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So you've been wondering about off-season baseball leagues and how Phillies players are doing. Well, except for the Arizona Fall League , which started and ended its schedule earlier than normal this year, there has been very limited action thus far. Deivy Grullon, image- Jay Floyd The Dominican Winter League features Deivy Grullon competing for the Aguilas. In just four games, the catcher has posted a .143 average with two RBI. Roughly 10 days into its schedule, the Venezuelan Winter League hasn't seen any Phillies impact. Catcher Gregori Rivero, who played in the Phils system last year, is 0-for-1 with a walk for Zulia. The other leagues in Australia and Puerto Rico are set to open their schedules soon. On Friday night, the Roberto Clemente League in Puerto Rico will get underway. Lefty pitcher Gabriel Cotto is expected to be featured on the Carolina roster while catcher Willie Estrada is included on the Mayaguez roster. Cotto pitched in the Gulf Coast L...

Throughout the off-season months, this site will offer a roundup of how many Phillies prospects and players are performing around the world in fall and winter leagues. Read ahead for the lowdown on various leagues. Trevor Bettencourt, image- Jay Floyd Puerto Rico/Roberto Clemente League- Trevor Bettencourt and Bailey Falter have wrapped up their efforts abroad, returning home to enjoy the holidays.  Both hurlers performed exceptionally for their club, the Indios.  Bettencourt, 24, posted a 1-0 record with a 1.42 ERA while striking out 12 and walking three in 12 2/3 innings over nine relief appearances.  The right-hander was a 25th round pick in 2016.  Falter, a lefty, sported a 2-0 record with a 0.42 ERA in five starts for the Indios.  The 21-year-old was a 5th round draft selection by the Phillies in 2015. Also in PR, 1b/3b Damek Tomscha , 27, is batting .301 with five doubles and three RBI in 23 games.  Tomscha has been batting leadoff...

Damek Tomscha, image- Jay Floyd Over the winter, Phillies minor leaguer Damek Tomscha dodged the winter weather of the midwest to tackle new challenges and work on his craft.  In 17 contests with Santurce in Puerto Rico, the 26-year-old righty batter posted a .321 average with a pair of home runs and five RBI. Tomscha, a 17th round selection by the Phillies in 2014, plays first base, third base and left field.  He has tallied a .282/,372/.417 slash line in four pro seasons to date. This week prior to opening the season with Double-A Reading, I talked with Tomscha about his experience playing in the Roberto Clemente League.  Read ahead for that full interview.   -Do you feel like playing in Puerto Rico was a valuable experience for you? Yeah, it was unbelievable.  I had a great time, just getting more AB's, facing those older pitchers.  They were pitching more backwards to me, not as much (velocity), but they had good stuff and they threw any...

Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Following an outstanding spring campaign with the Phillies last year, Jesmuel Valentin was a big part of playoff bound Lehigh Valley IronPigs lineup, but an injury shortened his season.  Following a considerable stretch on the shelf, the 23-year-old switch-hitter is nearing a return to the diamond. In 21 Grapefruit League games last spring, the former supplementary round draft pick (51st overall, 2012) by the Dodgers, who was acquired by the Phillies in the 2014 Roberto Hernandez trade, sported a .366 batting average with six doubles and four RBI. He opened the season as a member of the Triple-A IronPigs, where he tallied a .229 average with a home run and seven RBI in 29 games before injuring his shoulder on a diving play in an extra-inning affair on May 12th. A native of Puerto Rico, Valentin's off-season has not only been filly with recovery for his injured shoulder, but recovery for his friends and loved ones as well, following th...

Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Infielder Jesmuel Valentin made a serious impression this spring with an outstanding campaign and gave the Phillies organization a lot to think about. The 22-year-old himself, though, had no hangups, knowing all along what he is capable of and that he's deserving of the chance to make an impact. With the Phils this spring, Valentin posted a .366 batting average with six doubles and four RBI in 21 games. A first round draft selection in 2012, he was the return in the deal that sent Roberto Hernandez to the Dodgers three summers ago. Sticking around until the final day of the Grapefruit League schedule is a testament to the improvements the talented switch-hitter has made after spending the off-season playing under the tutelage of his dad, Jose Valentin, a veteran of 16 major league seasons, in the Roberto Clemente League in Puerto Rico.  The elder Valentin is the manager of the Mayaguez Indios. “I know what I’m capable of doing and I...

Cozens with Lakewood in 2014, image- Jay Floyd Outfielder Dylan Cozens is one of the Phillies most underrated prospects.  A pure athlete that can really drive the ball, the 21-year-old could have a very promising future as he matures on the diamond. At six feet six inches tall and weighing 235 pounds, Cozens has an imposing frame that was well-suited for the grid iron, as he was a two-sport star in his high school days. Already touting some significant power, the youngster sports some big time homer potential. After he was selected in the 2nd round of the 2012 draft, Cozens debuted in the minors with the rookie level Gulf Coast Phillies. In 50 games there, he notched 15 doubles, two triples, five homers and 24 RBI. Cozens also participated in the Florida Instructional League in 2012. Following a productive spring in 2013, Cozens was retained in extended spring training and made his official season debut with the Class A short-season Williamsport Crosscutters...

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced to reporters on Tuesday that top pitching prospect Jesse Biddle had experienced elbow soreness and would be headed to Philadelphia for evaluation. The six-foot-five 220-pound lefty allowed seven earned runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings in his most recent outing for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican/ Roberto Clemente League on Saturday. In his only other outing in the fall/winter league, Biddle was charged with two earned runs in three innings of work on October 31st. Biddle, a Philadelphia native, missed considerable time during the regular season this year, as he was sidelined with a concussion while pitching for Double-A Reading. This year Biddle sported a 5-10 record along with a 4.58 ERA and an 8.75 K/9 mark in 19 minor league starts (16 with Reading). He struck out seven and walked four in 5 1/2 total innings. The concern surrounding Biddle's progress shouldn't be too high, while the injuries have piled up. Rece...

The tournament held every four years to crown the world champions of baseball is back. In the World Baseball Classic, a combined 16 national teams play in four separate pools to earn bids in future rounds, all with hopes of vying against the most elite teams in order to earn the top title in the sport. Team Japan has won the first two titles, with the inaugural WBC being held back in 2006. By local time standards, the worldwide tournament kicked off on Saturday, with Australia taking on Chinese Taipei in Taichung, Taiwan in Pool B action. Other teams in Pool B include Korea and the Netherlands.  Games will continue through March 19th, when the finals are slated to be held in San Francisco, CA. Pool A also begins on Saturday and features China, Brazil, Cuba and Japan. Those games are set to be played in Fukuoka, Japan. Pool C, set to be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico beginning on Thursday, features, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and, of course, Puerto Rico. ...

It's time, once again, to travel around the globe as we review how Phillies talents are performing in off-season and winter leagues.  Be warned that news is becoming quite limited, as the closer things get to spring training, the less there is to report.  In the Caribbean Leagues, teams have begun playing in their second wave of the season, as the top four teams from the Dominican and Puerto Rico leagues as well as the top five from the Venezuelan Winter League meet in a round robin style stretch of contests in their respective leagues, with the top two advancing to each league's finals.  Shortstop Freddy Galvis (pictured) has been steadily batting lead-off with Zulia during their run in the VWL’s round robin semi-finals. In eight contests in the semi’s, the 23-year-old is batting .353 with 11 RBI. Galvis has seemed rusty in the field this month, after taking some time off at the close of the regular season, committing four errors in his first six round robin game...

It's another edition of our weekly off-season league review. Read ahead, as we take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents including Antonio Bastardo , Raul Valdes and plenty of others, who are participating in various winter league action.  Venezuelan League- Second baseman Cesar Hernandez (pictured, left) ended his VWL regular season batting .226 with a home run, 16 RBI and 14 steals in 44 games for Margarita, as his team did not advance to the semi-final round.  The 22-year-old switch-hitter batted a combined .291 with two homers and 57 RBI in 133 games for Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley during the 2012 regular season. Shortstop Edgar Duran , also with Margarita, batted .240 with a home run and nine RBI in 36 games.  In 121 games for Class A Advanced Clearwater in 2012, Duran, 21, sported a .253/.310/.357 line. Shortstop Freddy Galvis wrapped up his regular season with a 10-game hitting streak, during which he posted ...

It's another edition of the (usually) weekly off-season league rundown.  Check it out, as we take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents participating in various autumn and winter league action. Dominican League- Antonio Bastardo (pictured, right) made his DR League season debut on Saturday, throwing a scoreless frame and allowing no baserunners for Cibao.  Bastardo tossed a 1-2-3 inning against Este, closing it out by getting Phils catcher Steven Lerud to fly out.  The 27-year-old lefty was 2-5 with a 4.33 ERA and a save in 65 games for the Phillies in 2012. Lerud sports a .200 batting average with a double, a home run and four RBI in 19 games.  The 28-year-old made his big league debut with the Phils during the 2012 regular season. Veteran lefty Raul Valdes has tallied a 1-2 record with a 3.81 ERA in seven starts for Este.  The 35-year-old had a 2.90 ERA and held opponents to a .168 batting average against in...

We're back with another edition of the weekly off-season league rundown.  Check it out, as we take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents participating in various autumn and winter league action. Venezuelan League- With La Guaira, righty-handed hurler J.C. Ramirez (pictured, left) has posted a 2-1 record with a 10.80 ERA through 10 outings while walking seven and striking out six in 6 2/3 innings.  The 24-year-old, who was acquired as part of the 2009 Cliff Lee trade with Seattle, pitched exclusively as a reliever in the Phillies system in 2012, sporting a 3-4 record with a 4.01 ERA and a .230 batting average against in 45 games at Double-A and Triple A. Freddy Galvis is batting .291 with six doubles, two triples and five homers in 40 games with Zulia.  Galvis, a 23-year-old shortstop, batted .226 with three home runs and 24 RBI in 58 games with the big league Phillies in 2012. Second baseman Cesar Hernandez has posted a .286 avera...

It's another edition of our weekly off-season league updates.  Check it out, as we take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents participating in various autumn and winter league action.  Venezuelan League- Outfielder Tyson Gillies (pictured, left) is done playing with the Lara team, after just 13 games, as his contract is up.  The 24-year-old had two separate stints in which he missed time in Venezuela, due to ailments, at least one of which was a hamstring issue, something Gillies has dealt with on a recurring basis since the Phillies acquired him in 2009.  The British Columbia native posted a .294 average with two doubles, one triple and four RBI with the Cardenales. Darin Ruf slugged his Venezuelan League leading 10th home run of the season on Sunday.  Ruf, playing mostly left field, has posted a .943 OPS and his 27 RBI are also tops in the league (tie).  Combined with his minor league leading total of 38 homers and his thre...