The rosters for the prestigious Arizona Fall League were announced today and feature several BlueClaws (including two current ‘Claws). All will represent the Mesa Solar Sox.

• Manager Mark Parent: Parent, the BlueClaws first year manager, will serve as the hitting coach for Mesa. Parent spent 13 years in the Major Leagues before retiring after two seasons with the Phillies (1997-1998). He managed Seattle’s California League affiliate in 2000 and led Chico in the independent Chico Outlaws in the Golden League from 2005-2007.
• RHP Josh Zeid: A current BlueClaw, Zeid is 7-4, 2.99 in a season split between the starting rotation and bullpen. He is the only current BlueClaws player headed to Arizona. Last year, 2009 BlueClaws SS Troy Hanzawa and OF Steve Susdorf played in the AFL. He was a 10th round pick in 2009 (Tulane).
• RHP Tyson Brummett: He made six starts (3-0, 1.99) with the BlueClaws in 2008 and is currently 1-2, 5.01 with Double-A Reading. He was a 7th round pick in 2007 (UCLA).
• RHP Justin De Fratus: He spent the 2009 season with Lakewood, going 5-6, 3.19. He opened the season with Clearwater and as their closer went 2-0, 1.79 with 15 saves. He is now 1-0, 2.28 in 19 games with Reading. De Fratus was an 11th round pick in 2007 (Ventura College).
• RHP Chris Kissock: He spent 2008 with Lakewood, going 4-6, 4.37 and this year went 6-3, 2.17 and is now 1-0, 3.27 in nine games with Reading. He was a 9th round pick in 2007 (Lewis/Clark State).
• RHP BJ Rosenberg: Rosenberg had 19 saves and a 0.87 ERA with Lakewood last year, including a 28.2 inning scoreless streak. This year he has bounced between the GCL Phillies, Clearwater and Reading and has a 5.24 ERA between the three stops. He was a 13th round pick in 2008 (Louisville).
• C Tim Kennelly: Kennelly spent part of 2006 and 2007 with Lakewood but played prominently with the BlueClaws in 2008 (.275-1-27)…This year, he is batting .277-4-57 with Clearwater. He was signed as an amateur free agent from Australia in 2003.
• 1B Matt Rizzotti: A 2008 BlueClaw when he hit .268-10-49, Rizzotti has skyrocketed up the system this year, hitting .344-19-76 between Clearwater, Reading and Lehigh Valley. He was a 6th round pick in 2008 out of Manhattan College.

Here is the full release from MLB on the league, which enters its 19th season and features seven players from all 30 organizations split among six teams.

Every year Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle surveys media around the farm system and ranks the prospects in the organization from 1-20. He released his survey results yesterday, and as expected the list had a distinct BlueClaws feel to it.

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Matt Rizzotti began the year by hitting in Clearwater. He continued the year hitting with Reading. And now he is hitting in Lehigh Valley. Three levels, about 10 or 12 states, and a lot hits.

He went .358-1-10 with Clearwater and was promoted to Reading on May 13th (when Jonathan Singleton joined the BlueClaws and Darin Ruf went to Clearwater). He then hit .362-16-61 with Reading before a promotion to Lehigh, where he has hit .300 in his first nine games.

Rizzotti is featured in today’s Philadelphia Daily News here.

Rizzotti was signing autographs for kids after a morning game at Class A Clearwater. His line was long, because he was the big new thing in the Phillies’ system, having just smoked through the first month in high-A ball, insulted that the Phillies sent him back there this year- to sign autographs in the midafternoon sun.

“What the hell you doing?” asked Lundquist, the Threshers’ pitching coach.

Rizzotti smelled a rat, because, simply, he was doing what he was supposed to be doing - putting on the good face of the organization.

“We’re waiting for you inside,” Lundquist said.

Great, Rizzotti thought; what’d I do now?

Dusty Wathan, the Threshers’ manager, was sitting behind his desk when Rizzotti walked in. He rolled a baseball across the desk toward Rizzotti.

“Promise me something,” he said to Rizzotti.

“What?” Rizzotti asked as he caught the ball.

“Promise me that’s your last hit in A ball.”

This email just popped into the inbox from Tommy Viola, Reading’s PR maven:

Reading slugger Matt Rizzotti, who is currently the Eastern League leader with an impressive .362 batting average, has been promoted to Lehigh Valley (AAA) today. Rizzotti, 24, was the R-Phils team leader with 16 home runs and 61 RBIs, and also possessed an impressive .451 on-base percentage and .638 slugging percentage, both Eastern League highs.

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With Shane Victorino having been placed on the disabled list (oblique strain), the Phillies have called up 2008 BlueClaws OF Domonic Brown who will make his big league debut tonight.

Here is Brown’s player page. He was hitting .346-5-21 in 28 games with Lehigh Valley after going .315-15-47 with Reading (65 games) to start the year.

He will be the 35th former BlueClaw to make the big leagues (following Vance Worley on Saturday).

He’s been the top prospect in the system for the last two years and a few weeks ago was named the top prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America.

Brown has also been the subject of speculation in recent weeks regarding Jayson Werth. If Werth had been traded, Brown was going to take his place. As it turned out, all it took was an injury to Shane Victorino.

He will wear number 9, bat sixth and play right.

Vance Worley became the 34th former BlueClaw to make his big league debut by throwing a shutout inning on Sunday for the Phillies in a win over the Rockies.

Here is the full list of players that have gone From the Shore to the Show. Worley became the fourth to debut this year (joining Carlos Monasterios with the Dodgers, Jason Donald with the Indians, and Brian Schlitter with the Cubs).

He is the second (following Sergio Escalona) from the 2008 BlueClaws to reach the big leagues.

From Phillies.com…

Worley said the experience, though short-lived, was completely worth it.

“Absolutely,” Worley said. “They saw what I can do and hopefully [I'll] get back up here soon some other day.”

His parents and his host parents from Lakewood, N.J., were in attendance at Citizens Bank Park. They saw him strike out two batters without allowing a hit. He tucked the game ball away in his pocket and said he plans to encase it.

“It was exciting, it’s my first time, obviously, throwing in front of a huge, huge crowd,” Worley said.

He was sent down to Lehigh Valley after the game as JA Happ returns to the Phillies.

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Who’s next? With four BlueClaws having debuted this year, we’re one shot from last year’s total of five. Domonic Brown will almost certainly debut at some point this year.

Jiwan James went 12-26 last week as part of his franchise-record 24-game hitting streak and was named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week for his efforts. Jonathan Villar and Jonathan Singleton have won the award for Lakewood this year, and pitchers Ebelin Lugo, Nick Hernandez and Matt Way have won on the pitching side.

Players of the Week

**Pitcher: RHP Vance Worley, Reading Phillies.  Was 1-0 for 1 start, 8 scoreless innings on Sunday at Trenton.  He allowed 3 hits, walked 1 and struck out 3 in stretching his scoreless streak to 17 innings and his winning streak to 4 in a row.  In Sunday’s game he retired 17 hitters on 4 pitches or less. At one point, he retired 12 in a row.  98 total pitches, 74 for strikes.  He’s 9-4 on the season after starting 0-2.  The 22-year-old was a third-round selection in June 2008 out of Long Beach State U.; he was signed by Tim Kissner.

**Player: CF Jiwan James, Lakewood BlueClaws.  Hit .462 in 6 games (12-26) with 2 doubles, 1 triple.  Saw a club-record 24-game hitting streak end with an 0-for-3 in the second game Sunday’s doubleheader in Kannapolis. Was hitting .213 when the streak began on May 30. Had just 18 hits in the first 17 games but went 16-28 in the next 7 games.  A 21-year-old switch hitter, James was a 22^nd round selection in 2007 out of Williston (FL) High School. He was signed by Chip Lawrence.  He was a pitcher (0-4) in his first pro season before switching to centerfield last year at Williamsport. He missed all of 2008 with a right biceps injury.

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Good article in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer by Bob Brookover where he goes “Around the Farm.” Click here to read.

He ranks his own personal top ten:

With all those prospects gone, here’s one man’s opinion of the latest top-10 prospect list, with each player’s position and current team: 1, OF Domonic Brown, Lehigh Valley. 2, RHP Jarred Cosart, Lakewood. 3, 1B Jonathan Singleton, Lakewood. 4, OF Anthony Gose, Clearwater. 5, SS Jonathan Villar, Lakewood. 6, C Sebastian Valle, Lakewood. 7, P Justin De Fratus, Reading. 8, P Phillippe Aumont, Clearwater. 9, P Matt Way, Reading. 10, 1B Matt Rizzotti, Reading.

All of those guys except Aumont (acquired in the Cliff Lee trade) played with the BlueClaws or are currently (Cosart, Singleton, Villar, Valle) playing with Lakewood. We would add Brody Colvin somewhere on the list. (Over his last ten starts, Colvin is 3-1, 1.71…12 ER in 63 innings, though the BlueClaws have scored a whopping 22 runs while he’s still been in the game).

There’s more in there, well worth the read.

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Nice game by Vance Worley last night for Reading. He threw a complete game shutout and hit a home run.

“I told [pitching coach Bob Milacki] in the seventh inning I was finishing tonight’s game,” said Worley, 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA in his last three starts. “He came up to me and was like, ‘How are you feeling?’ and I said, ‘I’m finishing the game.’ “

Five BlueClaws (three former and two current) are listed in a new top 100 prospect ranking done by Baseball America’s John Manuel. Domonic Brown (2008) tops the list, with Kyle Drabek (2007) ranking 23rd. Travis d’Arnaud (2009), Jonathan Singleton (2010) and Jarred Cosart (2010) are listed among the “26-50,” which were put in alphabetical order. Here is the full list.

1. Domonic Brown (BlueClaws 2008)
Brown is hitting .364 in 15 games with Lehigh Valley and has already hit four home runs with the IronPigs. He was promoted from Reading, where he hit .317 in the first half of the season.

23. Kyle Drabek (BlueClaws 2007)
Drabek, who was traded to the Blue Jays as part of the Roy Halladay swap…He’s 8-2, 3.20 with Double-A New Hampshire this year and threw a no-hitter last week.

X. Jarred Cosart (Current BlueClaw)
Cosart became just the third current BlueClaw to be selected to the Futures Game, though he won’t be able to participate (on disabled list). He is 7-3, 3.79 this year with Lakewood.

X. Travis d’Arnaud (BlueClaws 2009)
The starting catcher on the 2009 SAL Champion BlueClaws, d’Arnaud is batting .281-6-33 with Hi-A Dunedin with the Blue Jays. Four of his six home runs have come against Clearwater (two off Heitor Correa).

X. Jonathan Singleton (Current BlueClaw)
Lakewood’s first baseman, just 18 years old, is batting .339-10-48 in just 51 games with the BlueClaws this year. Since joining the SAL on May 13th, he leads in OPS, RBI, home runs and is 4th in batting average.

A big night for Domonic Brown in his Lehigh Valley home debut. Not only did he hit a home run in game two, but he scored the winning run in game one and threw a runner out going 2nd to 3rd on a fly ball to right field.

“I keep doing the little things. My family’s good, so I’m good. I’m playing baseball, and that’s all I care about,” he said.

Keith Law of ESPN.com ranked Brown the #1 prospect in all of baseball (of those that are still in the minor leagues).

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Travis d’Arnaud has hit six home runs this year for Dunedin. Four of those have come against Clearwater and his former Phillies teammates. He went deep last night off of Heitor Correa (for the second time this year) and has also homered off of JC Ramirez (who he never played with, they were involved in the same trade) and Austin Hyatt. Correa and Hyatt were teammates of his with the 2009 BlueClaws.

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Jarred Cosart will likely miss his next scheduled start. The right-hander felt a little soreness in his elbow after a start on Saturday at Delmarva and is being examined today.

“There is no injury to speak of right now,” said manager Mark Parent. “They just want to make sure whatever problem he had, that he’s fine.”

(Morning Call Photo)

We had a chance earlier on Tuesday to sit down for a few minutes with Phillies Assistant General Manager for Scouting and Player Development Chuck LaMar. Here are a few comments from the man in charge of the Phillies farm system:

• Pennant Races as Player Development: It is part of their development. Anytime you can put a young man in that position to develop, when the games mean something, it’s better for us from an evaluating standpoint. It’sb etter for us from a teaching standpoint, and it’s better for them. We’ve been fortunate here in Lakewood, we’ve got a pretty good run going. It couldn’t have worked out any better.
• On Brody Colvin (this is before his start on Tuesday night): The strides have been tremendous and they’re not surprising, not only because of his ability but because of his make-up. We never push a player up until they can handle adversity at that level. He got off to a slow start but boy, he’s pitched extremely well. He has ability, everyone can see that. What I like more than any pitcher in this organization is the way he goes about his business. he’s truly the leader of this staff here in Lakewood.
• On Jonathan Singleton: He’s got a lot of things going for him. I hate to keep using the word “make-up,” but he has a tremendous make-up. He loves to play the game. He has an outstanding work ethic, was raised the right way, and his humble. Physically, he’s got strength, balance, eye/hand coordination, pitch recognition that a lot of kids his age don’t have. What you’re seeing is not a fluke.
• How much do you stress make-up to your scouts? A lot, if you’re trying to win a championship. A lot of teams draft players to get them to the big leagues. The Phillies are trying to win championships, and there’s a big difference between getting there and being that kind of player. You can’t be that player on a winning club without that “burning desire to succeed.” It takes a special person to play in front of 40-50,000 on a nightly basis, and that’s what we’re looking for.
• Why now for Domonic Brown, who was promoted to Lehigh Valley last week? We wanted him to get at least a half-season under his belt in Reading. He came into spring training on a mission and handled himself very well in major league camp. Sometimes when they go down, there’s a two week withdrawal, but he handled himself well from the time he got back. His numbers speak for themselves, but he even missed two or three weeks or his numbers would be even better.
• On Harold Garcia and his 31 game hitting streak with Clearwater: Go back to make-up. He’s as good a worker as there is in our minor leagues. He came here and second base, his defensive skills were a bit in question, but he’s such a good worker, that he got voted the top defender at second base in this league. We had two guys that had hammy problems in spring training, and Garcia beat the other guy back by six weeks. Anytime you hit in 31 straight, that’s pretty good in slow-pitch softball. Hopefully we’ll get him up to Double-A in a few weeks and he’s got a chance to play in the Major Leagues because he wants to.
• How do you see the system now compared to before the Cliff Lee trade? I think we’ve reloaded, much of that at the lower levels. We might be a little thin at the upper levels and it will take us a while to replenish that. But most organizations would love to say they’re rebuilding at the upper levels with Mathieson, Zagurski, Brown, Gillies, Galvis, and Gose. That’s a pretty good group, but everyone is using the term “rebuilding.”

LaMar is in town this week to see the BlueClaws and we thank him for his time.

Just a few links regarding the promotion of Domonic Brown from Reading to Lehigh Valley yesterday…Brown went 1-4 yesterday in his Lehigh Valley debut.

In the Philadelphia Inquirer: “We wanted him to play half a year at Reading, which he has, and we think he’s ready,” Phillies assistant general manager Chuck LaMar said.

In the Philadelphia Daily News:

LaMar said he hopes Brown continues the professional approach he brought with him to camp this spring.

“He’s shown it from the first day he came to major league camp,” LaMar said.

The professionalism led to consistency on the field, which is all the Phillies expect at the next level.

“We wanted to continue to challenge him,” said LaMar, who noted that, considering the more polished pitchers he will see, Brown will not “see as many good pitches per at-bat. And when he sees one, he’ll have to capitalize.”

In the Delaware County Times:

“I figured it was a matter of time because he’s been doing real good … I’m glad he didn’t get traded because I think he’s going to be a real good player,” said manager Charlie Manuel, who watched Brown hit .417 in 11 Grapefruit League games with the Phillies in spring training. “I think he has tremendous makeup. He’s a very determined kid.”

The Phillies promoted Double-A Reading OF (and 2008 BlueClaw) Domonic Brown to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday after the 22-year old hit .318 with 15 home runs (including two on Tuesday) and 47 RBIs.

Brown has hit 14 home runs in his last 184 at bats after one in his first 52 and he hit .345 in June as one of the hottest hitters in the Eastern League.

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No surprise at all that he was promoted. He went from Clearwater to Reading in the middle of last year, so he’s played 102 games in Double-A and is clearly ready for the next step. He would still have about the chance to play over 65 games there before a possible September call-up with the Phillies, if that’s in the cards. Either way he should be ready for the big leagues by some point in 2011.

Note here, that Brown is batting .321 against left-handed pitchers. Also note the importance of patience, especially when dealing with a raw high school player. Brown hit .214 with the GCL Phillies in 2006 and didn’t eclipse .300 until last year with Clearwater.

He’s been the top-ranked player in the organization for the last two years and will join Jarred Cosart at the Futures Game on July 11th. Good luck to Domonic.

BlueClaws pitcher Ebelin Lugo was named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week, plus more in this week’s Pharm Report, courtesy of Larry Schenk.

Players of the Week

**Pitcher: Lakewood RHP Ebelin Lugo.  Relieved in 3 games, 1-0, 1 save, 0 runs in 5 total innings.  Allowed 3 hits, no walks and struck out 3.  Hasn’t given up a run since May 26, 15 consecutive scoreless innings.  The 20-year-old was signed as an amateur free agent in 2007 by Sal Agostinelli and Wil Tejeda out of Guayacanal, DR.

**Player: Clearwater 2B Harold Garcia.  Batted .361 in 6 games (9-23) with 3 doubles, 1 homer and 8 RBI.  Stole 5 bases.  Ended the week riding a 24-game hitting streak.  The 23-year-old was signed as an amateur free agent in 2004 by Sal Agostinelli and Jesus Mendez out of Maracaibo, Zulia, VZ.

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