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Jordan Ellis is currently a relief pitcher for the Single-A level affiliate of the Phillies, the Lakewood BlueClaws. Drafted in the 28th round of the 2008 amateur draft out of Villanova University, Ellis got his pro career off to a great start with a 3-0 record and 3.00 ERA for short season Williamsport in 2008. He spent time with Lakewood last year also, as he posted a 4-4 record with a 6.42 ERA in 17 games. This season, Ellis landed in the BlueClaws' closer spot after teammate Josh Zeid experienced some tough outings. Through 23 games in 2010, Ellis is 2-2 with 4 saves and a 2.73 ERA. I spoke with Jordan recently and that interview lies ahead. Jordan, you've had a solid season thus far. What do you attribute to your success thus far in 2010? The biggest thing is just trying to be consistent. I had an up and down season last year, and the biggest thing coming into this season was, obviously, to rebound and be consistent with my mechanics and on the mound. And that's really...

Ray Culp was a right-handed pitcher with the Phillies from 1963-1966. Culp was signed right out of high school in Austin, TX for $100,000. He struggled somewhat with his command through two seasons in the minors, but won 13 games for the Phillies A-Level team in Williamsport. The very next Spring, Culp landed in the Phillies' starting rotation when several other pitchers became sidelined with injuries. In his second Major League start, Culp shut out Houston 7-0, allowing just 3 hits. In 6 June starts, Culp went 4-2. The wins included two shut outs, one each against the Metropolitans and the Cardinals. Culp had 10 wins by mid-season and he was honored as a National League all-star in his rookie season. Culp finished the year with a 2.97 ERA. He was also honored as The Sporting News Rookie of the Year, which is the same award J.A. Happ won in 2009. In 1964, Culp posted a record of 8-7 in 30 games and his ERA shot up to 4.13 for the season. In June of that season, he threw a one-hi...

Pat Burrell is congratulated by manager Bruce Bochy following Burrell's HR on Friday vs. Oakland Pat Burrell in 7 games with his new club, the San Francisco Giants, has contributed with a .333 batting average. Burrell, who could never quite excel with his previous team the Tampa Bay Rays, has driven in 4 runs and slugged two doubles and a homerun in his short time thus far with San Francisco. Burrell smashed his first homerun as a Giant on Friday, against former Phillies prospect Gio Gonzalez, of the Athletics. The Giants won the contest 6-2. Gonzalez suffered his 4th loss to San Francisco on Friday, but he also has 6 wins and a 3.79 ERA through 13 starts thus far in 2010. Burrell's teammate Aaron Rowand is struggling on offense, as he's posted a .223 batting average and .654 OPS this season. Rowand is a .278 career batter and has a career OPS of .782, so surely his 2010 output is far below his typical level of contributions. Oakland has more players than Gonzalez with Phil...

Boston and Philadelphia will meet for the second time this season, as inter-league play sparks back up this weekend. The Phillies (31-27) are in Boston to face the Red Sox (35-27) in a 3-game series. The Red Sox won 2 of the 3 meeting in Philadelphia last month. The Red Sox won 2 of 3 against the Phillies last season also. Jamie Moyer gets the assignment in game 1 to attempt to help dig the Phillies out of their recent struggles, as they've lost 14 of their past 21 match ups. Boston will counter with John Lackey, who boasts a 12-5 record and 2.77 ERA in inter-league play, during his career. The Phillies are just 9-18 (.333 winning pct.) against American League teams since they won the World Series against the Rays in 2008. Loads of details on the pitching match ups and more lie ahead. Friday, 7:10pm. Jamie Moyer (6-5, 3.98 ERA) vs. John Lackey (6-3, 4.72 ERA). In 23 career games against Boston, Moyer has a 6-12 record with a 6.57 ERA. In 26 career games at Fenway Park, Moyer, a fo...

The Phillies have agreed to terms with their top draft pick Jesse Biddle. The lefty pitcher Biddle was introduced at a press conference this afternoon, before the media, at Citizens Bank Park. A high school senior taken with the 27th overall pick, Biddle finished the season with a 9-2 record, a 1.06 ERA and an astounding 140 strike outs in 59 1/3 innings pitched for Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia. Biddle's contract agreement included a $1.16 million signing bonus. Today, the Phillies also reached an agreement with second round draft selection Perci Garner. The official signing is expected tomorrow. Garner, a Ball State pitcher, was taken 77th overall in the 2010 draft. With the BSU Cardinals this season, Garner posted a 5-3 record with a 4.62 ERA. His slot money signing bonus us projected at $450,000. Garner led his team in strike outs with 83 in 74 innings pitched. ________________________________ Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE . Share on Facebook

Many of you know that I appear weekly with Mike Krenek and Joe Giglio on The Shore Sports Report to discuss Phillies baseball. Many of you also don't get to listen in live, so, today Shore Sports producer Frank and yours truly bring the segment to you in a manner that can fit your schedule. Split into two parts, here's Wednesday's segment, where we discuss everything from Jayson Werth & Charlie Manuel having some conflict to how cool Matt Stairs still is. Click play on the videos below to listen to Joe, Mike and me discuss those Fightin' Phillies. ______________________________________ Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE . Share on Facebook

Jeremy Barnes is a second baseman with the Phillies Class A affiliate Lakewood BlueClaws. Drafted in the 11th round in 2009 out of Notre Dame, where he wore the same jersey number Brad Lidge wore there- 20, Barnes played shortstop last season in rookie league Williamsport, but has converted to second base this season. In 53 games thus far in 2010, the right-handed hitting Barnes is batting .296, with 17 doubles, a triple, a homerun, 8 steals and 22 RBI for Lakewood. Earlier this week, the 23-year-old Barnes was named to the SAL Northern division all-star team. I spoke with Jeremy about that, among other things. Read on, for that interview... Jeremy, you've had some solid success thus far in the 2010 season and just got the all-star nod this week to represent Lakewood in the South Atlantic League all-star game. Can I get you to talk about that sort of recognition this early in your pro career? Well, I mean, anytime you make an all-star team it's a big honor. Especially, since th...

Phillies phans everywhere are growing more and more impressed with the output of 18-year-old Lakewood BlueClaws first baseman Jonathan Singleton. The 8th round 2009 draft pick is batting .407 with 6 homers, 28 RBI and a 1.204 OPS in 27 games played with the A-Level BlueClaws thus far. Singleton himself is growing a bit impressed also, with one particular Phillies blog...the site that is brought to you by The Shore Sports Network- PhoulBallz.com. ____________________________________ Reminder- today is PhoulBallz Phillies Wednesday on the Shore Sports Report. I'll be on the show for the second straight day, talking baseball with Mike & Joe around 3:20pm today. Tune in on the air waves in NJ on WOBM AM 1160 or Fox Sports 1310...OR listen online by clicking this link . Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE . Share on Facebook

The 2nd place Phillies (30-26) will play host to the 4th Marlins (26-28) for a 3-game series starting Tuesday night. Each team has won 3 times out of the previous 6 meetings this season. The Phillies have won just one of their last seven series played and hope to get things turned around as Kyle Kendrick takes the mound in the series opener. The Marlins will counter with Chris Volstad. The Phillies' struggles (11 losses over the last 15 games) could be pinned on the slumps that usual offensive stand outs like Jayson Werth and Chase Utley are dealing with. In that 15-game span, Werth is batting .125, while Utley has a .140 average. The Marlins are looking to get back over .500 by adding power hitting prospect Mike Stanton, who hit 21 homeruns in 52 games with Double-A level Jacksonville this season. Stanton is slated to make his Major League debut on Tuesday night. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups for this series, as well as loads of other stats. Tuesday, 7:05pm. Chr...

Lakewood pitching coach Steve Schrenk watches Joe Blanton warm up for an April rehab start This season, as he recovered from an oblique strain, Joe Blanton showed up in Lakewood, New Jersey for a rehabilitation assignment slimmer and ready to prove himself worthy of the 3-year/$24 million contract extension he signed with the Phillies in January. He showed up more fit and with refined control, as he threw 2 solid innings for the A-level BlueClaws on 13 pitches, 11 of which were strikes. Blanton was well known for being a pitcher who hadn't previously missed time with injuries and, when speaking with PhoulBallz writer Jay Ballz in April, asserted his desire to reach the 200 inning plateau once again this season, despite his late start, missing the entire month of April with the big league Phillies. Blanton's inning totals would regularly be in the 190-200 innings pitched range each full season of his career. He once reached 230 innings pitched for Oakland in 2007, when he led ...

With plenty of excited phans excitedly watching the stats of one of the newest BlueClaws from afar, the player himself is providing plenty of reasons to back up the rapidly growing following. Jonathan Singleton is single-handedly pummeling the reputation that the Phillies' A-Level affiliate's home field, FirstEnergy Park, has as a pitcher-friendly park...or one that South Atlantic League batters have problems hitting the ball out of. Among the players on the current Lakewood roster, the total number of homeruns hit by the team at home is 7 this season, according to MiLB.com. Jonathan Singleton has 3 of those already! He joined the team in mid-May and, prior to Sunday's contest, has played only 9 home games thus far with the 'Claws. In 34 at bats in those 9 games, Singleton, who plays first base, is batting .529 with 8 doubles and 3 homeruns. His 1.619 OPS at home is also stunning. The 18-year-old Singleton, known around The Shore Sports Network as "The Boss", ...

Danny Litwhiler was an outfielder with the Phillies from 1940-1943. Signed as a free agent in 1940, the native Pennsylvanian join the Phillies and made his Major League debut that season. Litwhiler quickly proved to be a smart addition for the Phillies, slugging 5 homers and batting .345 and rattling off a 21-game hitting streak in 36 games played that season. The following year, in 1941, Litwhiler's output continued to be solid, as he led the team in homeruns, with 18, and batted .305. In 1942, Litwhiler played much of the 2nd half of the season with an injured shoulder, but still managed to become the first Major Leaguer to play an entire season without making a single error. While the injury did not effect his performance in the field, it resulted in a reduction in power, as his season homerun total was trimmed in half, down to 9. Riding his reputation as the Phillies' premiere slugger from the previous season, Litwhiler made the National League all-star team in 1942. On Jun...