PhoulBallz.com

The Phillies announced several minor league cuts on Monday. Among the released players are 2009 Lakewood BlueClaws first baseman Jeremy Hamilton, '09 BlueClaws pitchers Freddy Ballestas & Ryan Bergh, former Phillies pitcher Joe Bisenius and veteran Major Leaguer Brad Wilkerson Hamilton, a fifth round pick in the 2008 amateur draft, hit .255 in 88 games with Lakewood last season. His .701 OPS for the season was not quite impressive for a first baseman and was never good enough to earn much playing time over starting first baseman Jim Murphy, who was taken 12 rounds after Hamilton in the same draft, and his .860 OPS in 2009. Ballestas, a Venezuela native, was signed as an amateur free agent in 2004. Last year for the SAL champion BlueClaws he appeared in 18 games (4 starts), posting a 4.98 ERA and striking out 46 batters in 47 innings pitched. Ryan Bergh in a pre-season bullpen session with coach Bob Milacki Bergh spent some time closing games for Lakewood in 2009. Bergh posted a...

The first round of the South Atlantic League playoffs was perfect for the BlueClaws. A win on the road Wednesday put the 'Claws in position to clinch a trip to the championship series with a win on Friday night against the White Sox affiliated Kannapolis Intimidators. And it didn't take long for the BlueClaws to convince the small rain-dwindled crowd that Friday would be the night. The scoring began in the first inning when DH Sebastian Valle singled home catcher Travis D'Arnaud. This began the small FirstEnergy Park crowd on a full night of yelling, celebrating and rally towel waving. The Park seemed about 1/4 full most of the night, but the volume of their cheers sounded like the place was at capacity. Lakewood continued scoring in each of the next three innings. In the second inning, left fielder D'Arby Myers plated shortstop Troy Hanzawa with a double before Travis D'Arnaud smashed a big two-bagger that scored pro ball's stolen base leader Anthony Gose. In t...

BJ Rosenberg is half of the closer tandem for the Phillies class A Lakewood BlueClaws. BJ splits the duties with Ryan Bergh . A 13th round selection out of the University of Louisville in 2008's amateur draft, Rosenberg was one of six all stars from the Lakewood team this season. Through 29 appearances this season, Rosenberg is 7-2 with a 1.15 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 14 saves in 39 innings pitched. BJ took time to answer some questions for me the other day and here's how that went down... Speak a little about your success so far this season, including your all star experience. Right now, I'm kind of on a roll for a little while. Been pitching pretty well. I've been working on some things, like, fix my mechanics a little bit. Been going good. Gonna keep it going, and the season's just over half way done, still a long way to go. The all star game was fun. I didn't get to pitch, but I guess they were saving me for extra innings, since it was such a close game. It was a ...

Ryan Bergh is a righty reliever for the single A BlueClaws. Bergh, a side-armed hurler, was a 26th round selection in the 2008 amateur draft out of Old Dominion University. He spent last season with the Gulf Coast League Phillies. In 20 games in the GCL, Bergh led the team with 9 saves and had a 0.64 ERA. Through 10 games this season, Bergh is 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA and 4 saves. Here's how my Q&A with Bergh went... Can I get your thoughts on your successful first 5 weeks of the season? I've just been fortunate, ya know. I've been locating my pitches, and getting guys out. Ran into a little trouble a couple outings back, not locating but, for the most part I'm able to keep the ball down in the zone and get guys out. Does your arm angle (side arm) help you out? Is that an advantage for you? I think so. I've been throwing like this since high school, so it's not really that strange for me, but obviously the hitters- it's a little bit different angle. Yeah, I t...