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The Williamsport Crosscutters' two representatives in the short-season New York-Penn All-Star festivities made a serious impact on Tuesday evening. Chris Serritella (pictured), who was selected in the 4th round of this year's amateur draft, started the night by winning the HR Derby, downing Mahoning Valley's Joe Sever in the finals. Serritella, a 22-year-old first baseman, has posted a .293 batting average with 20 doubles, five home runs and 33 RBI in 52 games thus far this season. Additionally, the Southern Illinois University product went 1-for-2 with a single in the actual All-Star Game. Serritella started the game as the National League affiliate team's designated hitter. Crosscutters teammate, shortstop Roman Quinn , entered the game in the bottom of the 6th and proceeded to go 2-for-2 with an inside-the-park homer and an RBI single. The round tripper was the first of Quinn's young pro career. The 19-year-old Quinn was the Phillies' second round pic...

Recently, right-handed pitcher Brody Colvin was promoted from Class A Advanced Clearwater to Double-A Reading. Prior to the 2012 season, Colvin, who turns 22-years-old on Tuesday, was ranked as PhilliesNation's 6th best prospect . This season, following some ups and downs, it's unclear where Colvin will rank next preseason. Earlier this year, Colvin, a Louisiana native, was removed from Clearwater's starting rotation and moved to the bullpen to relax and improve his mental approach. He did so and returned to starting after a brief time. Through his first two outings with the R-Phils, the 7th round draft choice from 2009 posted a 1-0 record while allowing five earned runs in 11 innings (4.09 ERA). In his last start on Saturday, however, Colvin allowed eight earned runs in 2 2/3 innings pitched in a loss to New Britain. In a recent interview with Brody, he spoke about the transition moving to the Eastern League, his brief bullpen stint, physical concerns from last season...

New from A&E, it's THE ESSENTIAL GAMES OF THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES DVD SET . The set features four of the top contests in franchise history. As the tag lines states, it's "100% classic Phillies, 100% Philadelphia baseball." Games included: 1980 NLCS Game5, Phillies vs. Houston. The Phils captured their 3rd ever pennant and their first since in 30 years. 1993 NLCS Game 6, Phillies vs. Atlanta. The underdog Phils secure a spot in the World Series. 2008 World Series Game 5, Phillies vs. Tampa Bay. The two-part weather impacted World Championship clincher. 2010 NLDS Game 1, Phillies vs. Cincinnati. Roy Halladay's playoff no-hitter. This brand new DVD box set, brought to you by A&E Home Entertainment/MLB Productions, is popping up everywhere. Want to win your own? Simply e-mail your name with the subject line "Phillies DVD Contest" to PhoulBallz at Verizon dot net , or simply like PhoulBallz.com on Facebook . Five individuals will be chosen...

The Phillies (52-62) have hit the road to begin a three-game series in Miami against the Marlins (52-63) on Monday night, as the two clubs, separated by a 1/2 game, battle to stay out of last place in the National League East division. Overall, the Phillies have lost their last five contests against the Marlins, who, much like the Phillies, are playing well below the high expectations of media and fans alike this season. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and other statistical info on this series. Monday, 7:10 PM. Cole Hamels (12-6, 3.08 ERA) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (3-7, 4.33 ERA). In 11 road starts this season, Hamels has posted a 6-3 record with a 3.43 ERA. In 22 career starts against the Marlins, Hamels is 6-10 with a 3.68 ERA. The righty Eovaldi is 1-3 with a 3.77 ERA in 5 home starts this season. In 5 starts since the All-Star break, Eovaldi has a 2-2 record with a 4.57 ERA. Tuesday, 7:10 PM. Kyle Kendrick (4-9, 4.86 ERA) vs. Josh Johnson (7-8, 3.88 ERA). In 14 gam...

It's not the usual full preview, but here is the pitching match up review for this weekend's Cardinals vs. Phillies series... Friday, 7:05 PM. Kyle Lohse (12-2, 2.79 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (5-6, 4.02 ERA). The right-handed Lohse, a former Phillie, has posted a 6-0 record with a 2.52 ERA in his past 9 starts. In 10 regular season appearances at Citizens Bank Park, Lohse has a 3-1 record with a 3.52 ERA. Ryan Howard is 8-for-16 (.500 avg) with 2 HR in his regular season career against Lohse. Halladay is 1-1 with a 4.13 ERA in 4 starts since the All-Star break. In his lone start against the Cardinals this season, Halladay allowed 4 earned runs in just 2 innings of work. In 41 career regular season appearances at Citizens Bank Park, Halladay sports a 2.51 ERA. Saturday, 7:05 PM. Jake Westbrook (11-8, 3.76 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (2-6, 3.78 ERA). Westbrook is 4-0 with a 3.46 ERA in his last 4 starts. In 10 road starts this season, Westbrook has a 4-5 record with a 3.5...

Following his suspension for an inappropriate confrontation with the team bus driver, outfielder Tyson Gillies returned to the active roster for the Double-A Reading Phillies on Thursday night. Batting lead off, the speedy catalyst, who has missed hefty time due to injuries since being acquired in the December 2009 Cliff Lee trade, went 1-for-4 with a home run and a walk. Gillies was all smiles and completely overjoyed to be back with his teammates, as the R-Phils hold onto the playoff qualifying second place in the Eastern League's Eastern division, 1/2 game ahead of New Britain in the standings. Prior to Thursday's contest, I spoke with Tyson to gauge his feelings on the situation that cost him even more crucial time away from the game, a hot playoff race and more. That brief Q&A lies ahead. -Suspensions are never good, but do you think there is any kind of silver lining or lesson learned from this situation that occurred? The thing is, baseball can get to be very ...

He leads the Double-A Eastern League in home runs (23) and OPS (.961), ranks second in RBI (72) and is seventh in batting average (.306), but Reading Phillies first baseman Darin Ruf has done all of this without much consideration as a real contender to join the Phillies' major league roster. A 20th round draft selection in 2009 out of Creighton University, Ruf signed quickly with the Phillies and made an immediate impact, posting a .307/.383/.472 line in 57 combined games with the Gulf Coast League Phillies and the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters. He followed that up with a .290/.363/.451 campaign at two levels with Class A Lakewood and Class A Advanced Clearwater in 2010. Last year, Ruf batted .308 with 17 HR and 82 RBI in 133 games while spending the whole season with Clearwater. Increasingly productive numbers aside, the 6-foot-4-inch 230-pound Ruf has never been considered among the Phillies’ top ranked prospects. Without regard for what others think of him, the 26-ye...

Acquired in last week's trade that sent Hunter Pence to San Francisco, catcher Tommy Joseph is now among Philadelphia's top positional prospects. An All-Star in the Double-A Eastern League, the righty hitting Joseph has posted a .262 batting average with 8 HR and 39 RBI in 87 games this season. Joseph, who stands 6'1" tall and weighs around 215 pounds, was the Giants' 2nd round draft selection in 2009. Following last season, when he batted .270, smashed 22 HR and drove in 95 runs in 127 games for Class A Advanced San Jose, the 21-year-old was ranked as San Francisco's number 5 prospect by MLB.com. This week I had the opportunity to speak with Tommy about his outlook on being traded, catching the Giants' well-known hurlers, Phillies fans and plenty more. Check out the media player below to listen to the full interview. _________________________________________________________ You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE . Also connect with Ph...

The Braves (62-46) travel to Philadelphia to begin a three-game series with the Phillies (49-59) on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. In the past month, the two clubs have faced each other in two separate series, with the Braves winning all six of the contests. Atlanta’s recent dominance over the Phils is the opposite of how things went last season, when the Phillies handed the Braves six losses toward the end of the 2011 season. Those defeats shut the door on Atlanta’s postseason hopes. Read ahead for notes on the pitching the match ups and additional statistical information on this series. Monday, 7:05 PM. Ben Sheets (3-1, 1.46 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (6-6, 3.63 ERA). In 9 career starts against the Phillies, Sheets has a 3-4 record with a 4.50 ERA. Ty Wigginton is 12-for-36 (.333 avg) with 2 doubles and 2 HR in his career against Sheets. The righty Sheets was the Brewers' 1st round draft pick in 1999. In his last 5 starts, Worley has a 2-1 record with a 4.06 ERA. In 9 home s...

It's another sometimes-weekly minor league review, where we take a look at the various developmental levels of the Phillies' organization and some noteworthy players from each club. Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs… Who’s hot- Tyler Cloyd (pictured, right) continued his dominance of the year 2012 in his latest start. The 25-year-old righty notched the win against Pawtucket on Thursday, allowing just one earned run in seven innings of work. The victory took Cloyd’s record to 14-1 and his ERA in 1.91 in 22 combined starts at Double-A and Triple-A this season. The Phillies’ 18th round draft pick in 2008 has been making it extremely difficult for the Phillies to not promote him to the big league roster. Recently promoted second baseman Cesar Hernandez headed into action on Saturday posting the following numbers over the previous week- .476 batting average, three doubles, one triple and the RBI. Additionally, Hernandez hit safely in seven consecutive games beginning last Friday. Th...

The surging Diamondbacks (54-51), winners of 10 of their past 13 contests, head to Philadelphia to begin a three-game weekend set against the last place Phillies (47-58) on Friday. Less than two weeks ago, Arizona was 7 games back in the National League West division, but their hot streak paired with rough stretches by San Francisco and Los Angeles have allowed the D-Backs to creep upward into contention and they now reside just 2 games out of first place. The Phils are fresh off a series win on the road against the first place Nationals, but dropped the series finale on Thursday, 3-0. In the opener of this series, Arizona will send right-hander Ian Kennedy, a former 1st round draft pick of the Yankees, to the mound. The Phillies will counter with righty Joe Blanton, who has struggled at home of late, posting a 6.05 ERA in his last 6 starts at Citizens Bank Park. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and other key statistical notes for this series. Friday, 7:05 PM. Ian Kenne...

On the latest episode of the PhoulBallz Minor League Podcast, Tug and I talk about the Phillies' newly acquired prospects from the non-waiver trade deadline ( Tommy Joseph , Ethan Martin , Seth Rosin ), discuss the promotions of some of the Phils' top developmental talents ( Sebastian Valle , Jonathan Pettibone , Cesar Hernandez ) and say goodbye to Shane Victorino with several insider tales. We also speculate over this year's Paul Owens Award winners and we play the Twitter Game. Check out the media player below to hear the full show, or download it by clicking HERE . Additionally, click HERE to listen to previous episodes of the program. You can also subscribe on iTunes .