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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...

Roman Quinn, image- Jay Floyd Double-A Reading center fielder Roman Quinn continued his recent hot streak with a 3-for-4 effort that included two doubles, a home run and four RBI in the team's 12-2 victory on the road against Portland on Wednesday. In his last five contests, the 23-year-old switch-hitter has four multi-hit games and five extra-base hits. Overall this season, Quinn sports a .284 average with seven doubles, four triples, three homers, 16 RBI and 24 stolen bases helping the Fightin Phils to a 35-18 record, which is tops in the Eastern League's Eastern division. Speaking on his role as a catalyst for his team during a recent interview, Quinn shared his calm and simple outlook on helping his team. "I'm just trying to do my job. I try to get on base and use my speed as much as possible and give the guys behind me a chance to drive me in," Quinn said. With a pair of recent promotions coming from the Reading roster, as shortstop J.P. Crawf...

John Richy, image- Jay Floyd Acquired last August from the Dodgers along with Darnell Sweeney in the trade for Chase Utley , righty hurler John Richy has had some ups and downs since joining the Phillies. The 23-year-old was a 3rd round draft selection out of UNLV in 2013. At the time of the swap last summer, Richy sported a 10-5 record with a 4.20 ERA in 24 contests for Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamunga. After joining the Phils, the six-foot-four 215-pounder posted a 2.84 ERA with no decisions in two starts for Class A Advanced Clearwater. This year, Richy made a single start for Clearwater (one earned run allowed in five innings of work) before he was promoted to Double-A Reading. Thus far with Reading, Richy has a 1-1 record with a 5.84 ERA while striking out 19 and walking 12 in 24 2/3 innings. Recently, I talked with Richy about how he's performed in the Eastern League thus far, his pitch repertoire, joining a new organization and plenty more. Read ahead for t...

Ben Lively, image- Jay Floyd The Reading Fightins announced a transaction this afternoon, as righty starting pitcher Ben Lively has earned a promotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Lively, a 4th round pick of Cincinnati in 2013, was acquired by the Phillies in a trade for Marlon Byrd two 0ff-seasons ago. In nine starts for Double-A Reading this season, the 24-year-old posted a 7-0 record with a 1.87 ERA while striking out 49 and walking 15 in 53 innings pitched. Last season with Reading, Lively sported an 8-7 record with a 4.13 ERA in 25 games. Recently, I spoke with Lively , who noted that the key to his success this year was throwing more quality pitches early in at bats. He'll make his Triple-A debut, starting on Friday night for the IronPigs. Mark Appel has been placed on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain. The 24-year-old left his most recent start for the IronPigs on Sunday after being charged with four earned runs in just 2/3 of an inning. Appe...

KC Serna, image- Jay Floyd Organizational depth is a common phrase used around baseball to describe older minor league players that help fill out Double-A and Triple-A rosters. They could be players with a bit of big league service time or guys that may have been branded as having a ceiling that's upper-levels-of-the-minors high, but not any higher. Reading utility man KC Serna might be a player categorized in such a way, but that doesn't impact his goal of continuing to climb upward in the professional ranks. Another similar term journeyman is something that Serna explains can be a good thing, but not where he plays. "I mean, that'd be, typically, a good position if you're in the big leagues, but we're not. So, you know, obviously it's not the best role you want to be thrown into," Serna said. Selected in the 42nd round of the 2011 draft by Cleveland, Serna had a successful debut season in pro ball with short-season A level Mahoning V...

Logan Moore, image- Jay Floyd Last week prior to his promotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill the void left by J.P. Arencibia , I spoke with minor league backstop Logan Moore , who began the season with the Double-A Reading Fightins. The 25-year-old was a 9th round draft selection by the Phillies in 2011 out of Northeastern Junior College. Serving mainly as a backup to catching prospects Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knapp , Moore has posted a .239 average with a home run and seven RBI in 23 games overall this season. Moore shared thoughts on filling the void during Alfaro's injury this season, playing off-season ball and some of the Figthins' top starting pitchers. Read ahead for that interview. -During Jorge Alfaro's recent time on the shelf with an oblique strain, you served as the team's only true catcher, with Jake Fox , who has caught in the pros before, serving as the emergency option, for some time. What was that stretch like? I mean, I knew comi...

JP Crawford, image- Jay Floyd Recently, I spoke with a pair of top performers from the Double-A Reading Fightins in shortstop J.P. Crawford and starting pitcher Ben Lively . Crawford, of course, is the Phillies' top prospect and their top draft pick from 2013. In 34 games this season, the 21-year-old sports a .262 average with two home runs and 11 RBI also sporting a strong OBP at .389. The 24-year-old Lively has been the ace of the Reading staff, posting a 6-0 record with a 1.53 ERA and an 8.8 K/9 mark through eight starts. Read ahead for interview excerpts from each player. Crawford- -He spoke on his manager Dusty Wathan 's comments ( click here for those ) that he expects Crawford to be promoted to Triple-A in the coming weeks and if he thinks he's ready for that move... Yeah, I think I’ve been playing good and I’m ready to prove what I can do if I get moved up and if I don’t, I’ll just keep doing what I do and keep performing. -Talking about what he ...

Ben Lively, image- Jay Floyd TRENTON- Righty pitcher Ben Lively struck out a career-high 12 batters in an excellent performance, helping the Reading Fightins (24-13) win by a score of 7-2 and clinch a series split in a four game set on the road against the division rival Thunder (19-16). In the outing, the 24-year-old gave up four hits while walking four over seven scoreless frames. With the win, Lively's record this season goes to a gleaming 6-0. In eight starts for the first place Fightins, the six-foot-four 190-pounder sports a Double-A Eastern League best 1.53 ERA, an 8.8 K/9 mark and a 0.96 WHIP. The numbers are a nice improvement over his efforts last year that saw Lively post an 8-7 record with a 4.13 ERA, a 7.0 K/9 and a 1.43 WHIP in 25 starts for Reading. The Florida native feels a change of approach is what has helped him improve. "I'm just making more quality pitches early in at bats this year and it's just been helping me a lot," L...

Rhys Hoskins, image- Jay Floyd First baseman Rhys Hoskins garnered some deserved attention earlier this season when he notched a 19-game hitting streak with the Double-A Reading Fightins. A 5th round draft pick in 2014 out of Sacramento State, Hoskins is still figuring some things out in his second full season of pro ball. Through 33 games this year, the 23-year-old sports a .238 average with five doubles, six home runs and 21 RBI. Last season, Hoskins was honored as an All-Star with Class A Lakewood prior to earning a promotion to Class A Advanced Clearwater. Recently, I spoke with Rhys, Phillies Nation's number 14 prospect , about how he feels regarding Double-A competition, his hit streak and his stacked team among other topics. Read ahead for that full interview. -What are your thoughts on the competition here in the Eastern League this year? Obviously, the pitchers are a little better and the teams are a little better. There's a lot more guys that you can ...

Dylan Cozens, image- Jay Floyd TRENTON- Normally a slow starter that heats up as the season moves along, Dylan Cozens is happy about his hot start this year. The 21-year-old entered this season as a career .242 hitter with an average of seven extra-base hits in the opening month of the full season. Through 33 games this year for Double-A Reading, Cozens sports a .274 average with eight doubles and an Eastern League leading 10 home runs. This year, he out-slugged his previous best April by 125 points. "I've never had a good start in the minors (till now)," Cozens said. "I always tend to pick it up and get better as I get going, so to start strong is great." Reading manager Dusty Wathan explains that the emergence of Cozens lately is a result of the player becoming better overall at the plate. "You can't teach power. It's one of those things that we talk about all the time, you can't teach it. And he has it in there, so the p...

Joseph, image- Jay Floyd If you were tuned into my Twitter feed on Thursday night or paid attention to the comments section here on Phillies Nation throughout the evening, you may have been alerted to the news of Tommy Joseph 's impending arrival to the Phillies. . @philliesnation commenter claims 2 have witnessed Tommy Joseph redirecting his luggage &himself toward Philadelphia pic.twitter.com/7GIhC1tVhX — Jay Floyd (@PhoulBallz) May 13, 2016 In the embedded tweet, I screen capped a post in the PhilliesNation.com comments section from a reader named Paul Albrecht, who stated he witnessed the talented prospect redirect his luggage from the IronPigs' bus to Philadelphia to meet the Phillies, who would be returning from a road trip. Well, confirmation came out this morning that the commenter's report was accurate and Joseph will join the Phils for their weekend series at home beginning on Friday. Joseph, 24, sports an International League leading .3...

Steve Schrenk, image- Jay Floyd Following a terrific outing in which Ricardo Pinto flirted with a no-hitter into the 7th inning in Trenton on Thursday, I spoke with his Reading Fightins pitching coach Steve Schrenk , who offered thoughts on the young hurler's effort and several other pitchers on his staff as well... -Talking about Pinto's seven shut out inning performance... You know, he gets his first win this year. He's been fighting to get one his last four outings but it's just nice to get him a win tonight. He had his good change up working for him and I like the way he pitched against a good hitting Trenton team. -Sharing more thoughts on the potential for a historic game... Obviously, you'd like to see a no-hitter. I would have loved to have seen one last night. But they hit the ball and they got their hits. I think the most important thing for me is to make sure he got that first win under his belt. I think that's important for a kid a...