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Ke'Bryan Hayes, image- Jay Floyd Pirates prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes has become a hot name among rising baseball prospects.  Fresh off a Double-A Eastern League All-Star appearance the son of former Phillies and Yankees third baseman Charlie Hayes slammed a home run in Sunday's MLB All-Star Futures Game. With the Altoona Curve this season, the righty batting Hayes sports a .293 average with 21 doubles, six triples, four homers and 21 RBI in 74 games. He was a first round draft selection of Pittsburgh in 2016.  Last week at the Eastern League All-Star festivities, along with Trentonian reporter Kyle Franko, I spoke with the 21-year-old who also plays third base.  We talked with Ke'Bryan about the influence of his father and his brother Tyree, who pitched in the Reds system, what the All-Star nods mean to him, his biggest goal and more.  Read ahead for that interview. -Do you feel like you were building toward this All-Star moment with the season you've h...

Keoni De Renne played 11 seasons in professional baseball.  Since 2012 he's been a coach with the Pirates organization. In his playing days, the University of Arizona product spent time in the Yankees, Braves, Phillies and Red Sox organizations in addition to playing independent ball.  The Hawaii native was a switch hitter that was listed at five-feet-seven, 170 pounds. This week, De Renne was in Trenton, NJ for the Double-A Eastern League All-Star Game, representing the Altoona Curve as part of the Western Division coaching staff.  I chatted it up with the native of Hawaii about his whirlwind 2010 season when he went through 13 different transactions within the Phillies' system, his path to coaching, relating to his players, facing a highly touted Stephen Strasburg in the minors and plenty more. It's been some time since I posted audio of an interview, and since this discussion is a bit of a throwback, you can check out the recording as well as a handsome image of ...

Damek Tomscha, image- Jay Floyd It's been a very productive season for Phillies prospect Damek Tomscha (pronounced like DAME-eck TOM-shay), who has posted a .304 batting average with 11 homers and 52 RBI in 106 combined at two levels with the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers and the Double-A Reading Fightins. Tomscha, who was the Phillies' 17th round draft selection in 2014 out of Auburn, has split time on defense, playing third base, first base and taking on left field this year in order to stick in the daily lineup. This weekend I spoke with Damek, a 26-year-old righty batter, about his successful campaign this year, how is compares to last year when he struggles in Clearwater, the depth of the Phils' developmental ranks, a surprising rivalry in minor leagues and plenty more. Read ahead for that full interview. -You've had a solid season overall. Putting up good numbers at two levels and making it to Double-A for the last quarter or third of the sea...

Jesse Biddle, image- Jay Floyd Multiple reports confirm that the Phillies have traded left-handed pitcher Jesse Biddle to Pittssburgh in a deal with an undisclosed return at the time of this writing. Biddle, 24, underwent off-season Tommy John surgery and will miss the entirety of the 2016 season. The move seemed to be something that has been in the works from the Phillies side since they designated him for assignment, removing him from their 40-man roster last week. With his extended injury time, placing him on the 60-day disabled list would have allowed the Phils to keep Biddle on their roster without having him take up valuable space there, as there are exceptions for ailing players. The Philadelphia native has missed considerable time with injuries in recent years, including a concussion, elbow soreness as well as a knee issue and dealing with whooping cough for an extended stretch. Pittsburgh could be an ideal place for Biddle to rebound, once healthy. It's bec...

Despite being known across baseball as "the lowly Phillies", the team heads across state to take on the Pirates in an effort to change their recent poor luck with tacking on digits in the win column. With a record of 22-39 and losers of 13 of their last 16 games, the Phillies have a major league worst .361 winning percentage. Their seven road wins are fewest of any big league team by a considerable margin as well. Meanwhile, the Pirates (32-27) , who have been to the National League wild card play-in game in each of the past two seasons, are trying to make their way in a tough NL Central. In game 1 of the three-game set, the Phils will send former Pirate Kevin Correia to the mound to make his debut with his new club. Correia last pitched in the majors with the Dodgers last August. He'll be opposed by Pirates lefty Jeff Locke , who is a terrific performer against the Phils in his career. The two clubs split their four-games series in Philadelphia last month. F...

On the 41st edition of the PhoulBallz Podcast Tug and Jay are joined by top Phillies Double-A pitching prospect Jesse Biddle who shares some thoughts on his 2013 season, his health concerns, growing up as a fan of the Phillies and loads more.  The guys also talk about Cesar Hernandez 's solid production, David Buchanan and Tyler Knigge 's service in the community and they try to predict the MLB most valuable player awards. Use the media player below to stream the full episode, or simply download it by clicking HERE . You can also check out previous episodes and subscribe on iTunes .

Winners of nine straight games, the Pirates are faced with shuffling their rotation as they were forced to warm up the next guy in their starting rotation, Jeff Locke , before they finalized a 14-inning victory against the Brewers on Sunday. The Pirates (51-30) enter July with the best record in baseball and they'll host the cross-state rival Phillies (39-44) for a three-game series that begins on Tuesday. Pittsburgh will likely push Locke back till later in the series and use Jeanmar Gomez in the opener. The Phils lost two of three to the Bucs at Pittsburgh's PNC Park last season. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and other key details on this series. Tuesday, 7:05 PM.  Jonathan Pettibone (3-3, 4.17 ERA) vs. Jeanmar Gomez (2-0, 2.76 ERA). The 22-year-old Pettibone has not won in his last eight starts while posting a 4.67 ERA over that stretch.  In six road starts this year, Pettibone has a 1-2 record along with a 6.39 ERA.  Pettibone mad...

Behind a rookie hurler, the Phillies (8-11) are set to open a four-game series against the Pirates (10-8) at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park on Monday night. Read ahead for full details on the pitching match ups as well as other key stats for this series. Jon Pettibone in action with Reading in 2012 Monday, 7:05 PM.  A.J. Burnett (1-2, 2.63 ERA) vs. Jonathan Pettibone (first MLB start).   In 19 career regular season games against the Phillies, Burnett has a 6-9 record along with a 5.09 ERA.  Ryan Howard is 3-for-14 (all three hits are home runs) in his career against Burnett.  The 36-year-old righty has a 4.86 ERA in seven career games at Citizens Bank Park.  The 22-year-old Pettibone was PhilliesNation.com's #6 ranked prospect prior to the season.  In two starts with Triple-A Lehigh Valley this year, Pettibone had a 0-1 record and a 9.64 ERA. Pettibone, who was the Phillies' 3rd round draft pick in 2008, is filling in for the injured John ...

While the Phillies (34-40) struggle, trying to get on any sort of roll, they'll host the Pirates (38-33) in a 4-game series beginning Monday night at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park. Fresh off being swept in a double header by Tampa Bay on Sunday, the Philllies, who are the reigning five-time National League East division champions, are currently sitting in last place. Meanwhile, the Pirates, who haven't had a winning record since 1992, sit just 1 game back of the Reds for the top spot in the NL Central division. The Phillies swept the Pirates in three games last season at Citizens Bank Park. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and other statistical info on this series. Monday, 7:05 PM. Jeff Karstens (0-1, 4.50) vs. Joe Blanton (6-6, 5.04 ERA). The right-handed Karstens will be returning from the disabled list, as he has been sidelined since April with a shoulder strain. In 6 career games against the Phillies, Karstens has no decisions and a 3.09 ERA. Kars...

With high hopes for another big season, the Phillies will travel to Pittsburgh to open a brand new campaign against the Pirates in a 3-game set. Last year, the Phillies notched a franchise record 102 wins, but fell short of great expectations by losing in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual champion Cardinals. In the season opener, the Phils will lean on the man that took the loss in their last game from 2011, Roy Halladay. In that outing, Halladay was strong, allowing just 1 run over 8 innings, but it was not enough to keep the Phillies afloat in October. Thursday's game will mark the tenth time that Halladay will start on opening day. All-time, the Phillies are 58-69-2 on opening day. Philadelphia will begin the regular season without two of their key offensive stars that have helped the club lock down five consecutive division titles. Second baseman Chase Utley is recovering from a nagging left knee ailment, while first baseman Ryan Howard is allowing his surgical...

Right-handed pitcher Claude Willoughby spent six seasons with the Phillies from 1925-1930. During his tenure with Philadelphia, he posted a 38-56 record, which was reflective of the team's troubles of the time, as the team sported the worst ERA in the big leagues for nine consecutive seasons beginning in 1922. With financial woes during this period, the team often relied on young, unproven arms, with Willoughby and his 5.83 career ERA with the Phils among them. After winning 21 minor league games in 1924, the Kansas native made his Major League debut late in the following season at age 26. Willoughby started three games as a rookie and won two of them. In 1926, Willoughby confirmed the trouble with handing the ball to an unproven pitcher over a lengthy stretch, when he led the National League in earned runs allowed with 111 in 47 games (19 starts). As a result of winning just 4 of his starts, Willoughby found himself taking on relief duty for much of the next two years. Nicknam...

The Phillies have acquired left-handed batting outfielder John Bowker from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Details released on Wednesday state that the Phillies will send a player to be named or cash considerations to complete the deal at a later date. The 28-year-old Bowker had gone 4-for-17 (.235 avg) in 19 games this year for the Pirates. In 106 games with Triple A Indianapolis this season, Bowker batted .306 with 15 homeruns and 76 RBI. Bowker, who has played in parts of five Major League seasons, is a former 3rd round draft pick by the San Francisco Giants. Bowker's career Major League batting line (.237/.289/.390) is not an improvement over the numbers produced by current Phils lefty hitting reserve outfielder Ross Gload (.280/.325/.408). In an effort to clear a 25-man roster spot, the Phillies optioned Michael Schwimer to Triple A Lehigh Valley following Tuesday night's victory over Cincinnati. The 25-year-old Schwimer is expected to return to the big league roster...

This weekend the Pittsburgh Pirates (54-49) travel to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies (65-39) in a three-game series that pits the Keystone State rivals against one another and begins on Friday evening at Citizens Bank Park. The Pirates won 2 of 3 games when these team met in Pittsburgh in June. Last season, the Phillies dropped 4 of 6 meetings with the Buccos. With both teams battling for a playoff spot in the National League, this series is primed to be an interesting one. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups as well as loads more statistics from this series. Friday, 7:05PM. Charlie Morton (8-5, 3.69 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (12-5, 2.44 ERA). In 8 starts on the road this season Morton has posted a 5-1 record with a 3.00 ERA. Morton has a 1-2 record with a 7.11 ERA in 4 career starts against the Phillies. In his previous 5 starts, Morton has a 1-2 record with a 5.40 ERA. Halladay is 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA in his last 5 home starts. In 4 career starts against the Pir...

The Phillies (34-22) continue their road trip in Pittsburgh this weekend, where they will play their Keystone State rivals, the Pirates (26-29). Expected to return to the Phillies' active roster in time for the series opener is outfielder Shane Victorino, who has been sidelined with a right hamstring strain since May 19th. To make room for Victorino, the Phils will reportedly option OF/1B John Mayberry Jr. to the minors. Victorino went 2-for-13 with a HR in 4 minor league rehab games since last Saturday. In the opener of the 3-game series, the Phillies will send their "fourth ace", Cole Hamels, who has won three straight starts, to the mound. Pittsburgh will counter with Jeff Karstens, who has spent time in the Pirates rotation and their bullpen this season. Read ahead for more info on the pitching match ups and more key details for this series. Friday, 7:05PM. Cole Hamels (7-2, 3.01 ERA) vs. Jeff Karstens (3-4, 3.58 ERA). In 4 career starts against the Pirates, Hamels i...

Woodrow "Woodie" Fryman was a pitcher with the Phillies from 1968-1972. The left-handed Fryman made his big league debut in 1966 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his two seasons with the Pirates, Fryman posted a 15-17 record and a 3.91 ERA in 64 games. Following the 1967 season, Fryman was among the group of four players that the Phillies got in exchange for hurler Jim Bunning. A powerful lefty, who relied on his fastball, Fryman started strong with Philadelphia in 1968. In his third start of the season, he threw a 2-hit shutout against the Astros and in May he tossed back-to-back shutouts against the Cardinals and Metropolitans, allowing a total of 8 hits in those games. Fryman became the Phillies' lone representative in that summer's All-star Game. Despite the outstanding start that season, a troublesome second half left the Kentucky native, Fryman, with a 12-14 record by season's end, but his 2.71 ERA was evidence of the solid efforts he put forth a...

Henry Lee Meadows was a pitcher with the Phillies from 1919-1923. Meadows was the first player in the 20th century to take the field while wearing eyeglasses. At the time this was quite unique. Journalists wondered how Meadows could find home plate, while opposing batters claimed to fear for their safety. The attention earned Meadows the nickname "Specs". Meadows, a right-handed hurler, made his Major League debut with the Cardinals at age 20 in 1915 after two winning season in the minor leagues. He was originally a spitball pitcher. In July 1919, Meadows was traded to the Phillies, along with infielder Gene Paulette, for Doug Baird, Elmer Jacobs and Frank Woodward. Out of his 17 starts for the Phillies that year, Meadows completed 15 of those games and threw 3 shut outs. The following season, in 1920, Meadows posted wins in 8 of his first 10 starts, but he struggled down the stretch and finished the season with a 16-14 record and a 2.84 ERA. Meadows threw 3 shut outs for the...

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all of you. As you celebrate this national holiday and stuff yourselves full of food, consider these things and thank the baseball gods for them. 5- Ozzie Guillen's bilingual Twitter account . I mean, yeah, he speaks two languages, but judging by the tweet pictured below, as well as plenty others, Ozzie may not really type any languages. 4- The history of the sport. Thanks to the lengthy past of baseball, fans are not stuck looking toward the steroid era's deceitful record breakers to find men who should never be regarded as icons of this great sport. Instead, they can simply reflect back to the very first induction class of the National Baseball Hall of Fame for players to despise . 3- One another. Yeah, fans...you make the whole experience just a little bit better. Whether you dress up like a team-supporting Humpty Dumpty, storm the playing field, dye/paint yourself to match the team's colors, or rattle your own team's most popular player wi...

AP Photo- Chase Utley injured his thumb on this play, where he was tagged out by Brandon Phillips As the Phillies head to Pittsburgh to begin a four game series against their Keystone State rivals, the Pirates, news has surfaced that Chase Utley, who hurt his thumb during Monday's game in Cincinnatti, will require surgery to repair a torn ligament. Several reports place Utley in New York City earlier today to have the surgery. Reported first by MLB Network's Peter Gammons, the news is likely to force the Phillies to make a deal in order to fill the void during Utley's absense. Until that happens, the existing team will need to focus on the task at hand, and that is to win series, starting in Pittsburgh. The current band of substitutes have been performing well for the Phillies as of late, with Utley, Placido Polanco and Carlos Ruiz on the shelf with injuries. Brian Schneider and Wilson Valdez have combined to go 10-for-32 (.313 avg) with 2 homers and 10 RBI over the past ...

Yesterday, PhoulBallz.com featured an article about the D'Arnaud brothers, Chase and Travis. Much of that took a look at the sibling rivalry from Chase's point of view. You can read that post by clicking here . Chase D'Arnaud is a short stop prospect in the Pirates system, currently playing for the Double-A level Altoona Curve. Chase had more to say on his season and professional career to date. Some of that action lies ahead. You've really cranked things up and turned it on here in June (.329 avg. this month, after batting .209 through April & May). What improvements have you made and/or what do you attribute to getting things turned around this month? Well, coming out this season, in the very beginning, I didn't really feel my swing out and I saw some footage a couple weeks ago from my Arizona Fall League at bats, when out hitting coordinator came into town, and it seemed to really help me out a lot. Right now I just feel really balanced and I feel like my swi...

The D'Arnaud brothers, Chase and Travis, have been in opposing dugouts since they graduated little league. They attended rival high schools and then they were pitted against one another in the minors, when different Pennsylvania teams drafted each of them. Travis was selected by the Phillies as a supplemental 1st round pick in 2007 and Chase was picked by the Pirates in the 4th round of the 2008 amateur draft. Regular PhoulBallz readers should be familiar with Travis (interviews here and here ), the former Phillies prospect, who was among the minor leaguers traded to the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay last December. However, we've not heard from Chase, the Pirates shortstop prospect, here, until now. Dating back to their youth, Chase and Travis have played for rival teams. During their teenage years in California, Chase attended Los Alamitos High School and Travis attended Lakewood High School. In Chase's first pro season, the brothers faced each other in the NY-Penn League, w...