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Fox with Reading in 2014, image- Tug Haines Local minor league fans may have been surprised not to see former Phillies farm hand Jake Fox visiting with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in Reading this week. The faithful Jake Fox Nation barely had enough time to catch on to which organization the veteran had jumped to this season, before Fox switched teams again, ditching the States for Korea. The 32-year-old is the type of player that makes and keeps fans where ever he goes. A one-time 3rd round draft pick of the Cubs, Fox made it to the majors in Chicago and with Baltimore. He has also played in the Dominican Winter League as well as in Mexico, where he was nicknamed "El Sangre" (The Blood), and in the independent Atlantic League. All the while, he's made fans that root for him no matter what uniform he dons, as they travel to see him in different cities when they can. During his second stint with the Phillies' organization last year, the Indiana native pos...

On the 76th edition of the PhoulBallz Podcast, Jay and Tug chat about the brand new baseball season, running down the hot starts of prospects such as Brock Stassi , Jesse Biddle , Roman Quinn , Zach Eflin , Carlos Tocci , Rhys Hoskins and others. The show also features two exclusive interviews as "El Sangre" Jake Fox talks about leaving the Phillies organization and Temple University product Matt Hockenberry participates in the fun segment Nine Silly-ass Questions. 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 .

While Monday didn't bring much luck for the big league Phillies, as they continued to have difficulty scoring runs and dropped their home opener to the Miami Marlins, a couple of the organization's minor league clubs didn't have much trouble making their marks against a trio of pitchers with some considerable big league ties. The Double-A Reading Phillies handled Toronto left-hander Brett Cecil , who has 66 Major League starts under his belt. Cecil went 6 2/3 innings, allowing 11 hits and 5 runs (4 earned) while taking the loss for the defending Eastern League champions New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The newly slim starter, who dropped 30 pounds over the off-season, is working on pitching with his "new body" and needs to improve the sharpness of his pitches, according to New Hampshire pitching coach Tom Signore. The veteran baseball man stressed the importance of Cecil getting himself right, in an interview with PhoulBallz.com's Jay Floyd this past weekend. "...

READING, PA- As the rain fell, so did the Reading Phillies. New Hampshire left fielder Danny Perales slugged a 2-run go ahead homerun in the 9th inning, to end the R-Phils' season and clinch a spot in the Eastern League Championship Series for the Double-A Toronto affiliate. The Fisher Cats, the Eastern division champions, won the series 3 games to 1, over the wild card entrant Phillies, and will move on to face Richmond (Giants affiliate), in the title series. Richmond swept Harrisburg in the opening round. The R-Phils got the scoring started in the 2nd inning, when catcher Tuffy Gosewisch hammered an offering from NH starter Joel Pino deep to left-center for a solo homerun, to give his club a 1-0 lead. As Reading right-hander Tyson Brummett cruised, keeping the bases clear in the early going, the score stayed the same. It was with 2 outs in the 4th inning that the Fisher Cats' lineup finally got to Brummett, as Moises Sierra notched the first hit for NH. Eastern L...

Three hits were enough for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs to lock down a game 3 victory, as the the Phillies' Triple-A club swept the Pawtucket Red Sox right out of the International League Governors Cup playoffs with a 3-1 victory. Minimal offense was required for the 'Pigs, as veteran hurler Brian Bass tossed a 5-hit complete game. The 29-year-old right-hander took a shutout into the ninth inning before letting up an unearned run. The effort by Bass marks the third consecutive start in which he did not allow an earned run. In his most recent six starts, Bass has posted a 1.62 ERA. On the offensive side, third baseman Kevin Frandsen drove in two runs with a pair of ground outs in the 1st and 6th innnings, respectively, and second baseman Josh Barfield slugged a solo homer in the 2nd frame. All three runs and the loss were charged to Paw Sox right-handed starting pitcher Alex Wilson . Lehigh Valley is now set to meet the Columbus Clippers in the best-of-five IL Championsh...

Two years ago, Travis d'Arnaud was leading the Phillies' Class A affiliate, the Lakewood BlueClaws, to their second ever South Atlantic League championship. This year, d'Arnaud was named as the Double A Eastern League's Most Valuable Player and is back in the post-season with New Hampshire. Originally selected in the supplemental round of the 2007 draft, d'Arnaud became a well regarded prospect with his strong bat and tremendous skills behind the plate. In 2008, in his first full season as a professional, the California native posted a .305 average with 6 HR and 30 RBI in 64 combined games at two levels with short-season Williamsport and Lakewood. The following season, d'Arnaud led a prospect laden BlueClaws club in RBI, with 71. His strides on the field caused folks all around baseball to take notice, and d'Arnaud was included in the December, 2009 trade that sent Cy Young Award winning hurler Roy Halladay to Philadelphia from Toronto. In the Blue Jays sy...

NH hitting coach Justin Mashore working with Travis d'Arnaud last week Sidelined in late April with a concussion, suffered when he was hit with the swing of a batter, catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud began the season in quite a slump. Through 13 games in April with the Double A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, d'Arnaud had posted a .188 batting average with 1 HR and 5 RBI. However, since returning from the disabled list in early May, d'Arnaud has been on a hot streak, ripping into Eastern League pitching to the tune of a .378 batting average with 9 doubles, 5 homeruns and 12 RBI in 27 games. The 22-year-old California native asserted that he hasn't changed anything in his approach or mechanics, confirming that sometimes a hitter can just get into a groove and capitalize on that. "I've been slowing everything down and I feel like the ball looks like a softball right now. I can see it really good," d'Arnaud stated. "When I got on a roll, I was just s...

Fisher Cats center fielder Anthony Gose Anthony Gose is in a new organization, wearing a new uniform in a new town, but says he's still the same ball player. The quick-footed center fielder, who set out to lead all of minor league baseball in stolen bases at age 18 in 2009, and followed through when he swiped 76 bases as a member of the Phillies' Class A affiliate, the Lakewood BlueClaws, is now a member of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Gose was ranked as the 4th best prospect in the Blue Jays system by Baseball America prior to this season. The 6-foot-1-inch, 195 pound Gose has stayed on track with the tools that earned him such high praise. He continues to get on base, swipe bags and exhibit terrific instincts and range on defense in the outfield. Traded by the Phillies to Houston in the deal for starting pitcher Roy Oswalt last July, Gose ended up with Toronto when the Astros flipped him, almost immediately, in another trade for infielder Brett Wallace. The left...

Former Phillies catcher Sal Fasano has a new career as a minor league manager. Currently with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Double A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, Fasano is focused on helping young players develop and inspiring them to live and love baseball. Originally drafted by Kansas City in 1993, Fasano became a fan favorite throughout his playing career in places like Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York and other cities. Over 11 big league seasons, Fasano batted .221 with 47 career homeruns in 427 games played. Fasano began managing in 2010, when he led Toronto's Class A affiliate, the Lansing Lugnuts, to a 70-69 record. I had the opportunity to speak with Sal prior to New Hampshire's series at Trenton this past weekend about his transition into managing, his time with the Phillies, his old school vibe and plenty more. Check out the media player below to listen to the full interview. ____________________________________________ You can follow PhoulBallz on Twit...

TRENTON, NJ- The expected pitchers duel proved to be just as advertised. Thunder prospect Dellin Betances and Fishercats ace Kyle Drabek went to battle on the Waterfront Park mound on Wednesday night in the opening game of the Eastern League Division Series. Drabek, the prized pitcher who came to the Toronto organization last off-season in the trade that sent Roy Halladay to Philadelphia, retired the first 9 batters he faced. Betances, a New York native, kept pace, with a huge cheering section behind him. Betances, making his fourth start above Class A, hurled 95 mph gas at New Hampshire and mixed speeds well enough to keep the Fishercats guessing. Betances stepped his game up, as he was facing the Eastern League's anointed pitcher of the year. In 5 1/3 innings, the 22-year-old righty struck out 8 while walking just 1 and allowing 2 hits. New Hampshire pitching coach Tom Signore talked about the outstanding efforts from the pitchers. "It was a well pitched game by both teams. ...

In his latest outing on Sunday in Trenton, prized Toronto pitching prospect Kyle Drabek held the Yankees Double A affiliate to 1 run and 3 hits over 6 innings to earn a win. The victory helped lock down a series victory for Drabek's New Hampshire Fisher Cats who overtook the Thunder for first place in the Eastern League's Eastern Division and gave New Hampshire their 65th win of the season, which topped their 2009 total. It seems to many that Drabek, who was a 1st round draft selection by the Phillies in 2006 and was sent by Philadelphia to Toronto in the Roy Halladay trade last off-season, has nothing left to prove at the Double A level. The son of former Cy Young Award winner Doug Drabek celebrated the nation's birthday in big time fashion, when he hurled a no-hitter against the New Britain Rock Cats on Independence Day in Manchester. In his last 6 starts overall for the Fisher Cats, Drabek has a 4-0 record, a 1.89 ERA. At two levels of the Phillies' system last year,...