While Williamsport, Lakewood and Clearwater have been eliminated from playoff consideration (first time for Trevor May and Brian Gump among others that they will not win a ring – Gump has three in two years), both Reading and Lehigh Valley can clinch playoff spots today.

Reading – Here is their game preview story, but the short version is this: they lead New Britain by one game with two to play and advance to the playoffs with a win today and a loss by New Britain.

Lehigh Valley – No such game preview story but they have a one-game lead in the International League wild card race. They clinch with a win today and a loss by Gwinett. Note that if they tie, they will actually host a playoff tie-breaker game on Tuesday.

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.”

BlueClaws 2B Carlos Alonso, who is 15-32 with 11 walks over his last 12 games, was named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week for the week ending Sunday.

Below, find the full story from the great Larry Shenk.

Players of the Week

**Pitcher: RHP Scott Mathieson, Lehigh Valley.  Was 1-0 in 2 starts, 11 total innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts.  Picked up a win on Monday, 1 run, 4 hits, 7 innings and had a no decision on Sunday, 0 runs, 1 hit, 4 innings. Returned to starting role on June 19 and is 1-1 with a 2.27 ERA for 8 starts, striking out 45 in 35.2 innings.  He was last in a starting rotation on a regular basis in 2006.  The 27-year-old was selected in the 17^th round in 2002 and signed by Tim Kissner.

**Player: 2B Carlos Alonso, Lakewood.  Hit .529 in 5 games, with a club-high 9 hits.  Included were a double and his 1^st home run on Sunday; drove in 5 runs.  Over the last 10 games, he’s batting .471.  For August, .386.  He began the season at Williamsport (.429, 14 games) before promotion to Lakewood on July 9. The 21-year-old was selected in the 32^nd round in 2010 out of the University of Delaware and signed by Paul Murphy.

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With LHP Austin Wright scheduled to make his BlueClaws debut tonight, and Ryan Duke having picked up his fourth save of the year on Sunday, we thought it would be instructive to take a look at some current year draftees and how they have helped the BlueClaws. By current year of course we mean they pitched with the BlueClaws the year they were drafted.

2007: RHP Brian Schlitter (17th round, College of Charleston)
- Went 0-1, 3.80 in 16 games with Lakewood that year and he ended up getting traded to the Cubs for Scott Eyre at the 2008 trading deadline
- He ended up making the big leagues in 2010 with Chicago, claimed by the Yankees and the Phillies on waivers and awarded back to the Cubs. He hasn’t pitched this year

2008: RHP Vance Worley (3rd round, Long Beach State)
- Went 3-2, 2.66 with Lakewood in 2008 as the team made a playoff run that fell just short
- Made his Phillies debut last year and this year is 7-1, 2.33 with the Phillies

2008: RHP Mike Stutes (11th round, Oregon State)
- Went 5-1, 1.48 in seven starts with Lakewood in 2008 forming a late-season 1-2 punch with Worley
- Both he and Worley made their 2009 debuts with Reading becoming the first players in 10 years to start their first full-seasons with Reading
- This year he made his Phillies debut and is 5-1, 3.18

2009: LHP Matt Way (5th round, Washington State)
- Went 4-1, 3.11 with Lakewood in 2009 plus started Game One in both the SAL Northern Division Championship Series and the SAL Championship Series
- Split last year between Lakewood & Clearwater
- Has missed all of 2011 with an injury

2010: RHP Eric Pettis (35th round, UC-Irvine)
- Joined Lakewood for the post-season after pitching to a 1.37 ERA with Williamsport
- This year, he opened with Lakewood and is now with Clearwater, where he has a 3.10 ERA and 3 saves in 25 games

2011: RHP Ryan Duke (25th round, Oklahoma)
- Threw seven shutout innings for Williamsport and has four saves in seven games with Lakewood, having allowed two runs in 7.1 innings pitched.

2011: LHP Austin Wright (8th round, Ole Miss)
- Went 2-1, 3.38 with Williamsport before joining the BlueClaws, where he will debut today.

Here is the weekly Minor League review as sent over by the great Larry Shenk.

–Note, not included in last week’s report was Travis Mattair’s two home run game for Clearwater on Tuesday night, a game that also included Julio Rodriguez win his minor-league leading 13th game of the season.

Players of the Week

**Pitcher: RHS Austin Hyatt, Reading.  Was 2-0 for 2 starts, 2 runs, 8 hits in 13 innings.  Walked 4 and struck out 16.  Victory was his third in a row and improved his record to 9-5 for 20 starts.  ERA is 4.02 for 112.1 innings with 125 strikeouts.  In 3-plus minor league seasons, he is 24-10.  The 25-year-old was selected in the 15^th round in 2009 out of the University of Alabama and signed by Mike Stauffer.

**Player: CF Jiwan James, Clearwater.  Batted .400 in 7 games with an organization-high 12 hits, 6 runs scored and 5 doubles. Had doubles in each of his last 4 games. Drove in 5 and stole 2 bases (20 for the season). Hitting .339 post-All-Star Game, boosting his average from .261 to a season-high .287. The 22-year-old was selected as a pitcher in the 22^nd round in 2007 and signed by Chip Lawrence.  He was 0-4, 7.71 ERA at the Gulf Coast League in 2007, didn’t play at all in 2008 (right biceps injury) and converted to an outfielder at Williamsport in 2009.

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Here are two really good articles you should read.

The first is in today’s New York Daily News on BlueClaws 2008 first baseman Matt Rizzotti (why the NY Daily News? He’s from Floral Park, went to Molloy and Manhattan College):

It didn’t take long for Reading coach Mark Parent to see that his fast-talking first baseman was unflappable.

“His approach to hitting is different than anyone I’ve ever seen,” says Parent, who has played and coached in professional baseball for 26 years. “He chooses to hit with two strikes. He almost likes hitting with two strikes.”

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The second is from Saturday’s Asbury Park Press on 2010 BlueClaws manager Mark Parent:

“You don’t have to constantly remind guys of different situations that come up,”’ said Parent last week while sitting in the dugout at Trenton prior to a game between the Thunder and the Reading Phillies.

The Phillies promoted Parent two managing levels in the wake of his leading the BlueClaws to the 2010 SAL championship, the second consecutive title for the franchise.

“These (Double-A) guys have more of a baseball I.Q. than at that (low-A) level, and they know more how to take care of themselves on a day in and day out basis,” Parent said.

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The BlueClaws will play a day game today in Kannapolis, an 11:05 start with LHP Ervis Manzanillo on the mound. You can read today’s game notes here.

Julio Rodriguez won his 11th game of the year last night, allowing just one run over seven innings in a win at Port Charlotte (for Clearwater)…Rodriguez is now tied with Craig Westcott of San Jose for the MiLB lead in wins.

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Colin Kleven, a hard-throwing 20 year old from British Columbia, threw seven shutout innings for Williamsport last night.

Also included in Kleven’s effort were 15 ground ball outs of the 21 batters he retired, and that brought a smile to Morandini’s face.

“That is absolutely big, especially on this field,” Morandini said. “It is a slow infield and they didn’t square him up too much tonight. When you are getting ground balls like that, it means you are keeping the ball down, changing speeds and that made him real effective tonight.”

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Great line from Reading manager, and 2010 BlueClaws manager, Mark Parent on Joe Savery, who has given up hitting and is back pitching again:

“Most pitchers are so worried about themselves 24/7 I don’t know how they stay married in the first place,” Parent said in both a serious and kidding way. “When they go out to the other side, play defense, it becomes a team-oriented game and you kind of get out of yourself.”

Monday, Lisalberto Bonilla was named South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week. Tuesday, he won his first game of the year and on Wednesday, he was named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Week.

Here is the weekly Phillies minor league review from Larry Shenk at the Phillies.

Players of the Week

**Pitcher: RH Lisalberto Bonilla, Lakewood.  Made 1 start and wasn’t involved in the decision, a 1-0, 10-inning BlueClaws win over Hagerstown on Wednesday.  Pitched 9 innings, allowed 5 singles, 0 walks and fanned a career-high 12.  Threw 107 pitches, 77 for strikes and had 3, 3-ball accounts. He was also named the MiLB.com pitcher of the week in the SAL. In 17 games at Lakewood (5 starts), he has a 1.49 ERA for 54.1 innings with 54 strikeouts.  The 21-year-old was signed as an amateur free agent out of Samana, Dominican Republic, by Sal Agostinelli and Bernardo Perez, 12/19/08.

**Player: 1B-DH Darin Ruf, Clearwater.  Hit .632 in 6 games (12-19) with 3 doubles, 6^th-7^th homers and 8 RBI.  Ended the week on an 8-game hitting streak.  Six-game RBI streak ended Sunday.  Batting .403 in 17 2^nd-half games, 4 homers, 15 RBI.  For the season, hitting .311 in 81 games with an organization-high and FSL-leading 29 doubles; 7 homers, 50 RBI, matching his career high set a year ago at Clearwater. The 24-year-old was selected in the 20^th round in 2009 out of Creighton University and signed by David Seifert.

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Jonathan Singleton and Trevor May, both with the BlueClaws last year, took home Florida State League honors this week.

Florida State League
Jonathan Singleton, Clearwater
.520/.613/1.000, 7 G, 13-for-25, 3 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 6 R, 6 BB, 2 K, 1 SB
Jonathan Singleton wore a serious funk into the week — his 0-for-3 Monday made him 1-for-18 over the last five games, and he’d managed to get as many as two hits in only one game all month. On Tuesday, everything changed. He doubled in his first at-bat of the game, and he finished with a home run, a single, a walk and six RBIs. In his next game, the Phillies prospect notched two more singles and another base-on-balls. Singleton wasn’t done yet, though: he homered twice, doubled and walked to score three runs Thursday. He went 3-for-5 on Friday and had a hit in each of the next two games.

Florida State League
Trevor May, Clearwater
0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 2 BB, 14 K
Trevor May, who won two Pitcher of the Week awards at two levels last year, picks up his first honor of 2011. The Phillies prospect pitched a 1-2-3 inning and ended up the victor in this week’s FSL All-Star Game, but his regular-season start on Wednesday really stands out. May punched out 14, tying a career-high mark, allowing one hit and two walks over seven innings at Tampa. May ended up without a decision, and the game was suspended due to rain with a 2-2 tie in the 10th.

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Here’s another recommended read: 5 Minutes with Justin Friend. The Reading reliever sat down with Ed Barkowitz of the Philadelphia Daily News.

Pregame quirk: Takes a hit of smelling salts before he goes in to pitch. “It kind of wakes you up after sitting in the bullpen for eight innings,” said Friend, who picked up the habit from Oakland closer Andrew Bailey, a Paul VI product. “He’s a two-time All-Star, so I figured I might as well try it.”

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Jesse Biddle, who has a 3.04 ERA since May 1st, throws tonight for Lakewood in Hagerstown where the BlueClaws look to bounce back after dropping the first game of the series on Monday night.

Here’s the weekly Minor League Review courtesy of Larry Shenk:

Players of the Week

**Pitcher: RHR Eric Pettis, Clearwater.  Relieved twice, 0 runs in 5.1 innings; allowed 4 hits, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts.  Since joining Clearwater from Lakewood on May 5, he has 11 scoreless outings out of 13.  He’s given up just 2 runs, solo home runs in back-to-back games, June 3 and 6.  For June, he’s 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA.  The 23-year-old was selected in the 35^th round in 2010 out of UC Irvine and signed by Demerius Pittman.  He broke in at Williamsport last season, finished 8-0 with a 1.37 ERA for 20 games (5 starts).

**Player: 2B Cesar Hernandez, Clearwater.  In an All-Star Game shortened week, Hernandez hit .500 (9-18) in 4 games.  His 9 hits led the organization.  Included were 2 homers.  He’s hitting .390 in his last 10 games and .328 in June, improving his average from .214 to .249.

The 21-year-old hit .325 in 65 games a year ago at Williamsport.  He was signed as an amateur free agent out of Carabobo, VZ, by Sal Agostinelli and Jesus Mendez.

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There were a bunch of moves today in the Phillies minor league system. While none involve the BlueClaws, some former BlueClaws are on the move including fan favorite Justin De Fratus from 2009.

RHP Justin De Fratus is heading from Reading to Lehigh Valley along with 3B Cody Overbeck, LHP Ryan Edell, and RHP Phillipe Aumont.

1B Joe Savery goes from Clearwater to Reading along with RHP Justin Friend and RHP Chance Chapman (who comes from Lehigh and is a 2008 BlueClaw).

De Fratus, who is on the 40-man roster, was 4-0, 2.15 with Reading this year.

Why all the moves? Vance Worley is going to the Phillies to pitch Saturday. Eddie Bonine is injured and so too is Nate Bump. Brian Gordon is now a Yankee (read about this here).

It’s been years since Brian Gordon has pitched in the majors. It also has been years since Gordon’s even been in New York.

Today, the right-hander will be the Yankees’ starter against the Rangers in The Bronx when he makes his pinstriped debut in place of the injured Bartolo Colon.

Gordon will pitch in the big leagues for the first time since 2008 and, at age 32, start a major league game for the first time in his life.

2:29: Yankees/Rangers are 1-1 in the 5th.

Here’s the Phillies Minor League Week in Review as provided (as always) by the great Larry Shenk. Read his “Phillies Insider” blog by clicking here.

Players of the Week

**Pitcher: RHS Trevor May, Clearwater. 1-0 for 1 start, 8 innings, 2 hits, 1 unearned run, 1 walk, season-high 12 strikeouts.  Victory was his 4^th straight, improving his season record to 4-2, 3.54.  Leads all Phillies minor league hurlers with 80 strikeouts (61.2 innings).  The 21-year-old was selected in the 4^th round of the 2008 draft out of Kelso High School (WA) and signed by Dave Ryles.

**Player: 1B Jeff Larish, Lehigh Valley. Hit .478 in 6 games, 11 hits including 3 doubles, 1 triple and 4 homers.  Drove in 12.  Triple, 2 homers and 7 RBI came in 12-2 romp on Monday at Gwinnett.  For the season, he’s hitting .265 in 48 games, 12 homers and 31 RBI.  The 28-year-old was signed as a minor league free agent on 11/22/10.

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The BlueClaws, who have won five in a row and 11 of 12, have swept the Phillies Minor League Player of the Week honors, with Jim Murphy (Player) and Garett Claypool (Pitcher) having won.

Here is the weekly report from the great Larry Shenk.

Players of the Week

**Pitcher: RHP Garrett Claypool, Lakewood.  Made 1 start last week, a no decision in which he allowed 1 run on 2 hits in 7 innings.  He walked 1 and struck out a season-high 11 (7 looking).  For the season, he is 1-2 for 12 games (8 starts) with a 2.30 ERA, which ranks second in the South Atlantic League to teammate Dave Buchanan (1.97). Opponents are batting .188. The 22-year-old was selected in the 11^th round a year ago out of UCLA and signed by Shane Bowers.

– Noted on Claypool: His Monday start in which he threw seven shutout innings, didn’t even count for last week (it will for this week). He’s allowed 2 ER in his last 26 innings pitched.

**Player: 1B Jim Murphy, Lakewood. Batted .364 in 6 games with 5 runs scored, 8 hits, 3 doubles, 3 homers and 9 RBI.  He homered in three straight games starting Thursday night and ended the week riding a 7-game hitting streak.  For the season, he is hitting .264 with 13 homers (matching Reading’s Cody Overbeck for the most in the organization) and 36 RBI, which are tops in the organization.  His 13 homers also lead the SAL.  The 25-year-old was selected in the 17^th round in 2006 out of Washington State University and signed by Dave Ryles.

Rest below the fold:

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BlueClaws OF Domingo Santana was named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week for the week ending Sunday. He went 10-25 last week and hit his 5th home run of the season on Sunday at West Virginia. Here’s the full rundown from Larry Shenk:

**Pitcher: RHR Michael Schwimer, Lehigh Valley.  2 appearances, 1-0, 0.00, 1 save; 5.1 innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts.  First save of the season came on Tuesday when IronPigs moved into first place.  Last 10 outings, 1-0, 1.84 ERA, opponents batting .137.  For the season, 2-0, 1.90 ERA, 33 strikeouts in 23.2 innings.  The 25-year-old, 6-foot-8 right-hander was the Phillies 14^th-round selection in 2008 out of the University of Virginia and signed by Paul Murphy.

**Player: RF Domingo Santana, Lakewood.  In 6 games, .400 with an organization-high 10 hits.  Ended the week 6-10 in last 2 games, 2 doubles, a triple, 5th home run and 4 RBI. Hitting .350 in his last 10 games.  The 18-year-old was signed by Sal Agostinelli and Bernardo Perez as an amateur free agent out of Santo Domingo, DR, 3/23/09.

More below

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