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The day after the Phillies signed their interim manager to a two-year contract extension, the team will open the best-of-five playoff series in National League East Division winning Atlanta. On Monday the Phils made a clear vote of confidence when they gave skipper Rob Thomson the job for years to come.  On Tuesday, the team sends 27-year-old Ranger Suarez to the mound to battle Braves ace Max Fried to open the National League Division Series.  The Phils earned their way to the series by notching a pair of victories over the Cardinals in the Wild Card round this past weekend. Details on pitching match ups and other key notes from this series are ahead... Tuesday, 1:07pm Eastern...LHP Ranger Suarez (10-7 record, 3.65 ERA) vs. LHP Max Fried (14-7 record, 2.48 ERA).   Suarez has a 2.81 ERA in six daytime outings this season.  In five starts against the Braves this year, the Venezuela native, Suarez, tallied a 1-2 record with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.  Atlanta sho...

Drew Anderson w/ Reading in 2017, image- Jay Floyd For those waiting to see where their favorite Phillies prospects will land and which teams they'll be headed to see in the early going this season, roster announcements have begun to come out. As always, the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers are the last of the bunch to release their players, but we'll get to some speculating in a bit. To start, here is who you'll see in Class A Lakewood next week, highlighted by last year's first round draft selection Alec Bohm , a big masher that plenty of people speculated could skip this level completely. From BlueClaws.com... Pitchers - Tyler Carr , Colton Eastman, Ethan Evanko , Kevin Gowdy, Ethan Lindow, Oscar Marcelino , Robinson Martinez , James McArthur, Tyler McKay , Jhordany Mezquita , Francisco Morales, Jack Perkins , Dominic Pipkin , Victor Santos, Gilmael Troya Catchers - Abrahan Gutierrez , Rafael Marchan Infielders - Alec Bohm, Luis Garcia, Jonathan G...

Ranger Suarez, image- Jay Floyd Lefty hurler Ranger Suarez has stood out in recent seasons as a dependable prospect that could have a solid future with the Phillies. Suarez, who is listed by the Phillies six-foot-one and 210 pounds, was signed at the age of 16 in 2012. The exciting youngster would make his professional debut as a closer with the Venezuelan Summer League team in 2012. He tossed five scoreless innings and earned two saves in three outings there. In the following two seasons in the VSL, Suarez posted very solid numbers (5-4 record, 1.66 ERA) in 22 appearances. In 2014 he would transition into a starting role. Suarez pitched stateside in 2015, competing in extended spring training that year and then sporting a 3-0 record with a tremendous 0.65 ERA in six appearances for the Rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies. He was named the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in July that year, when he posted a 2-0 record and a 0.79 ERA.  In 2016 wi...

For the third straight season, the Triple-A affiliate of the Phillies, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, came out on the losing end to the Yankees affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders. Following a dramatic walk-off win on Friday night in which catcher Nick Rickles got the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 13th inning to force a game 4 in the best-of-five series, the IronPigs were just one out away from pushing the series to the maximum. Closer Pedro Beato was on the mound facing Railriders center fielder Shane Robinson.  Former Phillies prospect Quintin Berry pinch ran at second base.  With Berry in motion, Robinson stroked Beato's pitch up the middle.  Pigs' shortstop Dean Anna fielded the ball, threw to first base too late to make the out.  An aggressive Berry made the most of the moment, darting toward home and scoring to tie the game at 2 runs apiece. The IronPigs failed to mount any offense in the bottom of the 9th. Moving into extra innings f...

Steve Schrenk, image- Jay Floyd Last week I talked with pitching coach Steve Schrenk about his staff with the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils.  The covered mostly all of the team's hurlers including JoJo Romero, Ranger Suarez, Elniery Garcia, Edgar Garcia, Luke Leftwich plus plenty more. Read ahead for my complete interview with "Schrenky". -Related to JoJo Romero (0-4 record, 6.68 ERA), seems like he's not producing the way perhaps he was expected to, thus far. Yeah, he’s not—I don’t think he’s satisfied with what he’s doing right now.  It’s been just a couple innings here and there for the most part.  It’s been a couple pitches, a couple innings.  I think for the most part he’s been throwing the ball okay.  He needs to be a little more consistent with the strike zone and using his off-speed pitches for strikes.  But, he’s done a good job.  It’s like I said, a couple innings here, a couple big hits.  I think he’ll be right out of...

Greg Legg, image- Jay Floyd Tuesday was media day in Reading, with players and the club's manager, Greg Legg, meeting with local reporters for the first time in 2018. Legg's track record with the Phillies dates back to 1982 when the team drafted him as an infielder in the 22nd round. With the season opening for Reading on Thursday at home against Erie, Legg spoke about his plans for the roster, impressions of some players and plenty more. Read ahead for that full interview. -Sharing thoughts on the strengths of his five starters, Jake Waguespack, Ranger Suarez, JoJo Romero, Franklyn Kilome and Harold Arauz... Probably, if you were going to sum up all five of them, probably their competitiveness.  They're all good athletes.  Waguespack, watching him grow, has been a lot of fun for me.  The last game he threw was four innings and he pretty much threw all fastballs in an intra-squad game and he just dominated our hitters, with the extension he's getting....

Ranger Suarez, image- Jay Floyd The Phillies have a growing collection of highly regarded left-handed pitching prospects with Venezuela native Ranger Suarez leading the way among them. Suarez, who stands six-foot-one and weighs around 180 pounds, was signed by the Phillies at the age of 16. The exciting youngster would make his professional debut as a closer with the Venezuelan Summer League team in 2012. He tossed five scoreless innings and earned two saves in three outings there. Over the next two seasons in the VSL, Suarez posted very solid numbers (5-4 record, 1.66 ERA) in 22 appearances. In 2014 he was converted to a starter. Suarez pitched stateside in 2015, pitching in extended spring training that year and then sporting a 3-0 record with a tremendous 0.65 ERA in six appearances for the Rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies. In 2016 with short-season Class A Williamsport, Suarez tallied a 6-4 record with a 2.81 ERA, a 6.5 K/9 mark and a .223 batting average...

Just a quick rundown of some noteworthy performers throughout the Phillies minor leagues. Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs-  Hoskins & Kingery, image- Jay Floyd International League All-Star Rhys Hoskins went 1-for-2 with a single and was hit by a pitch in Sunday's MLB All-Star Futures Game.  In 88 games this season, the righty hitting first baseman has a .289 batting average with 20 home runs and 66 RBI. Also in the Futures Game, second baseman Scott Kingery went 0-for-1.  In 12 games since he was promoted to Triple-A, the 23-year-old is batting .306 with four homers, eight RBI and four steals. Right-handed pitcher Tom Eshelman sports a 7-2 record with a 1.96 ERA through 11 starts as a member of the Lehigh Valley rotation.  Eshelman was acquired as part of the Ken Giles trade to Houston in 2015. Double-A Reading Fightin Phils- Third baseman Mitch Walding has been ripping up the opposition of late.  Named the Eastern League player of the month...

Brian Sweeney oversees Ranger Suarez On Sunday, Class A Lakewood pitching coach Brian Sweeney took time to discuss his club's staff with me.  Among the topics of discussion were starting pitchers Ranger Suarez, Sixto Sanchez, Nick Fanti and JoJo Romero.  Additionally, we chatted about his attention toward young fans at the ballpark and plenty more. Sweeney pitched in the majors for the Mariners and the Padres before joining the Phillies' developmental staff in 2015. Read ahead for this full interview with Coach Brian. -Thanks for taking some time for me.  Before games, I often see you having a catch with children in the crowd while your starting pitcher for that day loosens up.  Today I also saw you go back and talk to a group of kids a bit more as well.  Can you tell me what was going on there? You know, every kid wants a ball, of course, and sometimes they say, "please".  Most times they don't.  And, but before the game, before the pitch...

Friend of the site Steve Potter, also known as @JpoppaCool on Twitter, took time this week to provide some lists of top performers throughout the Phillies' minor league ranks. Steve is the author of the book The 2016 Phillies Minor Leagues: A Fan's View .  It's a great paperback offering that is available at Citizens Bank Park and online from multiple outlets . With just Lakewood in action on Monday, out of the four full-season teams, most of the listings are accurate, with stats accurate through Sunday.  Take a look at the organization leader boards in various offensive and pitching categories below... Phillies Minor League Leaders - Pitching - ( thru 6/11/17 games ) - excluding guys now on Major League Roster  Top 10 - Wins  Tom Eshelman - 7 - ( Lehigh - 4, Reading - 3) Jose Taveras - 5 - Clearwater  Drew Anderson - 5 - Reading  Brandon Leibrandt - 5 - Reading 10 tied with 4  Top 10 (ERA - minimum 50 IP) - Starting Pitchers  Range...