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Justin Crawford w/ junior reporter Evan At the age of 19, outfielder Justin Crawford has played his way into the conversation of being considered as one of baseball's top prospects. The son of four-time MLB All-Star Carl Crawford, Justin has looked every bit as impressive as his position as the 17th overall draft selection last year would have most fans thinking he should be.  He opened the season with Class A Clearwater where, in 69 games, he notched a .344/.399/.478 slash line.  And since mid-August when he was promoted to Class A Advanced Jersey Shore, the younger Crawford has posted a .300/.364/.440 line.  He's also stolen 44 bases in 52 attempts overall. And while the BlueClaws enter the final week of the regular season 1/2 game out of first place in their division, I spoke with Justin Crawford about the team's hopes of making the postseason for the first time since 2018. I also asked Justin about the similarities and differences between his skillset and his father...

Lefty hurler Taylor Lehman has proven to be a consistent performer and could be forcing himself to be considered as a big league option. After bouncing back from elbow surgery last year, Lehman, a Penn State product, made 15 appearances (four starts) with Double-A Reading.  In those outings, he notched a 1-1 record with a 3.74 ERA, a .210 opponents' batting average and a 10.4 K/9 mark. Last off-season the six-foot-eight 240-pounder pitched for Surprise in the prestigious Arizona Fall League.  In eight appearances there, all in relief, he sported a 6.17 ERA while striking out 16 and walking eight in 11 2/3 innings. The 27-year-old opened the 2023 campaign with the Double-A Reading Fightins.  Through seven relief appearances to open this season, Lehman has notched a 1-0 record with a 2.61 ERA, a .162 batting average against while striking out 10 and walking five in 10 1/3 innings pitched. Recently, Lehman was interview by PhoulBallz correspondent Evan Floyd, who inquired ab...

Baron Radcliff, image- Jay Floyd Lefty batting outfielder Baron Radcliff has been on a roll of late for the Class A Advanced Jersey Shore BlueClaws. In seven August contests thus far, the 23-year-old is batting .375 with a home run, nine RBI and four walks.  The son of former pro baseball player Vic Radcliff and D1 basketball standout Nikki Keyton Radcliff, Baron was the Phillies' 5th round draft selection out of Georgia Tech in 2020. Listed at six-feet-four, 228 pounds Radcliff projects as a power hitter and at the plate he resembles a familiar Phillies slugger, namely Ryan Howard.  Recently, I spoke with Baron about his approach at the dish, his offensive battles, learning from his parents, hobbies and plenty more. Read ahead for excerpts from that interview and visit my page on Patreon to support my work and access the complete version of this piece along with so much more exclusive content.  - Your pose when you step to the plate, how often do you hear about who t...

Season's greetings to all of you! 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, we focus on just one up and coming player, corner infielder DJ Stewart. The 22-year-old righty batter had a solid season in 2021. In 94 games combined with Class A Clearwater and Class A Advanced Jersey Shore, Stewart notched a .265 batting average with 14 home runs, 42 RBI and five stolen bases.  Recently, I talked with DJ to gain his feedback on all of his holiday favorites. Read ahead for that interview... -What's your favorite Christmas movie? My favorite is This Christmas.  My Mother and I would watch it together every Christmas, so it just stuck with me. -What is your favorite Christmas song and which version is best? This Christmas by Chris Brown.  It's the final song of my favorite Christmas movie. -What's your favorit...

Prior to the MLB trade deadline, the Phillies sent minor league pitcher Tyler Burch to Baltimore for infielder Freddy Galvis.  Within just a few days of the swap, Burch was facing the Class A Jersey Shore roster that was made up of his former teammates. An undrafted free agent signing out of Lewis-Clark State in Idaho in 2019, Burch had begun to excel this year in his young professional career.  In 23 relief outings combined between Class A Clearwater and Class A Advanced Jersey Shore, the 23-year-old right-hander notched a 4-3 record with seven saves, a 3.98 ERA and a 15.0 K/9 mark. Following the trade, Burch was assigned to the Orioles High A affiliate the Aberdeen IronBirds.  In his debut there, facing the BlueClaws, Burch surrendered an earned run on two hits in one inning of work. This week I talked with Tyler about the transition to the new club, facing his BlueClaws teammates and more.  Read ahead for those quotes.   -Did you know any guys on the Ir...

Dalton Guthrie, image- Jay Floyd Versatile prospect Dalton Guthrie  is producing extremely well with Triple-A Lehigh Valley and has begun opening some eyes. The 25-year-old that plays various positions on defense (2b, 3b, SS, CF, LF just this season) opened the 2021 campaign with Double-A Reading, but since his promotion to the IronPigs, Guthrie has torched the opposition.  Through 27 games, he has posted a .357 average with 12 doubles, two home runs, 11 RBI and a pair of stolen bases.   Guthrie, a 6th round draft pick by the Phillies back in 2017 out of the University of Florida, is the son of former big leaguer Mark Guthrie. This week I talked with Dalton about his remarkable season, growing up around professional baseball and more.  Read ahead for excerpts of that interview. -You're having a great season.  Congratulations on your success.  What do you attribute the excellent production to with Lehigh Valley? I think I was forced to make a swing adju...

Producing like an All-Star for the Class A Advanced Jersey Shore BlueClaws, right-hander Dominic Pipkin is enjoying a lot of success on the mound this year.   A ninth round draft pick in 2018 out of high school in Pinole, California, the 21-year-old sports a 4-1 record with a 4.53 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP along with a 10.4 K/9 mark through 13 games. Recently, I spoke with Pipkin, who was fresh off of back-to-back scoreless starts at the time.  He shared some insight on his production to date this year, updating his pitch repertoire, the organization's piggyback rotation with pitchers and more.  Read ahead for that interview.   -What are you thoughts on your season so far?  Are you producing at a level you would have hoped for? I’ve had a tremendous year so far, I’m hoping I can keep playing as well as I am. -Much of the Phils' minor league system works with a "piggyback" rotation for the starting pitchers, where one turn a pitcher would start, the next turn the sa...

On Thursday, I spoke with Class A Advanced Jersey Shore BlueClaws manager Chris Adamson .  In the one-on-one interview, the man known as "Tank" talked about the origins of his nick name, the team's offensive struggles as well as several of his players including Victor Santos , Josh Hendrickson , Adam Leverett , Hunter Markwardt , Jonathan Guzman, Vito Friscia , Logan O'Hoppe and others.   Full audio of the interview is available exclusively on my Patreon page, Patreon.com/PhoulBallz .   Below are a couple of excerpts from the interview, where Adamson offers his thoughts on a pair of his standout hurlers, right-hander Victor Santos and left-hander Josh Hendrickson.   I asked about Santos...the 20-year-old Domincan Republic native sports a 1-1 record with a save, a 0.73 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and a 10.9 K/9 mark in six relief appearances this season.  Adamson had the following to say-  He's really impressive.  I didn't actually have a hole lot t...

On Saturday night, outfielder Hunter Markwardt capped off an exciting 4-3 comeback win with a walk-off hit for the Class A Clearwater Threshers.   The team entered the bottom of the 9th trailing 3-0, but a convincing four-run outburst notched an impressive victory for the Phillies affiliate over Lakeland.   Thus far on the young season, the 23-year-old lefty batter has posted a .375 batting average through three games.  Markwardt was the Phils' 13th round draft selection out of Oklahoma Christian University in 2019. Last week I spoke with the promising outfielder about his excitement level for the new season, among other things.  Read ahead for that interview. -What's your level of excitement to get this season started?    Having not played in an official game since 2019, it's crazy to say the least.  With all the work put into the extended off-season, it's been super exciting to see how it's going to pay off in the the near future.  T...

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...

Erik Miller, image- MiLB.com Lefty hurler Erik Miller is widely regarded as one of the Phillies most promising prospects.  Selected in the 4th round in last year's draft out of Stanford, he quickly made an impact as a professional and was promoted twice in his brief stint in the minors. At three levels as a 21-year-old, Miller notched a 1-0 record with a 1.50 ERA, a .188 batting average against, a 1.11WHIP along with a 13.0 K/9 mark in 11 appearances in the minors.   Listed at six-feet-five, 240-pounds, Miller was outstanding in college as well.  In his junior season (2019), Miller was named as a Baseball America second team Preseason All-American. In 16 starts that season, he posted an 8-3 record with a 3.48 ERA, a .224 batting average against and an 11.1 K/9 mark.   Miller likely could have made it to the Double-A level this year, if the pandemic had not preempted the minor league season. Recently, I spoke with the 22-year-old Missouri native about his ...

Cleavinger, image- Jay Floyd This post originally appeared on my Patreon page at Patreon.com/PhoulBallz .  Readers can support my work and gain access to exclusive interviews and news along with the ability to read my other material early.  Please consider supporting my work and checking out that page.  Lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger made his big league debut with the Phillies this year and hopes to continue his career as a big league contributor in the coming seasons.   Cleavinger, a third round draft pick of the Orioles in 2015, was acquired by the Phillies in 2017 in a swap for pitcher Jeremy Hellickson.   In his more than five professional seasons, the Oregon product sports a 19-12 record, a 4.08 ERA, a .217 batting average against and a 12.0 K/9 mark in 140 minor league appearances.   This year in his lone big league outing, the 26-year-old tossed 2/3 inning, surrendered an earned run and struck out one batter.  Recently, I tal...

Matt Vierling, image- Jay Floyd I invite you to check out my Patreon page , where you can read exclusive interviews and get early access to other posts, news and information from the Phillies minor league levels. Phillies prospect Matt Vierling was among the minor leaguers that participated in this year's Florida Instructional League, which an annual series of exhibitions and training with team coaches. While there, Vierling, an outfielder, got a chance to add first base to his skill set.   In two pro seasons in his career, the 5th round draft choice out of Notre Dame in 2018 sports a .263 average with 12 HR, 72 RBI and 29 stolen bases.  He spent the 2019 campaign with Class A Advanced Clearwater and likely would have opened this year with Double-A Reading if the season had taken place. Recently, I talked with Matt about his time at Instructs, trying first base, how his family has done in the face of the pandemic and more.  Read ahead for that interview.   -Wh...

Dom Pipkin, image- Jay Floyd Righty pitcher Dominic Pipkin spent the 2019 season with the Class A BlueClaws.  In 24 appearances he tallied a 3-4 record with a 5.15 ERA, a 1.62 WHIP along with a .261 batting average against. Pipkin was a 9th round draft selection in 2018 and is among the organization's most promising hurlers. This week I spoke with the 21-year-old (his birthday is today!) California native about his time at Fall Instructs and more.  Read ahead for that interview. -What can you share about the benefits of Fall Instructs this year following a cancelled regular season?   Instructs after a cancelled season allowed the few players that went to  get live reps in after 6 months of nothing, it was good to get the rust  off and feel that first inning jitter again. -Did you or other players there go harder during your month at Instructs as opposed to a regular fall exhibition schedule that follows an action-packed regular season? We definitely tried a li...

Connor Hinchliffe, image- GoExplorers.com I invite you to check out my Patreon page , where you can read exclusive interviews and get early access to other posts, news and information from the Phillies minor league levels. Promising pitcher Connor Hinchliffe took time to answer questions for me recently, providing insight on how he has dealt with missing the full 2020 season due to the global coronavirus pandemic.  While I was interacting with the Pottsville, PA native, he also responded to some non-baseball related inquiries, answering Nine Silly-ass Questions for me. Signed as an undrafted free agent last year out of LaSalle, Hinchliffe was assigned to the Rookie level Gulf Coast League where, in 16 outings, the right-hander posted a 1-1 record, a save, a 1.82 ERA, a .163 batting average against along with a 1.26 WHIP. Read ahead for my latest interview with Connor as we talk hard-hitting topics such as Star Wars, Halloween costumes and music! -Who is your favorite non-basebal...

LaSalle University product Connor Hinchliffe was a noteworthy acquisition in the Phillies' developmental ranks last year when he posted standout numbers after signing as an undrafted free agent.   In 16 appearances in the Rookie level Gulf Coast League last year, the right-hander notched a 1-1 record, a save, a 1.82 ERA, a .163 batting average against as well as a 1.26 WHIP. Last week I talked with Connor, who is not in attendance for the Phils' Fall Instructional League in Florida, about missing an entire year of competing, how he's staying in shape and more.  Read ahead for that interview.   -How has the year been for you?  Staying healthy?   My year has been great despite everything going on.  Feeling great.   -Have you been able to find any silver lining in this missed 2020 season? COVID has impacted the lives of many since its arrival. For myself, it meant a lost year of playing time with the Phillies. While it is true I won’t get this year back...

The complete version of this post is available over on Patreon.com/PhoulBallz . Recently, I wrote a feature on promising Phillies minor leaguer  Tyler  Burch  and his diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes.  The righty pitcher was an  undrafted free agent signing last year.  To date in 12 professional appearances the 22-year-old holds a 4-1 record with a 1.51 ERA and an 8.6 K/9 mark.   Included below are some excerpts from my  discussion with Tyler in which he offers his thoughts on his own  pitching repertoire, minor league teammates Logan  O'Hoppe and Albertus  Barber , college pal Connor Brogdon and more. Chatting about developing his pitch repertoire from college to the minors... I throw a  four-seam, two-seam, slider, change up.  It's kind of a slurve, it's not  a true slider, but it has a little depth in it. It was more so tweaking my grips to make them more effective.  Hector Berios, the  pitching coac...

For an extended version of this interview, please consider supporting my work by subscribing to my Patreon page .  Members get exclusive interviews and early access to my other work. Jimmy Smith, image- Jay Floyd Former Phillies minor leaguer Jimmy Smith , along with some family, participated in the recent March on Washington and spoke about his experience at the event and what it meant to him to be there.  The march, set up by Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network, was designed as a way for citizens to stand up to racial injustices in our country. Prior to his release by the Phillies last year, the Central Washington University product tallied a .250/.305/.337 slash line at two levels.  Read ahead for my interview with Jimmy.  -Why was it important to you to be present for this Commitment March, as it was called? It was the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s "I Have a Dream" speech. Growing up, my parents shared how impactful the original March on W...

I invite you to visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work and get access to exclusive material like this as well as early access to all my other content. Darick Hall, image- Jay Floyd This week I talked with Phillies first base prospect Darick Hall about his down time due to the cancelled minor league season.   In 132 games with Double-A Reading last year, the lefty batting slugger notched a .235 average with an Eastern League leading 38 doubles, a triple, 20 home runs (2nd in the league) and 67 RBI.  This year, the 25-year-old spent time with the big league club in spring training where he saw action in 14 Grapefruit League games. Hall, who was the Phillies' 14th round draft selection 2016, offered his thoughts on being left off of the team's player pool roster, how he's staying in shape, what he's doing with his free time and more.  Read ahead for a sample of that interview. - I'd have to feel like the team would have had to give some considerati...

Recently, I spoke with Phillies pitching prospect Ben Brown about his recovery from Tommy John surgery, how he's using the down time during the pandemic hiatus and more.  When the 20-year-old right-hander spared some time to answer the serious questions, he was also gracious enough to offer his thoughts on the silly-ass ones.  Read ahead for a sample of my bonus interview with Ben. -Who is your coolest Phillies teammate and why? Bruce Wang for sure. No explanation needed for that stud. -I have an "Uncle Chubby" and my son calls his grandmother "Gaga".  Do you have any unique names within your family?    We call my Uncle Scott "Bigs." He is a big, awesome guy. Very tall. For the complete version of this piece as well as many additional exclusive interviews head on over to Patreon.com/PhoulBallz and support my work.