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Joe Jordan, image- Jay Floyd On Sunday, Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan took some time to talk with me about plenty of prospects throughout the Phils developmental levels. Topics discussed include injury updates for several hurlers including Jose Taveras , Nick Fanti , Bailey Falter and a critical note on Triple-A reliever Brandon Leibrandt .  Also mentioned are outfielders Jhailyn Ortiz and Jose Pujols , catcher Deivi Grullon , Lakewood starters Will Stewart and David Parkinson as well as impressive Double-A reliever Kyle Dohy along with Triple-A reliever Tyler Gilbert. Read onward for much of my interview with Joe and check back in the coming days for his thoughts on some other names that are worthy of interest.  -Kyle Dohy's graduated out of Lakewood and Clearwater, landing in Reading.  He's started to get some attention, after he was a 16th round draft pick and pitched in short-season Class A last year.  Can you talk...

Taveras w/ Lakewood in 2016, image-Jay Floyd Starting pitcher Jose Taveras is a rising prospect worthy of Phillies fans’ attention. Protected by the Phils from December’s Rule 5 draft, Taveras was added to the team’s 40-man roster this off-season and could be part of the team’s near future. The Dominican native began his pro career with the Dominican Summer League Phillies in 2014. In 15 appearances (13 starts), Taveras posted an 8-4 record with a 1.05 ERA, a .202 batting average against and 7.4 K/9 mark. The righty followed that up with a solid 2015 campaign for Class A short-season Williamsport, where he notched a 7-4 record, a 3.88 ERA, a .273 BAA and an 8.5 K/9 mark in 13 starts. The next year with Class A Lakewood, Taveras posted an 8-8 record with a 3.28 ERA, a .229 BAA and a 10.1 K/9 mark in 25 appearances (20 starts) for the BlueClaws. Last year was a virtual coming out party for Taveras, who really seemed to make a name for himself. In 25 regular ...

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...

A trio of Phillies affiliates had postseason action on Friday night. Two of those clubs came out victorious with Lakewood winning their first round series and Reading forcing a games four in their opening round match up. However, Lehigh Valley was swept by their division rival. Taveras, image- Jay Floyd In the Class A South Atlantic League, the BlueClaws swept their best-of-three series with a 6-2 win on the road at Hagerstown. Right-hander Jose Taveras went seven innings, allowing two earned runs with four strike outs and no walks while giving up seven hits, to notch the win. Sutter McLoughlin would toss a scoreless ninth for the save. On offense, lead-off man Mark Laird went 4-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base while Wilson Garcia and Damek Tomscha each drove in a pair of runs. Lakewood will face the winner of the Rome vs. Charleston Southern Division Series in a best-of-five series beginning on Monday on the road. Games three, four and five if necessary of the serie...

Shawn Williams, image- Jay Floyd Recently, I sat down with Class A Lakewood BlueClaws manager Shawn Williams to ask about several of his team's rising prospects. Among the topics of discussion were impressive lefty reliever Zach Morris , well regarded backstop Deivi Grullon , outfielder Jose Pujols and several others. Read ahead for that full interview. -Zach Morris has been so consistent for this team dating back to late April, with an ERA under one during that stretch. What are your thoughts on him? I mean he’s been outstanding all year. He’s done every single role for us, whether it’s setting up, closing, he’s been huge for us when he’s picked up three or four innings he’s saved out bullpen. All around he’s done an outstanding job to help us and help our bullpen. -With other guys performing well and moving up, is there something that Zach is missing or needs to be doing to earn a promotion? I think it’s more that there are a lot of guys doing well up above, so it’s...