[caption id="attachment_85161" align="alignright" width="300"] Larry Shenk is the longtime Philadelphia Phillies official historian, and brought his Minor League Report and other historic pieces to Phillies Nation beginning in 2019.[/caption] Phillies Nation has been honored to have Larry Shenk join the ranks of our regular contributors in this 2019 season. “The Baron” is the former Philadelphia Phillies head of community relations, a role in which he served the organization for more than four decades. Larry is also a 2018 inductee to the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame. In addition to the Phillies alumni and history work which Larry shares with readers here at Phillies Nation, his “Minor League Report” appears on an almost daily basis during the season. ____________________________________________ Players of the Week (July 22–28) Player — C Juan Aparicio, Williamsport… The 19-year-old posted a .556/.600/.778 slash line, going 10-for-18 with two doubles, one triple, four RBI and four runs scored in five games. He has hit safely in six straight games, including five multi-hit performances during that stretch. In 32 games with Williamsport this season, he is batting a league-leading .374 with a 1.016 OPS. The Venezuela native was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in July 2016. Pitcher — LHP JoJo Romero, Lehigh Valley… Romero, 22, posted a 1.64 ERA (2 ER, 11.0 IP) over two starts (one with double-A Reading and one with triple-A Lehigh Valley). He allowed just eight hits and struck out 12 batters during the week. Since June 27, he has posted a 2.03 ERA (7 ER, 31.0 IP) over six starts (five with Reading and one with Lehigh Valley). The California native was selected by the Phillies in the fourth round of the June 2016 draft out of Yavapai College (AZ). ____________________________________________ Lehigh Valley, International League North Division **IronPigs (51–55) were defeated by Pawtucket, 7–3, before a sold-out Coca-Cola Park (10,100) for the 11:35 morning game. Red Sox swept the 2-game series . . . Buffalo Bisons follow for another 2-game set. First game, 7:05 tonight. Hitting: C Rob Brantly, 3–4, run, HR (5), RBI . . . RF Ali Castillo, 0–3, ending his 12-game hitting streak . . . Pigs were held to 5 hits after collecting 36 in two previous games. Pitching: Starter Damon Jones, 5–4–3–3–2–2, HR, 2 hit batters, pick off at 1B . . . LP: Connor Brogdon (1–1, 4–2 overall), 1.1–2–2–2–1–2, HR . . . Tom Windle, 1.2–0–0–0–0–2 . . . D.J. Hammer, 1–3–2–2–0–2, HR. ____________________________________________ Reading, Eastern League Eastern Division [39–28, 2nd place, 1st half] **Fightin Phils (24–18) were defeated by the Baysox at home for the second straight game, 6–5. Fightins left a runner on third base with 2 out in the eighth and ninth innings . . . Reading will try to salvage a win in the series finale, 7 o’clock tonight . . . Lead second-place Binghamton by 3.5 games in second-half race. Hitting: Reading had more hits, 10–8, but left more runners on base, 12–4 . . . RF Mickey Moniak, 2–5, run, stolen base . . . 1B Darick Hall, 2–2, 3 walks, double, RBI . . . DH Alec Bohm, 1–4, walk, run, HR (8, 15 overall), RBI . . . Hall leads EL in doubles (31), RBI (64), total bases (180); second in home runs, 20–19. Pitching: LP: Jose Taveras (3–1, 4–3 overall), 5.2–6–4–3–2–1 . . . Aaron Brown, 1.1–2–2–2–2–2 . . . Grant Dyer, 1–0–0–0–0–0. ____________________________________________ Clearwater, Florida State League North Division [36–30, 2nd place, 1st half] **Threshers (19–22) were shut out for the seventh time in July, the third straight game by the Florida Fire Frogs. This time, 2–0, in Kissimmee. Previous 2 were at Spectrum Field earlier this month . . . Teams meet again at 6 o’clock tonight. Hitting: Held to singles by DH Dalton Guthrie, Madison Stokes and Simon Muzziotti. Pitching: Jerad Eickhoff started on a rehab assignment, 2–2–0–0–0–2 . . . Oscar Marcelino, 1–1–0–0–2–2 . . . Jack Perkins in Clearwater debut, 4–0–0–0–2–4 . . . LP: Keylan Killgore (1–3), 1–1–2–2–2–1. ____________________________________________ Lakewood, South Atlantic League North Division [29–41, 1st half] **BlueClaws (16–20) had a 755-mile bus ride from Lakewood to Augusta, GA . . . Three-game series with GreenJackets starts at 7:05 tonight. ____________________________________________ Williamsport, New York-Penn League Pinckney Division **Crosscutters (14–29) dropped a 6–5 decision when the Connecticut Tigers scored 2 runs in B8. Eighth straight loss in Norwich . . . Game 2 in the series, 7:05 tonight. Hitting: 2B Kendall Simmons, 2–3, stolen base . . . SS Nate Fassnacht, 2–4, RBI . . . C Logan O’Hoppe’s 10-game hitting streak ended. Pitching: Starter, Hsin-Chieh Lin, 3.2–1–1–1–4–3, HR, 2 wild pitches . . . Jose Conopoima, 3.1–3–0–0–0–1 . . . LP: Brian Marconi (0–3), .1–3–2–2–1–0. ____________________________________________ Gulf Coast League (Phillies have 2 teams, both in the North Division) **Phillies West (16–10). Edged Blue Jays, 2–1, on a walk-off balk at Carpenter Complex . . . 3B Edgar Made, 2–5, winning run. 1B Rixon Wingrove, 2–3, 2 walks, double, triple, run. DH Juan Carlos Smith, 2–4, double . . . Starter Daniel Vilchez, 4–2–1–1–0–3. Four relievers followed with 6 scoreless innings. WP: Fernando Lozano (2–0) . . . Tied for first with Tigers West . . . Today: Day off. Phillies East (13–11). Blanked, 6–0, on 3 hits by second-place Tigers West in Lakeland . . . 17-year-old Starlyn Castillo started and was the loser (0–1), 2–1–1–1–0–2. Of the 5 pitchers that followed, 3 tossed scoreless baseball, Andy Reyes, Engel Estevez, Juan Geraldo, each 19 years of age . . . Today: Yankees East in Tampa, 12 noon. ____________________________________________ Transactions **Lehigh Valley: 1B Logan Morrison, activated from the IL. **Reading: RHP Jose Taveras, assigned from Lehigh Valley. C Jack Conley, assigned from Clearwater. **Clearwater: C Rafael Marchan, assigned from Lakewood. RHP Jack Perkins, assigned from Lakewood. **Lakewood: C Juan Aparicio, assigned from Williamsport. **Williamsport: C Mitchell Edwards, assigned from GCL. (Transactions, courtesy phuturephillies.com and Steve Potter) ____________________________________________ LARRY SHENK IS AUTHOR/EDITOR OF THE PHILLIES.COM ALUMNI SECTION AND PROVIDES REGULAR MINOR LEAGUE REPORT PIECES FROM HIS PHILLIES INSIDER BLOG. PHILLIES INSIDER PIECES RE-PRINTED AT PHILLIES NATION BY PERMISSION OF LARRY SHENK. PHILLIES ALUMNI PIECES WITH HIS PERMISSION ALONG WITH APPROVAL FROM MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL AND THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES.