, nine walks and seven stolen bases.  He notched an 0-for-4 effort on Monday, but rebounded Tuesday with a pair of hits, including a solo homer, and a walk.  Morales, a 19-year-old right-hander, is one of the Phillies' most well-touted prospects. In 23 outings this year, the talented Venezuelan has posted a 4.05 ERA with a .227 batting average against and an 11.9 K/9 mark. ...

HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL SEASON LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON!- https://www.patreon.com/phoulballz   Following the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws' exciting walk-off victory in the 10th inning against West Virginia (Mariners affiliate) on Thursday night, I spoke with the team's manager Mike Micucci about several of his team's standouts including starting pitcher Dom Pipkin, who had a less than ideal performance, middle infielder Luis Garcia, who notched the game's big hit and others.  Micucci also talked about the recent promotion of top prospect Alec Bohm, who opened this season with Lakewood and is headed to Double-A Reading.  Read ahead for those interview excerpts. Dom Pipkin, image- Jay Floyd -Not a very good start from Dominic Pipkin , who only lasts an inning and a third, gave up three earned runs and threw more balls than strikes... He looked a little rusty (coming off of the All-Star break), I thought.  Had a hard time getting ...

Mike Micucci, image- Jay Floyd I am back with another Patreon exclusive! Last weekend, I talked one-on-one with Class A Lakewood BlueClaws manager Mike Micucci about several topics including the defensive progress of middle infielders Luis Garcia and Jonathan Guzman, the promotion of Matt Kroon, the addition of Luke Miller, Cole Stobbe's playing time as well as the free base runner that starts extra innings in the minors. Please head on over to Patreon.com/PhoulBallz to subscribe and support my work.  Contributions there are helpful in simply allowing me to take less of a financial loss in producing this type of content for you, the readers.  Your patronage will get you early access to nearly all of my news and articles but more importantly exclusive interviews and other posts. I also intend to offer some baseball related giveaways once the patron count increases. Direct link to the interview is right here .   

Kyle Glogoski, image- Jay Floyd Right-hander Kyle Glogoski has been nothing short of outstanding since joining the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws earlier this month.  Using deception and a solid repertoire, the six-foot-two 183 pounder has tallied a 2-1 record with a 0.55 ERA and a .123 batting average against in five outings in the South Atlantic League. On Saturday, the talented 20-year-old retired the first 12 batters he faced against the White Sox affiliate Kannapolis Intimidators.  In five innings of work, Glogoski cruised, striking out 11 and allowing no walks or runs while surrendering just two hits. "He was outstanding," said Lakewood manager Mike Micucci following Saturday's match up.  "The fastball was really electric and had a lot of jump to it, you know, a lot of ride going there, so he was able to elevate the ball and get a lot of swings elevated in the zone and get some chases up there as well.  And I think he did a good job especially the second ...

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...

HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL SEASON LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON!- https://www.patreon.com/phoulballz Kevin Gowdy, image- Jay Floyd LAKEWOOD, NJ-- After battling setbacks, both physical and mental, for the past two seasons pitching prospect Kevin Gowdy is back on the mound, competing in full-season baseball for the first time. The Phillies selected the right-handed California native in the second round of the 2016 draft.  Difficulties with his health held him to just nine professional regular season innings until this month. After appearing in four games with the Rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2016, Gowdy was assigned to extended spring training to open the 2017 season.  While there, the six-foot-four 170-pounder encountered some tightness in his right elbow.  Initially, the discomfort didn't strike Gowdy as serious pain, so he pitched through it.  The tightness soon became unbearable agony that he could no longer ignore...