Improving Defense Long Term

The Phillies’ offense and pitching has been a focal point of discussion from spring training to this point as the club continues to near the trade deadline where the obvious decision to sell should be made by GM Ruben Amaro and team ownership.  Philadelphia’s offense ranked eighth worse in the league at 3.86 runs per … Read more

The Past Week in Observations (Twitter Edition)

I could tell you a bunch of box score scouting tidbits about what each player is doing, but you can do that on your own.  So rather than that, here are some tweets by guys watching the players.  They can tell you a lot more than me paraphrasing their work. Miguel Nunez (Clearwater) Miguel Nunez … Read more

J.P. Crawford and Maikel Franco selected for the Futures Game

MLB has announced that Clearwater shortstop, and Phillies 2013 1st Round Pick J.P. Crawford and Lehigh Valley 1B/3B Maikel Franco will be representing the Phillies at the Futures Game.  Crawford will be joining Dodgers shortstop prospect Corey Seager as the shortstops on the American team.  Crawford hit .295/.398/.405 in 60 games for the Lakewood Blueclaws … Read more

Phillies Midseason Top 20 Prospects

Most of the draft picks are signed so it is time to revisit the preseason rankings.  It is still a small sample size, and an even smaller one for those newly drafted, so this list may be a bit conservative on any large scale changes.  In general the system is heading in the right direction, … Read more

Trusting the Phillies in Latin America

July 2 is coming up quickly, and frankly I can’t tell you who the Phillies are going to sign. I do know they have been linked to 3 players: a bat first catcher, a glove first shortstop, and a hit first SS, who is probably a center fielder. The bonuses should all be under $1 … Read more

Aaron Nola to Make Pro Debut and Other Weekend News

The big news coming out this weekend is that Phillies first round pick (#7 overall), Aaron Nola will make his pro debut with the Clearwater Threshers today.  On the mound Nola will bring a fastball that sits 91-94 but touches 96 when he needs it.  He has shown the ability to command the fastball around … Read more

GCL Phillies Roster Released

Today at 12:00pm Eastern, the GCL season begins.  It marks the start of summer and of hope eternal.  So with not much time to spare, lets jump into the roster. Pitchers: Francibel Alejo, Lewis Alezones, Austin Davis, Jacques Degruy, Seranthony Dominguez, Jared Fisher, Scott Harris, Matt Hockenberry, Matt Imhof, Denton Keys, Franklin Kilmone, Brandon Leibrandt, … Read more