Phillies Nation

After a lengthy career in the minors, Mike Costanzo, who was a promising young third baseman in the Phillies system several years back, is finally living his dream of playing big league baseball. The life-long Philadelphia sports fan and resident of the city’s suburbs, was selected in the 2nd round of the 2005 MLB amateur draft by his hometown club, but struggled in recent years and, to some, looked to be a bust.

Following a few productive years in the Phillies’ developmental ranks, Costanzo was traded to Houston, along with Michael Bourn and Geoff Geary, for Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett following the 2007 season. That year, his second full season as a pro, Costanzo batted .270 while lacing 27 homers and driving in 86 runs for the Reading Phillies. Costanzo was then flipped in another deal, during the same off-season, to the Orioles for All-Star Miguel Tejada.

The road to the big leagues was a long one for the determined Costanzo. After his impressive season at Double-A in 2007, his production faltered. As he took a step upward to Triple-A in 2008, Costanzo struggled and saw his OPS dip 130 points from the previous season. The following year, Costanzo split time between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, posting improved numbers, but Baltimore didn’t see big league potential in the 6-foor-3-inch 215-pounder and he did not return to the organization the following season. Continue reading Former Phils Prospect Costanzo Living Big League Dream

Once again, the weekly minor league wrap up is back, taking a look at each of the Phillies’ four full season minor league clubs.  This time around, we’ll take a look at the hot and cold lists from each team.

Class A Lakewood BlueClaws 15-25, 6th place out of 7 (14.5 GB) in South Atlantic League Northern Division.

Who’s hot-

1st baseman/3rd baseman Harold Martinez (pictured left), through action on Saturday, has strung together a stretch of 7 games where he has gone 10-for-24 (.417 avg) to boost his season batting average 58 points. Martinez, 22, was the Phillies’ 2nd round draft selection out of the University of Miami last year.

Right-handed reliever Matt Campbell has been a solid contributor out of the Lakewood bullpen. Since joining the club in late April, the 24th round draft pick from last season has a 1-1 record with 2 saves and a 1.46 ERA while striking out 12 batters in 12 1/3 innings pitched. Campbell has thrown more than 1 inning in 5 of 6 of his outings. Additionally, the Florida native has held opponents to a .163 batting average.

Who’s not-

Infielder Stephen Malcolm, has gone 2-for-18 (.111 avg) through his first 7 games of Class A ball since joining the BlueClaws last weekend. The 22-year-old missed all of last season due to disciplinary issues. Malcolm was an 8th round draft choice in 2010.

Outfielder Brian Pointer, who was among the Phillies’ top minor league performers in April, with a .295 batting average, 5 HR, 19 RBI and a .964 OPS, has really struggled in May. The lefty hitting 20-year-old has posted a .140 batting average with 0 HR and just 1 RBI and a .479 OPS in 15 May games. Continue reading Weekly Minor League Wrap Up, 5/20/12

Last year’s 2nd round draft pick of the Phillies, Harold Martinez has begun to get hot after a bit of a slow start to his 2012 regular season.

After beginning the season rehabbing his injured left hand and playing some games in extended spring training, Harold joined the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws on April 24th.  Through his first 16 games with Lakewood, Martinez was batting .213, but after a hot week, the Cuban born first baseman/third baseman has his average up to .272 against South Atlantic League pitching.

The 22-year-old righty hitter came over to the United States at a young age and has dreamed of playing professional baseball ever since.

Last year, in his first season of pro ball, Martinez, a University of Miami product, sported a .251 batting average with 2 homers and 31 RBI in 67 games for the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters of the NY-Penn League.

Recently, I spoke with Harold about his draft experience, his journey from Cuba to the U.S., playing for Lakewood and plenty more.  Check out the media player below to hear the full interview.

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Jay Floyd is PhilliesNation’s minor league insider.  You can check out more from Jay by visiting his site, PhoulBallz.com.

Mike Fontenot, who was signed by the Phillies last month as a free agent after being released by San Francisco late in spring training, has been performing quite well to the tune of a .308 batting average with 5 doubles and 6 RBI in a dozen games at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.  Meanwhile, the Philadelphia offense has struggled considerably, as they tallied the 3rd lowest OPS in the National League entering action on Monday.Change is needed and the team clearly realizes it. Manager Charlie Manuel has used 25 different lineups in 30 games this season.  None have clicked particularly well.

Fontenot, 31, is a career .263 hitter in six big league seasons.  The lefty hitting former 1st round draft pick of the Orioles (2001) had the most successful season of his career in 2009 with the Cubs, when he mashed 9 homeruns and drove in 43 runs in 135 games.

On the defensive side, Fontenot has played 286 games at 2nd base, 50 games at shortstop and 77 games at 3rd base in the Majors.  The Louisiana State product also has a .976 fielding percentage in his career. Continue reading Time For Fontenot?

Back with the Lakewood BlueClaws this season, Aaron Altherr is proving that he belongs in the Class A South Atlantic League.  Through 41 games with Lakewood last season, the Phillies’ 9th round draft selection from 2009 posted a .211 batting average with 6 doubles, 1 HR, 15 RBI and 12 steals.  He was then demoted to short-season Williamsport.  Thus far in 2012, through 27 games, the 21-year-old is sporting a .292 batting average with 5 doubles, 2 triples, 2 HR, 14 RBI and 10 stolen bases.

Ranked over the off-season as PhilliesNation’s #25 prospect, and even higher by some other outlets, Altherr has certainly shown flashes of serious skill and earned recognition for his tools on the field.

Recently, I spoke with Aaron about his improvements this year, his manager Mickey Morandini and more.  Check out the media player below to hear that full interview.

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Jay Floyd is PhilliesNation’s minor league insider.  You can check out more from Jay by visiting his site, PhoulBallz.com.

The term prospect is typically reserved for younger players who display considerable talent in the minor leagues and tends to skip those players that might be of a more advanced age.  The omission associated with the way older players can be overlooked doesn’t bother 25-year-old Reading Phillies first baseman Darin Ruf, who has developed into an impact player and has proven to be his team’s standout offensive star.

Through 26 games for the R-Phils in the Double-A Eastern League, Ruf has posted impressive numbers, tallying a .362 batting average with 2 homeruns, 11 RBI and 15 runs scored.

A 20th round draft pick by the Phillies in 2009, Ruf has steadily progressed upward in the developmental system during his time as a pro, having made stops in the rookie level Gulf Coast League, Class A Lakewood, Class A Advanced Clearwater and now with Reading.

A solid performer at the plate last year with a .308 average, 17 HR and 82 RBI with Clearwater in the Florida State League, Ruf credits his time playing as a member of the Scottsdale Scorpions last autumn with benefiting his offensive development.

“I think a lot of my success can be attributed to my time in the Arizona Fall League.  I got a lot of good learning in, out there.  I got to pick the brains of some different coaches and some of the players…guys that have had success at the big league level and everything like that,” Ruf stated. Continue reading R-Phils’ Ruf Focused on Performance, Not Obstacles

Drafted in the 11th round last year out of West Boca Raton Community High School, shortstop Tyler Greene wasted no time signing with the Phillies, to begin his pro career. The righty hitting 19-year-old has been praised by those within the system for his athleticism and his quick bat.

In his first pro season in 2011, Greene posted a .276 batting average with 6 doubles, 4 RBI and 5 steals in 17 games for the Gulf Coast League Phillies.

Through 10 games this season with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, Greene is sporting a .206 average with 4 doubles, a homer and 4 RBI.

Recently, I spoke with Tyler about being drafted last year, about his manager Mickey Morandini, about the other Tyler Greene’s and more. Check out the media player below to listen to the full interview.

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Jay Floyd is PhilliesNation’s minor league insider. You can check out more from Jay by visiting his site, PhoulBallz.com.

As right-handed reliever Justin De Fratus recovers from an elbow ailment that kept him out of action throughout all of spring training, the California native has been checking in, on a regular basis, and providing exclusive updates directly to the fans right here on PhilliesNation.com.

The 24-year-old reliever went 6-3 with 15 saves, a 2.99 ERA and 99 strike outs in 75 1/3 innings in his time with Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley last year before making his Major League debut in September and holding opponents to a .083 batting average in 5 appearances. Heading forward, De Fratus, who was ranked 5th on the 2012 PhilliesNation.com prospect rankings, hopes to be an impact contributor in the Phillies bullpen for years to come.

For Justin’s most recent thoughts on his progression to full health, Phils’ rookie infielder Freddy Galvis and more, read ahead and step inside the J-Bone Zone…

On his progress and what the next steps will be-

Everything’s been great. The ball’s coming out of my hand really well and I’m going to have my first live B.P. session (on Friday) and we’ll see where it goes from there. I mean I feel great and I expect to be back pretty soon.

The plan is still that I’ll pitch a couple games with the extended spring training team and then maybe a couple with Clearwater and then hopefully, after that, that’s when I’ll be good to go. Continue reading De Fratus Checks In: Progress, Galvis & Rookie Cards

Michael Taylor has been gone from the Phillies organization since December, 2009, when he was included in a package of players that was sent to Toronto for ace hurler Roy Halladay. Taylor was quickly flipped to Oakland in a separate trade and has had a tough time reaching and staying in the big leagues ever since.

The 6-foot-5-inch 255-pound outfielder has been mashing opposing pitching in the early going this season, to the tune of a .452 batting average, through 7 games with Triple-A Sacramento. With 6 doubles, a homerun and a league leading 11 RBI, Taylor has helped lead the River Cats to a 6-1 record.

Taylor, a Stanford graduate who spent this past off-season interning at a radio station in San Francisco, was the Phillies 5th round draft choice in 2007.

Over the past two seasons in the Pacific Coast League, Taylor has batted .272 with 22 homers and 142 RBI in 220 games. Continue reading Former Phils Prospect Taylor Heating Up PCL

The big league Phillies weren’t the only ball players kicking off their 2012 campaign on Thursday. Here’s a glance how the Phillies’ minor league clubs and their players did on opening day…

In a rain-shortened 8 inning affair, the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws dropped their South Atlantic League season opener by a score of 4-2 against the Red Sox affiliate Greenville Drive. Lefty hurler Lino Martinez got the start on the mound and allowed 1 earned run in 5 2/3 innings while striking out 4 and walking none. Righty reliever Gabriel Arias took the loss, allowing 3 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. On the offensive side, Kelly Dugan, the Phillies’ top draft pick from 2009, notched 2 hits in his full season Class A debut. Third baseman Maikel Franco (pictured, right) went hitless in 4 at bats, lowering his batting average in the SAL to .116 in 19 games, including time spent with Lakewood last year.

The Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers fell to Dunedin (Toronto affiliate), 6-3. Phils hurler Jose Contreras, on the disabled list with arm trouble, appeared in a rehab start in this contest, but got taken deep for a 2-run HR by Blue Jays’ clean up hitter Marcus Knecht and threw 2 wild pitches en route to allowing 3 earned runs in 1/3 of an inning. The poor outing to kick off the game was enough to earn Contreras the loss. Continue reading 2012 Minor League Opening Day Review