PhoulBallz.com

Last week I spoke with Triple-A Lehigh Valley pitching coach Dave Lundquist.  Among the topics of discussion were promising pitching prospects Enyel De Los Santos, Cole Irvin, Brandon Leibrandy, Drew Anderson, Tyler Gilbert and plenty others. Lundquist pitched in the major leagues with the White Sox and the Padres prior to joining the coaching ranks.  He has been with the Phillies developmental staff since 2008. Read ahead for the full interview... -You've got a couple International League All-Stars on your pitching staff.  Can you comment on those guys and the honor? Yeah, we got De Los Santos, who's been selected to be the starter for that game.  You know, that's a huge honor.  It goes back to his work ethic and what he's done, what he's accomplished all year.  The guy's had, you know, a tremendous first half.  Let him go enjoy that game and pick up the second half where he left off.   Cole Irvin, image- Jay Floyd With Irvin...

Tom Eshelman, image- Jay Floyd Surprising success in the minors has earned righty hurler Tom Eshelman recognition among the Phillies' top pitching prospects. Acquired as part of the trade that sent reliever Kenny Giles to Houston, Eshelman has dominated the competition since joining the Phils organization. After becoming Houston's 2nd round draft choice (46th overall) in 2015 and signing for a reported $1.1 million, the Carlsbad, CA native started four total games at two levels of the Astros' system. As a member of the rookie level Gulf Coast League Astros, Eshelman allowed two earned runs while striking out three and walking two in four innings of work. He was then promoted to Class A Quad Cities where he allowed three earned runs while striking out five and walking three in 6 1/3 innings. After the trade, he opened 2016 with the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers.  Eshelman would become a Florida State League All-Star in his initial campaign for the Phil...

Scott Kingery, image- Jay Floyd Last week I talked with Phillies second base prospect Scott Kingery about recent accolades, as he was honored as the organization's annual Paul Owens Award winner and collected a Gold Glove Award for his stellar efforts on defense. Click here to read my complete feature on those honors. The following is interview excerpts featuring the 23-year-old's thoughts on the possible need for additional protective netting at big league ball fields and other topics related to his awards.  Read ahead for those exclusive quotes from Kingery. -He spoke about being named the top Phillies minor leaguer for the 2017 season... First of all the Paul Owens Award, it's an incredible honor to be able to get that aware when so many great players have come through and won that award, so it just shows the success that I was able to have this year and what I was able to do.  It's an honor just to have the Phillies think so highly of me and to ...

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...

Dave Lundquist, image- Jay Floyd Recently, I talked with the pitching coach of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs Dave Lundquist.  Among the topics of discussion were well-regarded Phillies pitching prospects Mark Appel, Jake Thompson, Tom Eshelman, Edubray Ramos and much more. Lundquist pitched in the major leagues with the White Sox and the Padres prior to joining the coaching ranks.  He has been with the Phillies developmental staff since 2008. Read ahead for my full interview... -Mark Appel has gotten back on track of late (posting a 2.20 ERA over his last seven games, after two weak starts in May).  What have you seen from him to help him improve? He started out-- he had some good games early and he hit a rough patch.  For me really, he was just trying to do too much.  But he's made some good adjustments in his delivery, calmed himself down a bit and is throwing a lot more strikes.  He has gotten his secondary pitches a lot sharper, able...

Prior to Thursday's game, Lehigh Valley IronPigs manager Dusty Wathan spoke with members of the media and offered thoughts on some of his club's most talented players. Among the key topics were International League All-Star and MLB All-Star Futures Game representative Rhys Hoskins, who is batting .300 with 19 home runs and 63 RBI in 82 games, starting pitcher Tom Eshelman, who sports a 6-2 record with two complete games and a 2.15 ERA in 10 starts for the IronPigs, shortstop J.P. Crawford, who is batting .207 in 69 games, and starter Mark Appel, who has posted a 5-4 record with a 4.87 ERA through 16 starts. Read ahead for Wathan's quotes... On Rhys Hoskins' work ethic- He's the first one at the ballpark every.  He's out there taking ground balls.  He prepares himself as good, if not better than anybody I've ever had. When asked about Tom Eshelman's performance since a promotion from Double-A Reading, Wathan joked- I'm a little disa...

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...

T. Eshelman, image- Jay Floyd Righty hurler Tom Eshelman was acquired last off-season from Houston in the Kenny Giles trade along with former number one overall draft pick Mark Appel as well as pitcher Vince Velasquez and two other players.  If Eshelman progresses as the Phillies hope he will, the talented Californian could become the steal of that deal. Scouts had Eshelman classified as one of the most polished pitchers in the 2015 draft.  After becoming Houston’s 2nd round draft choice (46th overall) and signing for a reported $1.1 million, Eshelman started four total games at two levels of the Astros’ system that year. In 2015 as a member of the rookie level Gulf Coast League Astros, Eshelman allowed two earned runs while striking out three and walking two in four innings of work.  He was then promoted to Class A Quad Cities where he allowed three earned runs while striking out five and walking three in 6 1/3 innings. After opening the 2016 season with t...

Elniery Garcia, image- Jay Floyd Class A Advanced Florida State League All-Star rosters were announced on Friday and among those honored were seven from the Phillies affiliate Clearwater Threshers. Pitchers Elniery Garcia , Alexis Rivero and Tom Eshelman will be part of the Northern division roster along with second baseman Scott Kingery , outfielder Carlos Tocci , catcher Chace Numata and 1B/3B Zach Green . Garcia, a lefty, has been excellent this year. The 21-year-old Dominican has a 4-2 record with a 2.08 ERA in eight games (seven starts) while striking out 40 and walking 14 in 47 2/3 innings. Rivero, the team's closer, has a 3-1 record with four saves, a 1.09 ERA and a 10.2 K/9 mark. The right-hander is 21-years-old. Eshelman, a righty, was acquired from Houston in the Kenny Giles trade, sports a 3-2 record with a 3.61 ERA and a 9.1 K/9 mark in nine starts. The 21-year-old was a 2nd round draft selection by the Astros last year. Kingery, the Phils' 2nd r...

Tyler Viza, image- Jay Floyd The Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers have enjoyed some solid success on the mound in the early going this season. Combined, four members of the team's starting rotation ( Tyler Viza , Elniery Garcia , Thomas Eshelman and Ranfi Casimiro ) have combined for a 6-1 record and a 1.19 ERA through eight starts (two each). Additionally, another of the team's starters, Will Morris , entered action on Monday with a scoreless five inning appearance in his game log. This week I asked the righty Viza about his own success as well as the great efforts by his teammates. Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan and Clearwater third baseman Mitch Walding also offered their thoughts. Read ahead for the exclusive comments. Viza, who was the Phils' 32nd round draft pick in 2013, remarked about his consistent output- My success through the early part of the season started around the all-star break last year. Aaron Fultz and I had a c...

Eshelman, image- MiLB.com Right-handed pitcher Thomas Eshelman joined the Phillies organization this off-season as part of the return from Houston from the Ken Giles trade.  With the right amount of progress, Eshelman could become the steal of the deal. Control is definitely the big factor in Eshelman's game, as he notched a collegiate career record 0.4 BB/9 mark in three years at Cal State Fullerton, where he was a multi-time All-American.  He possessed a 313-to-18 strike out-to-walk ratio in his college career.  For his 2015 junior campaign, Eshelman sported a 1.58 ERA in 18 outings. Scouts had Eshelman classified as one of the most polished pitchers in last year's draft. After becoming Houston's 2nd round draft choice (46th overall) in 2015 and signing for a reported $1.1 million, the 21-year-old started four total games at two levels of the Astros' system. As a member of the rookie level Gulf Coast League Astros, Eshelman allowed two earned runs while st...