PhoulBallz.com

Matt Vierling, image- Jay Floyd I invite you to check out my Patreon page , where you can read exclusive interviews and get early access to other posts, news and information from the Phillies minor league levels. Phillies prospect Matt Vierling was among the minor leaguers that participated in this year's Florida Instructional League, which an annual series of exhibitions and training with team coaches. While there, Vierling, an outfielder, got a chance to add first base to his skill set.   In two pro seasons in his career, the 5th round draft choice out of Notre Dame in 2018 sports a .263 average with 12 HR, 72 RBI and 29 stolen bases.  He spent the 2019 campaign with Class A Advanced Clearwater and likely would have opened this year with Double-A Reading if the season had taken place. Recently, I talked with Matt about his time at Instructs, trying first base, how his family has done in the face of the pandemic and more.  Read ahead for that interview.   -Wh...

Cornelius Randolph, image- Jay Floyd On Sunday, the Adelaide Giants of the Australian Baseball League announced that Phillies outfield prospect Cornelius Randolph will be part of their team for the coming season. Supporters of my Patreon site were aware of that news nine days ago.   The 23-year-old Georgia native was the Phils' first round draft selection in 2015.  In his five minor league seasons, Randolph sports a .255 batting average with 31 home runs, 190 RBI and a .719 OPS.   Randolph's 2018 and 2019 seasons were spent playing for Double-A Reading. Randolph will join several other Phils prospects on the Giants roster this coming season, including native Australians Rixon Wingrove and Mitchell Edwards as well as New Zealander Kyle Glogoski .  A list of seven other American Phillies prospects set to be part of the Adelaide roster is available by supporting my work over at Patreon.com/PhoulBallz .   Also available on the Patreon page is a r...

Dom Pipkin, image- Jay Floyd Righty pitcher Dominic Pipkin spent the 2019 season with the Class A BlueClaws.  In 24 appearances he tallied a 3-4 record with a 5.15 ERA, a 1.62 WHIP along with a .261 batting average against. Pipkin was a 9th round draft selection in 2018 and is among the organization's most promising hurlers. This week I spoke with the 21-year-old (his birthday is today!) California native about his time at Fall Instructs and more.  Read ahead for that interview. -What can you share about the benefits of Fall Instructs this year following a cancelled regular season?   Instructs after a cancelled season allowed the few players that went to  get live reps in after 6 months of nothing, it was good to get the rust  off and feel that first inning jitter again. -Did you or other players there go harder during your month at Instructs as opposed to a regular fall exhibition schedule that follows an action-packed regular season? We definitely tried a li...

In news that likely surprised nobody, Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday that Phillies first baseman/third baseman Alec Bohm is among the finalists for this year's National League Rookie of the Year Award.   Bohm, who entered the 2020 season as the Phillies top-ranked offensive prospect, performed extremely well following his promotion to the big league's from the club's alternate training site.  In 44 games the 24-year-old tallied a .338 batting average with four home runs and 23 RBI.  The average and RBI total ranked first among all NL rookies, as did his on base percentage (.400), slugging percentage (.481) and hits total (54).   Impressive in clutch situations, Bohm notched a .452 batting average with runners in scoring position, which was best in baseball.  Even more outstanding, the talented youngster struck out just four times in those situations. The six-foot-five 225 pounder was the Phils' first round draft selection out of Wichita S...

The BlueClaws has long claimed to be the Jersey Shore's baseball team and on Wednesday they made it official, as the Phillies' Class A affiliate re-branded itself.  Changing their name from the Lakewood BlueClaws to the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, the team made the announcement at Asbury Park's Convention Hall. Per a release from the team: "This is truly a banner day for the BlueClaws and the Jersey Shore,” said Art Matin, managing partner of Shore Town Baseball, the partnership that operates the BlueClaws. “Shore Town Baseball has added a mini golf course, boardwalk game area, and Biergarten to FirstEnergy Park over the last several seasons to help bring the ‘Shore feeling’ to the ballpark. The Jersey Shore BlueClaws is the natural next step. We couldn’t be more excited.” While the club keeps its nickname of the BlueClaws, they unveiled new logos, updated caps and a fresh home uniform . Image via BlueClaws Ironically, I have talked to many players over the years tha...

Connor Hinchliffe, image- GoExplorers.com I invite you to check out my Patreon page , where you can read exclusive interviews and get early access to other posts, news and information from the Phillies minor league levels. Promising pitcher Connor Hinchliffe took time to answer questions for me recently, providing insight on how he has dealt with missing the full 2020 season due to the global coronavirus pandemic.  While I was interacting with the Pottsville, PA native, he also responded to some non-baseball related inquiries, answering Nine Silly-ass Questions for me. Signed as an undrafted free agent last year out of LaSalle, Hinchliffe was assigned to the Rookie level Gulf Coast League where, in 16 outings, the right-hander posted a 1-1 record, a save, a 1.82 ERA, a .163 batting average against along with a 1.26 WHIP. Read ahead for my latest interview with Connor as we talk hard-hitting topics such as Star Wars, Halloween costumes and music! -Who is your favorite non-basebal...

Subscribers of my Patreon site have gotten some details from the Phillies' Fall Instructs in recent days.   The Florida Instructional League is an annual month-long off-season combine that will feature workouts as well as practices and regularly pits players from different organizations against one another in exhibition games.  This year's version in a pandemic impacted world won't see different teams facing one another, but the Phillies' players will see exhibition competition, as the organization is slated to have some intrasquad games in the coming weeks. Players that are currently in Clearwater, FL seeing some long overdue time on the field include this year's first round draft selection Mick Abel.  The high school hurler inked a deal for over $4 million dollars after  being taken with the 15th overall pick in June. Francisco Morales, image- Jay Floyd Highly touted Venezuelan pitcher Francisco Morales is also in attendance.  The 20-year-old right-han...

LaSalle University product Connor Hinchliffe was a noteworthy acquisition in the Phillies' developmental ranks last year when he posted standout numbers after signing as an undrafted free agent.   In 16 appearances in the Rookie level Gulf Coast League last year, the right-hander notched a 1-1 record, a save, a 1.82 ERA, a .163 batting average against as well as a 1.26 WHIP. Last week I talked with Connor, who is not in attendance for the Phils' Fall Instructional League in Florida, about missing an entire year of competing, how he's staying in shape and more.  Read ahead for that interview.   -How has the year been for you?  Staying healthy?   My year has been great despite everything going on.  Feeling great.   -Have you been able to find any silver lining in this missed 2020 season? COVID has impacted the lives of many since its arrival. For myself, it meant a lost year of playing time with the Phillies. While it is true I won’t get this year back...

The Phillies enter the final weekend of the regular season clinging to postseason hopes as they travel to St. Petersburg to take on the American League East Division champion Rays in a three-game set. Losers of six of their last 10 games, the Phillies urgently need wins in order to qualify for the expanded 16-team playoff format.  The enter the weekend 1/2 game behind Miami for second place in the National League East and they trail San Francisco by 1/2 game for the last NL Wild Card spot.    Read ahead for a rundown of the pitching match ups and other key statistics for this series. Friday, 6:40pm.  Vince Velasquez (1-1, 5.46 ERA) vs. Charlie Morton (2-2, 4.64 ERA).   Velasquez notched a win in his last outing against the Blue Jays, going six innings while allowing one earned run on two hits.  Velasquez is averaging 12.1 K/9 in eight appearances this season.  Velasquez has allowed eight earned runs in 8 2/3 innings on the road this season....

Rafael Marchan, image- Jay Floyd With an injury to J.T. Realmuto , the Phillies were forced to call up a promising young prospect to fill a void on the big league roster.   In his big league debut on Monday at Miami, Rafael Marchan went 1-for-3, as he singled in his first at bat to notch his first hit in the majors. Marchan, 21, was ranked at the Phils' number 16 prospect heading into the 2020 season.    Signed in the same off-season that the Phils dished out a $4 million signing bonus to outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz, Marchan inked a deal for a reported bargain price of $200,000, as a 16-year-old in 2015. Last year, Marchan, a native of Venezuela, played much of the season with Class A Lakewood.  In 63 games, he tallied a .271 batting average with 16 doubles and 20 RBI.  He would miss a few weeks with an injury in May, but bounced back to complete the season, earning a promotion to Class A Advanced Clearwater at the end of July. Wrapping up his 201...

Much is being made of the Phillies' upcoming seven-game series at Miami.  A potentially season-defining weekend that will feature two separate double-headers pit the Phils (21-18) against their pesky division rival, the germ sharing Marlins (19-19). The teams will meet for a lengthy series due to both clubs missing considerable time after the Marlins dealt with a coronavirus outbreak when the season got underway in July and the Phillies were the last team they faced.   If the Phillies can't secure a series win against a Marlins team that is in the midst of a rebuild, media types and baseball fans alike have been critical in stating that the big-budget Phils (2020 team salary was slated to be 6th highest in the big leagues while Miami was set to be fourth lowest) likely won't have a place in the postseason.   Read ahead for a rundown of the pitching match ups as well as some key statistics from this series.  Thursday, 6:40pm.  Jake Arrieta (3-4, ...

The complete version of this post is available over on Patreon.com/PhoulBallz . Recently, I wrote a feature on promising Phillies minor leaguer  Tyler  Burch  and his diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes.  The righty pitcher was an  undrafted free agent signing last year.  To date in 12 professional appearances the 22-year-old holds a 4-1 record with a 1.51 ERA and an 8.6 K/9 mark.   Included below are some excerpts from my  discussion with Tyler in which he offers his thoughts on his own  pitching repertoire, minor league teammates Logan  O'Hoppe and Albertus  Barber , college pal Connor Brogdon and more. Chatting about developing his pitch repertoire from college to the minors... I throw a  four-seam, two-seam, slider, change up.  It's kind of a slurve, it's not  a true slider, but it has a little depth in it. It was more so tweaking my grips to make them more effective.  Hector Berios, the  pitching coac...