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Austin Listi, image- Jay Floyd As the big leagues' Fall Classic wrapped up on Sunday with another championship for Boston, the baseball community's attention can shift toward off-season leagues.  The lone domestic offering that fans can gravitate toward is the Arizona Fall League, which announced the rosters for its annual Fall Stars Game on Monday. Outfielder Austin Listi will represent the Phillies, as he was named to the East division roster.  The righty batting outfielder was honored as the Phils' top offensive minor leaguer this year, when he was named as the recipient of the Paul Owens Award. In the regular season Listi split time with Class A Advanced Clearwater and Double-A Reading.  In 123 games in 2018, the Dallas Baptist product tallied a .312 average with 18 home runs and 84 RBI. The six-foot 218-pounder has displayed light hitting to date in the AFL, posting a .175 average with a double and three RBI in 12 contests with Scottsdale. Much like ...

As the organization continues to move toward a revitalization, the Phillies have named their new director of player development, plucking a rising leader from the one of the major leagues' newest forces, the Houston Astros. Per TheAthletic.com and other outlets, former professional player and manager Josh Bonifay has locked down the position of the "general manager" of the Phils' farm system.  Bonifay's father, Cam Bonifay, was general manager of the Pirates from 1993 to 2001.  While in charge of the Pittsburgh club, Cam drafted Josh twice (in 1996 out of high school, when Josh chose not to sign, and in 1999 as a junior out of UNC Wilmington). The younger Bonifay played eight seasons in the minors, posting a .284 batting average and an .842 OPS, reaching as high as the Double-A level.  The year he signed, Bonifay played with the short-season Class A Williamsport Crosscutters, which has since changed from a Pittsburgh affiliate to a Phillies affiliate.   ...

I'll be posting rundowns throughout the off-season to shine a light on Phillies prospects making an impact in various leagues around the world.  This is the first of my regular updates throughout the colder months touching on action in the Arizona Fall League, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and other places.  Statistics are current through games on Saturday. Arizona Fall League (all Phillies representatives here play for the Scottsdale Scorpions)- Luke Leftwich, image- Jay Floyd Righty pitcher Luke Leftwich has not allowed a run in 5 2/3 innings over four appearances.  He has notched eight strike outs and surrendered two walks.  Leftwich, 24, posted a 3.73 ERA in 44 appearances for Double-A Reading this year.  The Wofford College product was a 7th round draft choice of the Phils in 2015. Lefty hurler Jonathan Hennigan has allowed two hits and an earned run in three innings of work.  He tallied a 2.39 ERA in 37 combined games for Class A La...

Madison Stokes, image- Jay Floyd Selected in the 10th round of this year's MLB amateur draft, corner infielder Madison Stokes was quick to make an impact in his pro career, helping the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws reach the postseason. The 22-year-old righty hitter enjoyed a swift ascent, playing six games in the rookie level Gulf Coast League before earning a promotion to Class A short-season Williamsport.  As a member of the Crosscutters, Stokes sported a .338/.452/.506 slash line in 22 games. Promoted again to Lakewood in early August, the South Carolina native would posted a .260 average with a homer and 11 RBI in 27 contests. Prior to the end of the season, I chatted with Stokes, a University of South Carolina product, about his transition to the minor leagues, his draft experience and more.  Read ahead for that interview. -What experiences did you have prior to the draft that prepared you most for playing pro ball? I think playing in the ACC in that conf...

Matt Vierling, image- Jay Floyd Outfielder Matt Vierling was a key mid-season addition to the Lakewood BlueClaws lineup that made it to the Class A South Atlantic League finals.  In 50 games, the 22-year-old posted a .293 batting average with 15 doubles, six homers and 25 RBI. A 5th round draft selection this year by the Phillies out of Notre Dame, Vierling posted a .420/.453/.580 slash line in 12 games with short-season Class A Williamsport prior to joining the BlueClaws. Earlier this month, I talked with Vierling, a Missouri native, about his transition from college ball to the minors, heading the the fall instructional league, experiencing New Jersey for the first time and plenty more.  Read ahead for that full interview.  -What experiences did you have prior to the draft that prepared you for pro baseball? Well, going through college at Notre Dame, there's a lot of things in college with the academics and everything and the baseball, playing in a toug...

Seth McGarry, image- Jay Floyd Righty reliever Seth McGarry joined the Phillies last year as part of a trade that sent pitcher Joaquin Beniot to the Pirates.  Since joining the Phillies organization, the 24-year-old has been a contributor on the field and behind the scenes. McGarry, who was an 8th round draft selection in 2015 out of Florida Atlantic, had a solid 2018 campaign with the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils.  In 45 appearances the six-foot 180-pounder posted a 2-4 record with four saves, a 3.99 ERA, a .238 batting average against and an 8.6 K/9 mark. Prior to the end of the regular season, I talked to McGarry about his pitch repertoire, his upcoming assignment to the prestigious Arizona Fall League, helping teammates in the Phils organization improve their offerings and plenty more.  Read ahead for my full interview with Seth. -I hear good things about you.  That you're a helper and an educator and you share grips and pitches with other guys t...

Spencer Howard, image- Jay Floyd LAKEWOOD, NJ- Only one team can with the last game and unfortunately it wasn't the home club at FirstEnergy Park on Friday night as the Lexington Legends (Royals affiliate) nabbed a 2-1 victory and, in the process, their second Class A South Altantic League championship. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th, the Lakewood BlueClaws failed to plate a run and fell in the best-of-five series, three games to one. Lakewood's lone run came in the 6th inning on a Jhailyn Ortiz RBI single.  Manager Marty Malloy waved another runner home that was gunned down at the plate. Lexington took the lead back in the top of the 9th on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Cristian Perez, who doubled in the Legend's first run in the 5th.  The sac fly brought home left fielder Brewer Hicklen, who beat a close play at the plate. "We had two plays at the plate, one was our guy being out and the other was their guy being safe and that was the dif...

LAKEWOOD, NJ- The Class A Lakewood BlueClaws fell behind early and could not mount a comeback as they fell in game three by a score of 6-3.  The 'Claws not trail the South Atlantic League Championship Series two games to one in the best of five series and will need wins in the next two games of the series or Lexington will prevail as the league champions. On a night when a steady mist kept the grass and the baseballs damp, the BlueClaws struggled in the field.  Five Lakewood errors helped Lexington amass their run total. The 'Claws added a balk, two wild pitches and a passed ball to its collection of miscues on the losing effort. BlueClaws skipper Marty Malloy expressed frustration with his team following the defeat. "Obviously, we're not happy with the way we played.  It was a sloppy game," Malloy said in his office after a meeting with the team's coaching staff.  "It's not something that we've done very often this year.  It was very ...

Aaron Brown, image- Jay Floyd Aaron Brown was a two-way player at Pepperdine, standing out both as an outfielder as well as a pitcher.  The Phillies' 3rd round draft selection in 2014 was slated to play exclusively on the offensive side after signing that year.  After reaching the Double-A level and seeing his batting average come in under .225, he was switched back to the pitching role last year. During the final week of the 2018 season, I talked with the 26-year-old left-hander about the transition and his first full year pitching in the professional ranks. Read ahead for my exclusive interview with Aaron. -It’s been more than a year since your transition from outfielder to pitcher took place. Talk about the past year with the move that you made. Honestly, it was a big opportunity for me to make that transition at the time and I just took full advantage of it. It was towards the end of the year last year. I started my pitching program June 2nd, I believe,...

The Comeback 'Claws were not able to match their tremendous resilience of one night prior when they fell to Lexington in game two of the South Atlantic League finals. It was familiar territory as the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws trailed their opponent by a score of 5-0 in the late innings.  Much like Monday's affair that saw Lakewood pound three straight ninth inning homers to climb back into that contest, they got their scoring started on Tuesday with a Rodolfo Duran roundtripper. That blast came in the 8th inning in game two, but those were the only runs that crossed the plate for the visitors and they fell to the Legends by a final of 5-2.  BlueClaws starting pitcher Kyle Young tossed four innings, allowing a pair of earned runs while striking out two and issuing two walks to take the loss.  Reliever Julian Garcia was tagged for three earned runs over 2 2/3 innings.  James McArthur, this year's 12th round draft pick by the Phillies, went 1 1/3 innings w...

Austin Listi, image- Jay Floyd On Monday the Phillies announced that outfielder/first baseman Austin Listi and starting pitcher David Parkinson have been named the organizations top minor league performers and earned this year's Paul Owens Award. Instituted in 1986, the Paul Owens Award is named after the man who spent 48 years in the Phillies organization as a scout, farm director, general manager, manager and senior advisor. The award is given to the organization's most outstanding minor league position player and most outstanding minor league pitcher each season. Listi, 24, was a 17th round draft selection last year out of Dallas Baptist. This year, in his first full season as a pro, the righty batter opened the campaign with Class A Advanced Clearwater. In 58 games with the Threshers, Listi tallied a .344 average with nine home runs and 45 RBI. Promoted to Double-A Reading in mid-June, List would notch a .281 average with nine home runs and 39 RBI in 65 game...

On Monday night in Lexington, Lakewood had mustered just a lone hit entering the ninth inning and trailed 5-0.  Five straight hits, three of them consecutive home runs, tied the game, buying the visitors new life and the chance they needed to lock down an extra-inning victory and take charge in the best-of-five South Atlantic League Championship Series. With the game on the line, the BlueClaws' power (the club's 95 regular season home runs were the largest single season total in team history) was on display in the top of the 9th Following base hits from pinch hitter Josh Stephen and first baseman Jake Scheiner, catcher Rodolfo Duran mashed a deep fly ball for a three run homer that put the BlueClaws within two runs at 5-3.  Slugging right fielder Jhailyn Ortiz then slammed a fly ball the opposite way that hit near the right field foul pole for a round tripper.  Then a third straight big fly from shortstop Nick Maton tied the contest at 5-5. Madison Stokes, i...