Forgot to pass this along yesterday but if you were looking for the rosters for the upcoming Florida Instructional League, Larry Shenk from the Phillies (read his blog here) sent these over.

Coordinators: Mike Compton, field; Gorman Heimueller, pitching; Steve Henderson, hitting; Doug Mansolino, infield.

Staff: Mickey Morandini, manager; Frank Cacciatore, hitting; Carlos Arroyo, pitching; Les Lancaster, pitching; Mark Parent, instructor; Dusty Wathan, instructor and Brett Gross, video rep

Pitchers: Gabriel Arias, Jesse Biddle, James Birmingham, Lisalberto Bonilla, Ranfi Casimiro, Lendy Castillo, Brody Colvin, J. Dygestile-Therrien, Percival Garner, Ken Giles, Steven Inch, Ulises Joaquin, Jay Johnson, Colin Kleven, Ervis Manzanillo, Lino Martinez, Adam Morgan, Hector Neris, Ramon Oviedo, J. C. Ramirez, Yacksel Rios, Braden Shull, Ethan Stewart, Joshua Warner, Austin Wright.

Catchers: Francisco Diaz, Logan Moore, Chase Numata, Cameron Rupp, Robert Stumpo.

Infielders: Cody Ashe, Albert Cartwright, Edgar Dugan, Maikel Franco, Gustavo Gonzalez, Tyler Grene, Cesar Hernandez, Harold Martinez, Roman Quinn, Brock Stassi, Alejandro Villalobos, Mitch Walding.

Outfielders Aaron Altherr, Zach Collier, Gauntlett Eldemire, Tyson Gillies, Larry Greene, Kyrell Hudson, Jonathan Knight, Brian Pointer, Carlos Tocci, Jiandido Tromp.

Bold means they played here this year.

Gillies missed the year with an injury and is tuning up for the Arizona Fall League. Jay Johnson will probably leave early to play for Team Canada. Tocci is a 16 year old from Venezuela who just signed for nice money.

Players reported yesterday. Games start on Monday and go through October 15th – Monday through Friday at 1 and Saturday at 10.

LHP Jay Johnson, who had five saves and a 2.94 ERA with the BlueClaws this year, will pitch for Team Canada in the upcoming IBAF World Cup and Pan-Am Games according to this article on the Canadian Baseball Network.

The IBAF World Cup will take place in Panama City from October 2-15 and the Pan-Am Games are in Guadalajara between October 19-26.

“JJ,” as he was called, is a side-armer from Sussex Corner, New Brunswick in Canada.

Here is a Get to Know piece we did in June on Johnson, who had previously been drafted by both the Orioles and Blue Jays but never signed. He tried out in Arizona for the Phillies in March and signed then, joining the BlueClaws in late-April.

In his first game, he faced four hitters, walked all four, and was removed, an inauspicious debut.

“I was excited, but I didn’t feel the ball that well for some reason. I don’t think I even got a two-strike count,” he joked about it months later.

He threw a scoreless inning the next day and from there was one of Lakewood’s most valuable relief pitchers.

Johnson played a little hockey but didn’t have easy access to a rink, and with an older brother that played baseball, that became his favorite sport. He went to a junior college in Canada and then Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas.

“That was prairies too but just not as many dust storms as West Texas in Lubbock,” he said.

After Texas Tech, with no place to play professionally at the time, he helped his father, a fisherman, on the water while working out to get ready.

Team Canada, we’ll note, is managed by Ernie Whitt, Phillies roving catching instructor. He also managed the team in both World Baseball Classics and the 2004 Olympics.

Good luck to Jay and Ernie.

BlueClaws manager Chris Truby wanted to write this thank you letter to all BlueClaws fans out there for their great support here in 2011.

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BlueClaws fans,

I just wanted to write this as a thank you to all of the great fans in Lakewood that we saw at the park this year.

Our players, coaches, our friends and our families are very grateful for all of the support we received throughout the year from the fans and the BlueClaws front office. I’ve been in professional baseball for almost 20 years and this is truly right there with any place I’ve ever played or coached.

The support that the fans gave to our team was phenomenal, from those cold nasty days in April right through the last game of the year on a perfect August evening.

Getting off the bus tired and then having 7,000 fans and a great ballpark atmosphere that night is not something that every player gets to experience in their minor league careers. I told our players throughout the season to be sure to enjoy that and remember it as they continue up the ladder.

I had a wonderful time this summer here in Lakewood, and as I said earlier, this was one of my most enjoyable seasons in baseball. I hope to see you again, whether it be in spring training or again here in 2012.

Thanks again for a great summer and thanks for your tremendous support.

See you at the ballpark,

Chris Truby

Manager, Lakewood BlueClaws

One to go in 2011 and it will determine if the BlueClaws, who enter at 68-68, finish with a winning or losing record this year. LHP Austin Wright, who has 30 strikeouts in his last 19 innings and fanned 10 over five shutout innings, is on the mound for Lakewood today, pending that big white thing on the ground.

Here are today’s game notes.

Need a Win…The BlueClaws need a win today to clinch a winning record for the 6th straight year…The BlueClaws had a winning record in 2004 and then from 2006 through 2010…It would be the seventh winning record in their 11th seasons of play…The BlueClaws, with Thursday’s win, locked up a winning record for the 11th half in their last 12, dating to the first half of the 2006 season.

In Labor…The BlueClaws are 4-2 on Labor Day over the last six years, including winning in each of the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

House of Horrors…The BlueClaws are 3-9 at Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown this year, losing three of four in April and June and three of the first four games of this series…The BlueClaws also went 3-9 in Greensboro’s NewBridge Bank Park this year, including a four-game sweep between August 10 and 13.

Sallymanders…In the Northern Division, Hickory (first-half champions) clinches the second half title with a win over Greenville OR a Kannapolis loss to Greensboro…IF Hickory wins the second half, Greensboro will be in the post-season with the next-best overall record…In the Southern Division, Savannah is the first half champion and will clinch the second half title with a win (in one of their two games vs Lexington) OR a loss by Augusta…If Savannah wins the division, then Greenville will make the playoffs with the next-best overall record.

Unfortunately, just two games left in the 2011 BlueClaws season, tonight and tomorrow afternoon in Hagerstown…Lakewood has lost 6-5 decisions each of the last two nights and still need one win in the last two games to clinch a winning record for the sixth straight season.

LHP Ervis Manzanillo opposes RHP AJ Cole, the Nationals’ 4th ranked prospect per Baseball America tonight. Here

Rupp-er-ific…Cameron Rupp has driven in nine runs over the last three games after driving in 34 runs over his first 91 games this year…Rupp’s five RBI game on Saturday was a career high and included his 4th home run of the season (first since July 29th)…Rupp is batting .323 in the second half after hitting .219 in the first half…He is the 4th BlueClaw to have a 5 RBI game this year (Batts, Mendez, Murphy – Murphy has a 6 RBI game). are the game notes.

Finish Strong…Anthony Hewitt is 19-55 (.345) since August 16th, when his average bottomed out at .227…Since then, he has raised his average to .242.

House of Horrors…The BlueClaws are 3-8 at Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown this year, losing three of four in April and June and two of the first three games of this series…The only park where the BlueClaws have a worse record is NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, where the BlueClaws went 3-9 in 2011, including a four-game sweep between August 10 and 13.

Sadly, there are just three games left in the BlueClaws 2011 season, with the first of those three coming tonight in Hagerstown. RHP Lisalberto Bonilla makes his final start of the season for Lakewood tonight against LHP Matt Grace.

Click here for today’s game notes.

House of Horrors…The BlueClaws are 3-7 at Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown this year, losing three of four in April and June and splitting the first two games of the current series…The only park where the BlueClaws have a worse record is NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, where the BlueClaws went 3-9 in 2011, including a four-game sweep between August 10 and 13.

Pick a Winner…With Thursday’s win, the BlueClaws have clinched a winning record for the 11th half in the last 12…They had a winning record for 10 straight halves snapped in the first half this year, when they went 33-35…The BlueClaws have had a winning record in each of the last five seasons and will extend that to six with one win in their final three games.

Billy Ball…OF Bill Rice is 30-90 since August 6th with eight multi-hit games in that stretch…He has led off and played left field for Lakewood every day since August 10th (22 games).

Hagerstown scored four runs in the bottom of the 8th inning tonight and beat the BlueClaws 6-5, officially eliminating the BlueClaws from post-season contention.

The reference above is to Pagliarulo, a member of the 1982 Greensboro Hornets, the last team (1980-82) to win three consecutive South Atlantic League titles.

If you were curious about those guys for whatever the reason, here is a blog post from March.

Phillies RHP Joe Blanton, who has been out since May 14th, will make a rehab appearance for the BlueClaws tonight in Hagerstown, his first rehab outing this year.

Blanton, you may remember, threw two 1-2-3 innings on April 20th for the BlueClaws last year. This is the seventh time a Phillies player has rehabbed this year with Lakewood and the BlueClaws are 6-0 in those games (1-0 with JC Romero, 2-0 with Shane Victorino and 3-0 with Brad Lidge)…Lakewood is 21-10 all-time with a Phillies rehab player, and this is believed to be the first time a Phillies player has rehabbed on the road.

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Lakewood scored 10 runs last night in a 10-1 win over Hagerstown. In the process, they scored the same amount of runs they scored in a five game series against Hickory over the weekend (1-4). They did it without cleanup hitter Jim Murphy, who was placed on the disabled list earlier in the day.

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Winner Winner…With last night’s win, the BlueClaws have clinched a winning record for the 11th half in the last 12…They had a winning record for 10 straight halves snapped in the first half this year, when they went 33-35…The BlueClaws have had a winning record in each of the last five seasons and will extend that to six with one win in their final four games.

Getting a Chance…With Jim Murphy sidelined (hand), Jeff Lanning made his first career start at first base (he played one game at third base with Beloit-Twins, Midwest League in 2009) and went 3-5 with his fifth home run of the season on Thursday night…Entering this series, Murphy had played first base in all but four BlueClaws games this year.

Carlos Crushing…Since starting 2-15 with the BlueClaws, Carlos Alonso is 45-128 (.351) and is 7-13 in his last four games…Since July 20th, he is batting .352 with an OPS of .952…In that stretch, he has walked 25 times and struck out just 11, while driving in 21 runs…Alonso was a 35th round pick last year from the University of Delaware.

Lendy Castillo will pitch for Lakewood after Blanton. Here are today’s game notes.

The BlueClaws have arrived in Hagerstown for a five-game series that could, perhaps will, conclude the season. Lakewood’s elimination number is one.

While yes, it says here that the elimination number is two, this does not account that the BlueClaws can’t break a tie with Hickory. So the BlueClaws have to finish ahead of the Crawdads, and the only way to do that is win out and have Hickory lose out (vs Greenville), hence the elimination number of one.

Click here for today’s game notes.

Garett Claypool comes off the disabled list (he last pitched on August 20th) to make the start. He has eight games this year in which he has thrown at least five innings and allowed zero or one earned run and not gotten the win.

The Hagerstown Series…The BlueClaws open a five-game series tonight in Hagerstown…Lakewood is 8-11 against the Suns this year, 3-4 in the second half, losing three of four between June 27th and 30th at Municipal Stadium and taking two of three in Lakewood from July 4-6…Zach Collier is hitting .364 (20-55) against Hagerstown this year…Hagerstown’s Blake Kelso is 22- 67 (.328).

State of the Clubs…Hagerstown has lost seven straight games, including five straight in Asheville, and they gave up 21, 15, and 12 runs on three straight days (Saturday through Monday)…In those seven games, the Suns have combined to allow 71 runs…Lakewood lost four of five to Hickory and scored a total of 10 runs in those games, failing to score more than three runs since last Thursday at Delmarva.

Roster Moves…BlueClaws 1B Jim Murphy has been placed on the disabled list (hand) and RHP Garett Claypool has been activated off the disabled list to start today…SS Edgar Duran was placed on the disabled list on Tuesday (broken finger) and IF Kenny Miramontes was transferred to Lakewood from Williamsport…Miramontes, who hit .226 with the Crosscutters, was signed as a non-drafted free agent from Faulkner University (AL).

* Murphy will finish the season with 22 home runs, tied with Juan Richardson (2001) for the single-season franchise record…Miramontes joined the BlueClaws on Tuesday.

LAKEWOOD, NJ – Two BlueClaws, left-handed pitcher Jesse Biddle and first baseman Jim Murphy, were named to the South Atlantic League All-Star team, it was announced Tuesday by league president Eric Krupa.

This marks the sixth straight year the BlueClaws have been represented after not having a representative on the post-season All-Star team for their first five years.

(Please note: stats through Monday)

Biddle, 19, is the league’s All-Star left-handed pitcher and is 7-8 with a 2.94 ERA, which ranks 4th best in the league this year. He also ranks 3rd in the league in strikeouts with 123. In the second half, Biddle is 4-2 with a 1.75 ERA, the best ERA in the league over that time period.

He was the Phillies first round pick (27th overall) last year, from Philadelphia and is the sixth Phillies first round pick to play for the BlueClaws.

Murphy, 25, was recognized as the league’s All-Star designated hitter. He played in the SAL All-Star Game in June and leads the BlueClaws with 22 home runs and 75 RBIs. His 22 home runs tie him with Juan Richardson for the most home runs in a season by a BlueClaw. In May, Murphy became the franchise all-time home run leader (passing Richardson) and has 36 home runs in a Lakewood uniform. He is also the franchise all-time RBI record holder with 143.

He was an 18th round pick of the Phillies in 2008 from Washington State University.

Among those recognized by the South Atlantic League: Hagerstown’s Bryce Harper (Most Outstanding Prospect), Augusta’s Shawn Sanford (Most Outstanding Pitcher), and Hickory’s Jurickson Profar (Most Valuable Player).

BlueClaws SAL Post-Season All-Stars
2006: RHP Carlos Carrasco, LHP Matt Maloney
2007: OF Quintin Berry
2008: SS Freddy Galvis
2009: OF Anthony Gose, Manager Dusty Wathan
2010: 1B Jonathan Singleton, C Sebastian Valle, SS Jonathan Villar, Manager Mark Parent

The BlueClaws, the Jersey Shore’s top stop for affordable family entertainment, conclude the home portion of the regular season with a double-header on Tuesday night that begins at 5:05 pm.

For ticket information, please call 732-901-7000 or log on to BlueClaws.com.

- BlueClaws -

The BlueClaws, 2.5 games out of first place trailing Kannapolis, and two games behind Hickory, play the first of two-straight double-headers today against Hickory.

RHP Lisalberto Bonilla (4-4, 2.83) and LHP Ervis Manzanillo (8-6, 5.14) pitch for Lakewood today against LHP Will Lamb (1-0, 0.00), a 2nd round pick out of Clemson this year and RHP Luke Jackson (4-5, 5.48), a supplemental first round pick last year from Fort Lauderdale.

State of the Claws…Since last playing, the BlueClaws lost a half-game behind first place Kannapolis (who won at Rome on Saturday and the teams split a Sunday double-header)…The BlueClaws, bidding to make the playoffs for the 3rd straight year, are 2.5 games out of first place and have nine games remaining (including four over the next two days)…Lakewood’s largest deficit of the half was 6 games out through August 15 with 21 games remaining…They have not been within two games since an August 8th win over West Virginia.

Double-Dipping…The BlueClaws are 6-6 in double-headers and swept their last DH on August 16th against Delmarva…Hickory is 7-3, the second-best percentage in the league, trailing Rome (6-2).

One for the Record…BlueClaws 1B Jim Murphy hit his 22nd home run of the year August 8th against West Virginia and tied Juan Richardson’s single-season franchise record set in the team’s inaugural season of 2001…Murphy has 36 home runs as a BlueClaw, the most in franchise history and a record he originally broke here in Greensboro on May 11th…Murphy has now hit 47 home runs as a pro…He has gone 48 at bats since his last home run and has one HR in his last 85 at bats dating to July 29th.

Click here for today’s game notes.

Every year the fine folks at the Reading Eagle do a Phillies farm system minor league prospect survey, taking votes from media around the organization. This is what the group come up with:

1. Trevor May, RHP Clearwater, 21
2. Sebastian Valle, C Clearwater, 21
3. Jesse Biddle, LHP Lakewood, 19
4. Freddy Galvis, SS Lehigh Valley, 21
5. Phillippe Aumont, RHP Lehigh Valley, 21
6. Brody Colvin, RHP Clearwater, 21
7. Justin DeFratus, RHP Lehigh Valley, 23
8. Julio Rodriguez, RHP Clearwater, 20
9. Michael Schwimer, RHP Philadelphia, 25
10. Jiwan James, OF Clearwater, 22
11. Jonathan Pettibone, RHP Clearwater, 21
12. Austin Hyatt, RHP Reading, 25
13. Aaron Altherr, OF Williamsport, 20
14. Joe Savery, LHP Lehigh Valley, 25
15. Harold Garcia, 2B Reading, 24
16. Dave Buchanan, RHP Clearwater, 22
17. Carlos Rivero, 3B Reading, 23
18. Cesar Hernandez, 2B Clearwater, 21
19. Lisalberto Bonilla, RHP Lakewood, 21
20. Zach Collier, OF Lakewood, 20

That’s a pretty good list (the number on the right is their age). A few notes:

• Jesse Biddle is the only one on the list who is in his teens. When Baseball America does their poll in a few months, it won’t be that way, but people were hesitant to vote on people they haven’t seen play yet, or are unproven at the lower levels, which makes sense.
• Everyone on the list except for Aumont, Savery and Rivero have played for the BlueClaws.
• No surprise at all Trevor May is number one. He’s had a tremendous season with Clearwater (3.45 ERA, .215 opponents BA and a whopping 197 Ks in just 143 innings pitched, wow).
• Sebastian Valle got off to a blazing start, hitting .357 to the all-star break, and though he’s only at .227 in the second half, a catcher that has power and is improving defensively is a major asset.
• Vance Worley, Mike Stutes, and Domonic Brown were not eligible for obvious reasons.
• Great run for Jonathan Pettibone this year with a 3.00 ERA to move up.
• Good to see people taking notice of BlueClaws RHP Lisalberto Bonilla, who has been excellent (and is slated to pitch game one of the double-header tomorrow.

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Nice article on Trevor May in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer:

“I believe this year as opposed to last year I made a lot of improvement mechanical-wise in being able to repeat things and also staying on a solid routine,” May said. “You have to find a work ethic that works for you. I also felt like this year I was able to make strides in dealing with adversity.

“I was really able to settle down when I got in trouble. I think you can see that by the fact that I have pitched more innings in 25 starts this year than I did in 27 last year.”

As much as he hated being demoted to Lakewood a year ago, May learned a lot from his second stint near the Jersey Shore.

“It was kind of a wake-up call,” May said. “I learned that I needed to throw more strikes and I needed to stay in the bottom half of the strike zone. You can get by with some things in the lower levels that you can’t get by with the higher you go.”

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And another great one by Matt Gelb in the Inquirer on Vance Worley:

Six years ago – before Vance was Vanimal, before he wrote angry messages to himself inside his hat, before he transformed from middling non-prospect to one of the best rookie starters in Phillies history – he was an unassuming freshman with a buzz cut. He asked Chris Aquino, then a junior catcher for Long Beach State University, if he would catch a bullpen session before the school year even started.

Aquino had never before been asked to do that. When they were done Worley said, “Thank you.” But Aquino was disturbed.

That should cover it for now. Hopefully we’ll have more later.

“Every time you got into your balance point and you separated,” he said to Worley, “you gave me this big smile right before you delivered the ball.”

The BlueClaws presented coach Greg Legg with framed jersey on Friday night before the game, recognizing his 30 years in the Phillies organization.

From left: BlueClaws GM Geoff Brown, Anthony Hewitt, Jim Murphy, Zach Collier, and Legg.

That’s a BlueClaws patch sewn onto the right (your left) sleeve of the jersey and the plaque says

Presented to Greg Legg in honor of 30 years of loyal service to the Philadelphia Phillies and Lakewood BlueClaws, August 26th, 2011

We also put together a video with clips and comments from current and former players and coaches as well as executives from around the Phillies organization. We’ll try to get that up here at some point soon too.

FirstEnergy Park made it through Hurricane Irene, and we certainly hope all of you are doing fine out in BlueClaws Blog World. Good luck and stay safe today please.

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The BlueClaws got some bad news last night, with Kannapolis beating Rome 7-6 in 10 innings, their third extra-inning win this week. Ironically, Colby Shreve’s brother, Chasen, took the loss (on a related note, Colby has allowed just one run in 8.2 innings with 10 strikeouts down with Clearwater since being promoted on August 9th).

So, Lakewood now trails Kannapolis by 2.5 games (they play Rome in a double-header today that begins at 2 pm). The BlueClaws, after Friday’s loss to Hickory, trail the ‘Dads by 2 games and have to pass both.

The BlueClaws and Crawdads will play a double-header tomorrow at 5:05 and again on Tuesday, also at 5:05, to close out the regular season home schedule. Five in Hagerstown beginning Thursday close out the regular season schedule.