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On the 63rd edition of the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast Tug and Jay are joined by former Phillies prospect and current Reds farmhand Moose Mattair . The guys also chat about the progress of Nefi Ogando , Maikel Franco and David Buchanan as well as Domonic Brown 's regression. Also, injury updates on Zach Green , Kelly Dugan and more. Use the media player below to stream the full episode, or simply download it by clicking HERE . You can also check out previous episodes and subscribe on iTunes .

It's time for another edition of our off-season league updates. Each week, we'll take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents participating in various autumn and winter action. Arizona Fall League (all Phillies talent plays for Peoria)- Catching prospect Tommy Joseph (pictured left) is batting .152 with a double and an RBI in 10 games. The 21-year-old participated in Saturday's AFL Rising Stars Game, and went 1-for-2 in the contest.  Joseph was acquired by the Phillies in the Hunter Pence trade last July. Third baseman Cody Asche also played in the Rising Stars Game, going 0-for-2.  The 22-year-old has posted a .271 average with seven doubles, a homer and seven RBI through 17 games in the AFL. The University of Nebraska product was the Phils’ 4th round draft pick last year. Outfielder Zach Collier has tallied a .295 batting average with three doubles, two triples and seven RBI through 13 games. The lefty hitting Collier was a supplem...

Earlier this year, former Phillies minor league third baseman Travis "Moose" Mattair made time to take fans along on his return to baseball, after a year off, by checking in with PhoulBallz.com and PhilliesNation.com, giving the fan base an in depth and unique glance into life as a prospect heading to and participating in spring training, occasionally at the big league level. On Thursday, Moose, a native of Washington state, was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the minor league portion of baseball's Rule 5 draft. As fans might expect, the slick fielding Mattair checked in, to offer his thoughts on that news, for what may possibly be the final edition of his recurring diary feature called Moose Tracks . I am really excited and really ready to start a new chapter in my baseball career! This is something I didn't expect and now that I know (about it), I'm very happy. My parents are probably more excited than I am, now that, with Cincinnati, I'll spend spring tr...

The 2011 Baseball Winter Meetings are underway in Dallas and while the greatest amount of buzz has surrounded some major free agents like Albert Pujols and Jimmy Rollins , there's a minor portion of the annual event that has drawn some interest as well. The Rule 5 draft took place on Thursday and resulted in relocation for a group of selected prospects. Players are eligible for selection in the Rule 5 draft when they are not on their major league organization's 40 man roster and 1) were signed to a contract at age 19 or older and have been in that organization for 4 yrs, OR 2) were signed at age 18 or younger and have been in that organization for 5 years. Rumors out of the meetings on Wednesday night had Phillies minor league outfielder Jiwan James (pictured) on multiple teams' lists of talented young players who fit that bill. James, a 22-year-old Florida native, is a converted pitcher who was ranked as the Phillies' tenth best prospect in a survey of a dozen mino...

Philadelphia relief pitcher Brad Lidge made his first official regular season rehab appearance of the 2011 season on Monday night for the Phillies Class A affiliate the Lakewood BlueClaws. Lidge tossed a scoreless inning to start the contest, against the Nationals affiliate, the Hagerstown Suns. He threw 15 pitches, 9 of which were strikes. Initially, the outing wasn't looking too great, as Lidge surrendered hits to the first two batters of the game. However, he quickly induced a grounder to shortstop Edgar Duran for a double play, then wrapped up the opening frame on a ground out to third baseman Moose Mattair. The right-handed Lidge, who has been out of action since spring training with elbow and shoulder issues, was rather satisfied with his effort and is hoping to progress without any setbacks. "I’m not taking any day for granted," Lidge told Tony Graham of the Asbury Park Press . "That actually felt really good to get out there and the first time pitchin...

After missing more than a month with an oblique strain, Travis "Moose" Mattair found himself as the odd man out of the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers roster. Having lost his starting job to Jeremy Barnes, who has posted a .293 batting average since taking over for Mattair, the Washington state native was reassigned to the Class A Lakewood roster, where he became on of the club's most popular players during his previous stint there. The 6-foot-5-inch 230-pound Mattair batted .234 with 3 homeruns and 16 RBI in 21 April games as a member of the Threshers. Originally a 2nd round draft selection by the Phillies in 2007, Mattair was a member of the BlueClaws team that won the first of two straight South Atlantic League titles in 2009. After that, Mattair was placed on the retired list in order to try his dream of playing Division 1 college basketball. By late summer last year, Mattair got the itch for baseball and chose to return to the Phillies organization rather than ...

Moose-keteers get your headgear ready, as your namesake is headed back to the home of the greatest fan group in Class A baseball history. Ready to be activated from an oblique strain that has kept him out of action since April, Travis "Moose" Mattair is set to see action this weekend with the two-time defending South Atlantic League champions, the Lakewood BlueClaws. Mattair, a 2nd round draft pick in 2007, developed quite a fan following in 2008 and 2009 when manned third base for Lakewood. The 6-foot-5-inch 220-pound Mattair held the BlueClaws all-time RBI record with 91 before Ryan Howard broke the mark during a rehab assignment with Lakewood last year. First baseman Jim Murphy has since surpassed both men, during his second campaign with the club this season. Following the 2009 season, Mattair temporarily retired from baseball, in order to try his hand at Division 1 college basketball . After attempting a bit of an audition with Boise State in 2010, Moose returned to base...

Here are a few exclusive insider updates on some players in the Philadelphia developmental system. -The Double A Reading Phillies have made a move with their pitching staff, moving 26-year-old Canadian Chris Kissock into the bullpen this week, after he surrendered 6 earned runs in 3 innings in his last start. Kissock had posted a 1-4 record and a 6.81 ERA in 7 starts this season. Filling the void in the team's rotation will be 25-year-old BJ Rosenberg, who previously helped solidify a strong bullpen for the R-Phils. Rosenberg, had never started as a professional, but Reading manager Mark Parent expressed some confidence in the decision to switch the two righty hurlers' roles. "Well, we want to get Kissock back in a role that is comfortable and that he was real successful in. BJ will be able to throw more innings and continue to improve his secondary stuff, which is improving all the time," Parent said on Friday. In his first start on Friday night, Rosenberg, who was s...

The season is still brand new, but there have already been plenty of performances worth noting throughout the Phillies developmental system in the early going. A reputation that has become attached to the Philadelphia organization is that the club is stacked with extremely good talent, but only at the lower levels. From the looks of things this year, the Phillies have players at every level that can and will help the big club in the future. Here is your report on the Phillies' minor league system through games played on Wednesday, April 20th. The Triple A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs have a 7-6 record, which ranks them third in the International League's North Division, 1 game behind first place Scranton and 1/2 game behind second place Pawtucket. Infielder Ronnie Belliard leads the team in batting, with a .348 batting average through 13 games played. Belliard was an American League All-star in 2004 with Cleveland. Delwyn Young's 3 homers lead the IronPigs club, but he is bat...

Phillies minor league third baseman Moose Mattair spoke with PhoulBallz.com's & PhilliesNation's Jay Floyd once again, to provide an inside glance at spring training in Clearwater. Mattair was the Phillies' second round draft pick in 2007 out of Southridge High School in Washington state. He later helped the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws win the South Atlantic League championship in 2009. After a rough spring training in 2010, Mattair, who was an all-state basketball player during his high school days, retired from baseball to chase his dream of playing Division I college hoops . After a year off from baseball and spending last summer with the Boise State University men's basketball, Mattair is back in Clearwater ready to start another season in the Phils' organization. He played in the Phillies' Major League spring training game this past Saturday against the Blue Jays and has described the event here for you readers. Photo by Joe Wombough To tell the truth, ...

With loads of updates coming out of Clearwater on the big league Phillies, it's about time we took a glance at some of the organization's prospects and their performances in developmental level Grapefruit League action thus far. 24-year-old Josh Zeid , who helped the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws win their second consecutive South Atlantic League title in 2010, then went on to shine the Arizona Fall League as a member of the Mesa Solar Sox has rolled his success into the new year. Thus far in 2 spring starts, the 10th round pick from the 2009 amateur draft, has tossed 5 shutout innings for the Double A Reading Phillies club. Zeid has allowed 4 hits and just 1 walk, while striking out 7 batters. With Lakewood last year, Zeid sported an 8-4 record and a 2.93 ERA for Lakewood. He fanned 111 batters over 107.1 IP as both a reliever and a starter. In the AFL, Zeid started 4 games, going 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA while holding opponents to a .206 batting average. Justin Friend , who was selec...

Phillies minor league third baseman Moose Mattair spoke with PhoulBallz.com's & PhilliesNation's Jay Floyd once again, to provide an inside glance at spring training in Clearwater. Mattair was the Phillies' second round draft pick in 2007 out of Southridge High School in Washington state. He later helped the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws win the South Atlantic League championship in 2009. After a rough spring training in 2010, Mattair, who was an all-state basketball player during his high school days, retired from baseball to chase his dream of playing Division I college hoops . After trying his hand with Boise State University, Mattair has returned to Clearwater to continue his baseball journey. Read ahead to check out what Moose had to say on various subjects, live and direct from Clearwater. On his first official day of minor league camp since he left the Phillies organization last year to dabble in college basketball. The first full official day was full of meetings. ...

Phillies minor league third baseman Moose Mattair checked in, once again, to give readers an inside look at his journey back to baseball, after taking a year off to try his hand at Division I college basketball. Moose and his cousin Eric drove together from Washington state and stopped in central Florida to move Moose into his temporary Winter/Spring residence before wrapping up their bonding with a few days in Miami. Moose is now back in the Clearwater area and phoned in with a report on his past week, or so, in Florida. To read Moose's previous diary entries click here and here . Miami is an awesome place...just a fabulous place. The weather was beautiful. I got a nice sunburn, which prevented me from getting the tattoo that I originally planned to get on the trip. I wanted to add on to the cross that I have on my back, but I was just too sunburned that I couldn't get it. We went around the city and took in the beach and went to a couple different spots. It was a load of fun...

Phillies minor league third baseman Moose Mattair checked in once again on Monday night to submit another diary entry, detailing his road trip from Washington State to Clearwater, Florida. Moose is returning to baseball after taking a year off to dabble in Division I college basketball . On the road with Moose is his cousin Eric, who shared time behind the wheel and is helping with the move, as well as serving as a boisterous companion. Check out what Moose had to say below and check back for more in the coming days. We stayed in Dallas, Texas on Saturday night. We went out, there, and had a good time. It was an experience. We got to meet some southern belles and just had a good time there in Texas. We took some taxis around to see the city and watched the Seahawks/Bears game. Even though the Seahawks lost, it was still a good time. Then after watching football we drove from Dallas to Baton Rouge, Louisiana yesterday. We dealt with heavy rain the entire way. We drove for about 9 hours ...

This week, Phillies minor league third baseman and Lakewood BlueClaws fan favorite Travis "Moose" Mattair will be checking in to log diaries from the road, as he starts his cross country journey back to baseball, after taking a year off to dabble in Division I college basketball . Moose's trip began with terrible news, but with the blessing of his family to not delay his expedition, he trucked on. In this entry, Moose talks about his family, traveling from Washington state, rooming in Florida with an old BlueClaws teammate and the NFL Playoffs. Check back for more from Moose in the coming days. 18 hours on the road yesterday. We began at 4:15 yesterday morning and it started off as a really rough morning for us. I am with my cousin, Eric, and we found out our uncle actually passed away yesterday morning. He's been dealing with and fighting cancer everywhere in his body. We found out last January that he had it. It's just very unfortunate that he ended up passing a...

As many fans know, not every baseball player gets a huge signing bonus or a large salary. Many minor league players find themselves working in the Autumn and Winter months to supplement their income and to stay busy. A question often wondered by fans: What do prospects do during the off-season? The answer is simple...pretty much anything and everything. Phillies first base prospect Matt Rizzotti is an individual who typically finds himself working during his time away from the baseball diamond. However, Rizzotti is not working this Winter as a result of having spent much of this off-season continuing to play baseball. Following the 2010 regular season, Rizzotti went to instructional ball in Clearwater for a month, then spent another five weeks playing for Mesa in the Arizona Fall League, where he batted .333 with an .865 OPS in 19 games. Last year, however, Rizzotti, who was a physical education major at Manhattan College, went back to his roots and worked as a full-time teachers assis...

On behalf of myself and The Shore Sports Network, I'd like to wish a happy Christmas to all of our readers that celebrate it. In recent weeks I've checked in with a several Phillies minor leaguers from various levels of the organization, as holiday spirit was building, to inquire about some of the players' favorite Christmas things. Check out the list of answers from the players I spoke with below. Santa De Fratus FAVORITE CHRISTMAS FOOD- RHP Jarred Cosart..."Favorite food during Christmas is chicken, ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, okra, salad. Ha ha...you name it, I'll eat it." RHP Justin De Fratus..."My favorite holiday food would have to be tamales. I don't know how many Phillies fans would know what those are, but if you are ever in Southern California during Christmas time, you have to have some." RHP Jake Borup..."Father-in-law makes red chile enchiladas!" LHP Nick Hernandez..."My favorite food, or dessert I should say, now wh...