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Righty batting infielder Hunter Stovall joined the Phillies organization earlier this season in a trade with the Rockies for lefty hurler James Pazos.  Following the deal, Stovall, who was a 21st round draft pick last year, joined the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. In 61 games for the 'Claws, the 22-year-old Mississippi State product has tallied a .216 average with eight doubles, three triples and 19 RBI. Last week I talked with Hunter about the trade, not being an everyday player at times, his faith and tons more.  Read ahead for that interview. -You start out the year elsewhere.  What can you tell me about your season and the trade to come over to the Phillies? The trade was a surprise, of course. I mean I hadn’t even been in pro ball a year and I’m already getting traded, so it was kind of a shock. But, it is what it is, but the season this year, I haven’t got to get in there as much as I’d like, but I guess it’s just the way the Phillies work. It is what i...

Matt Kroon, image- Jay Floyd Infielder Matt Kroon has been one of the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws' most consistent hitters this season and he's been enjoying the success in his first full season as a pro player. Through 26 games this season in the South Atlantic League, the Phillies' 18th round pick from 2018 sports a .289 average with five doubles, a triple and seven RBI.   Primarily a first baseman, Kroon, the son of former big league pitcher Marc Kroon, has also played second base and third base for the 'Claws. Kroon was the Phillies' 18th round draft selection last year. I spoke with Matt about his success at the plate, exposure to professional baseball as a child, his teammates including last year's top pick Alec Bohm and plenty more.  Some excerpts from our talk are shared below, but you can check out the complete interview at Patreon.com/PhoulBallz . -Were there any moments from childhood that stick in your memory that made you fall i...

The Rockies (35-32) were dealt a poor hand on Thursday, when three of their regulars suffered injuries.  Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki , the National League's second leading hitter, has been placed on the disabled list with a broken rib suffered on a diving defensive play in Thursday's contest against Washington.  Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez was drilled with a line dive foul, while standing on deck in that game, while outfielder Dexter Fowler was hit by a pitch on his hand. The Phillies (32-35) are no strangers to ailing stars, as the team currently has two All-Stars, second baseman Chase Utley and catcher Carlos Ruiz , on the disabled list with injuries of their own.  Additionally, multi-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay is out of action following shoulder surgery and starting hurler John Lannan has missed nearly two months due to a left quad issue. Both clubs will try to persevere as they begin a three-game series at Coors Field on Friday night. The...

The Phillies (66-71) will host the last place Rockies (56-80) in a three-game set this weekend. In the series opener, the Phils will send lefty ace Cliff Lee, who has the opportunity to win three consecutive starts for the first time this season, to the mound. Colorado will counter with left-hander Jeff Francis, who allowed 1 run in 5 innings of work in a no decision when he last faced the Phillies in June. The two clubs have equally split their six previous meetings this season. To read more about the pitching match ups and other key statistical details on this series, read head. Friday, 7:05 PM. Jeff Francis (5-4, 5.73 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (4-7, 3.52 ERA). Lee is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in 2 career starts against the Rockies. In his last 4 starts, Lee has a 2-0 record with a 1.91 ERA. Lee has a 1-5 record with a 4.14 ERA in 11 starts at home this year. Francis is 2-0 with a 5.14 ERA in his last 6 starts. In 8 road starts this season, Francis has a 2-1 record with a 4.69 ERA. J...

The second half of the season kicks off this weekend when the last place Phillies (37-50), who have high hopes of turning their season around, visit Colorado's Coors Field and take on the Rockies (33-52), in a 3-game series. Colorado is also in last place in the National League West division. Champions of the N.L. East division in each of the past five years, the Phillies' record is the worst it has been at the All-Star Break since 1997, when the club possessed a 24-61 record. The Phillies won four of five meetings with the Rockies last season, including all three in Colorado. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and loads more statistical notes from this upcoming series. Friday, 8:40 PM. Cliff Lee (1-5, 3.98 ERA) vs. Christian Friedrich (4-6, 5.98 ERA). In 8 road starts this season, Lee has posted a 1-1 record with a 3.95 ERA. Lee is 1-2 with a 6.07 ERA over his last 4 starts. Michael Cuddyer is 10-for-33 (.303 avg) with 3 doubles and 3 HR in his career ...

Beginning on Tuesday night, the Phillies (31-37) and the Rockies (25-40) will begin a three-game series that will enable the remainder of Major League Baseball to continue inter-league play. The odd teams out will be the only teams not facing an opponent from the opposite league. Last season the Phillies won 4 of 5 meetings with the Rockies. Overall, the Phils have also taken 20 of the past 24 meetings with Colorado. For a review of the pitching match ups and other details on this series, read ahead. Tuesday, 7:05 PM. Josh Outman (0-2, 8.44 ERA) Cole Hamels (9-3, 3.34 ERA). Outman, a former Phillies farm hand, has faced the Phils just once, taking a loss when he allowed 3 earned runs in 6 innings. Outman, a lefty, will be starting his 4th game of the season. Hamels has a 6.07 ERA over his last 4 starts. In 3 career regular season starts against Colorado, Hamels has a 1-1 record with a 5.09 ERA. In 7 home starts this season, Hamels has a 4-3 record with a 3.26 ERA. Wednesday, 7:0...

In a trade with the Colorado Rockies, the Phillies have acquired multi-positional veteran Ty Wigginton . A 10-year Major Leaguer, Wigginton is a .265 career hitter with 158 homeruns with six different teams. The 34-year-old first baseman/second baseman/third basemen/outfielder joins a Phillies team that was in need of a versatile offensive threat such as Wigginton that could fill in for the likes of Ryan Howard , Chase Utley and Placido Polanco and become a solid presence in the five-time defending National League East division champions' lineup. The right-handed hitting Wigginton, who stands 6 feet tall and weighs 230 pounds, is slated to earn $4 million in 2012 with a club option for the same amount in 2013, with a $500,000 buyout. In the deal, the Phillies are reportedly getting back $2 million, so essentially, Philadelphia will pay Wigginton $2 million in 2012. In return the Phillies will send back a player to be named later or cash. The addition is a very good one for ...

The Phillies, owners of Major League Baseball's best record at 68-39, travel out west to begin a three-game series on Monday night when they take on the under-performing Rockies (51-57) who sit in third place, 10 games behind San Francisco, in the National League West division. In a brief two-game series at Citizens Bank Park in May, the two teams each prevailed with one win. Cole Hamels will take the mound for Philadelphia in the series opener. The lefty Hamels last faced the Rockies when he took a loss in game 2 of the 2009 NL Division Series, allowing 4 earned runs in 5 innings pitched. The Rockies will counter with right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, who is winless in his last 7 starts. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and other key statistics for this series. Monday, 8:40PM. Cole Hamels (12-6, 2.61 ERA) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (8-8, 3.50 ERA). In his last 3 road starts, Hamels is 1-2 with a 5.93 ERA. Hamels has a 1-2 record with a 4.50 ERA since the All-star Break. I...

The Phillies (40-26) return home on Wednesday, to start a brief 2-game series with the Colorado Rockies (22-18) in what will be a clash of two first place teams. In the series opener, the National League West leading Rockies will send lefty Jorge De La Rosa, who was never beaten the Phillies, to the mound. The 4-time defending East Division champion Phillies will counter with Cole Hamels, who allowed 7 earned runs in 3 2/3 innings in his only previous regular season start against Colorado in 2009. Last year the Phillies won 6 of 7 meetings with the Rockies, including all 4 games played in Philadelphia. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and plenty more key statistics from this series. Wednesday, 7:05PM. Jorge De La Rosa (5-1, 3.70 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (4.2, 3.19 ERA). In 6 career games against the Phillies, De La Rosa has a 0-3 record with a 8.78 ERA and a .321 batting average against. In 5 road starts this season, De La Rosa is 2-1 with a 3.82 ERA. Shane Victorino is 4-...

The Phillies' offensive struggles have lasted for weeks, but have been more evident in recent days, as the team has fallen 7 games behind the division leading Braves. In the past 3 games, the Phillies have scored just 4 runs. In 19 games in July, the Phillies have scored more than 4 runs in a game just 7 times and have scored 2 runs or less in a game exactly as often. As a result of the recent offensive struggles, the team relieved hitting coach Milt Thompson of his duties on Thursday night. Taking Thompson's place will be former Phillies bench coach and hitting coach Greg Gross, who has coached at 4 different levels of the Phillies' minor league system since 2005. Gross once played with the Phillies, as well, and reached 2 World Series with the club (1980 & 1983). This weekend, the low-scoring Phillies (49-46), who have posted a 2-6 record since the All-star break, will host the Rockies (51-44) for a 4-game series. Colorado is 8 games under .500 on the road, while the ...

Major League Baseball issued a warning on Tuesday regarding accusations that Phillies bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer was stealing signs during Monday night's game against the Rockies in Colorado. The concern over the situation was sparked when Billmeyer was spotted using binoculars from the Phillies' bullpen while the Phillies were at bat. Accusations from the Rockies stated that Billmeyer was watching the catcher's signs to the pitcher and relaying tips to the Phillies' dugout via telephone. The statement from MLB stated, "We found the evidence inconclusive on what was being done, but we have spoken to the Phillies about the situation, and the umpires have been told to be on full alert as to what is going on." According to Fox News, the Metropolitans are believed to have also filed a complaint about the Phillies, after they mopped the field with Johan Santana on national television two weekends ago. The incident in Colorado was brought to light after the Rockie...

Since the Rockies swept the Phillies out of the 2007 playoffs, Philadelphia has been relentless against their new rival. Last October, the phrase " Get me to the plate, boys " was born, as Ryan Howard ended the Rockies' season. This week, the Phillies return to Colorado for the first time since then. The Phillies also won both regular season series against the Rockies last year, winning 2 of 3 in both Philadelphia and Denver. In addition, the Phils won both regular season series in 2008. Overall, the Phils have won 5 straight series against Colorado. This week's clash of NL contenders has the third place Rockies (15-16) hosting the first place Phillies (19-12) for a 3 games series. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and other key notes from this series. Monday, 8:40pm. Kyle Kendrick (1-1, 5.87 ERA) vs. Greg Smith (1-2, 6.35 ERA). Kendrick, in 3 road starts this year, has no decisions and a 5.29 ERA. In 4 regular season starts against Colorado, Kendrick ...

This evening, the Phillies will make an attempt to eliminate the Rockies from the 2009 postseason. It would be the Phillies' second win of the day, as sometime after 2am Eastern, Brad Lidge locked down a save following a Ryan Howard RBI sac fly in the 9th inning, to put Philadelphia ahead 2-1 in the series. Read ahead for notes on the pitching match up and some additional details from this game. Monday, 6:07pm. Cliff Lee (14-13, 3.22 ERA in regular season...1-0, 1.29 ERA in postseason)vs. Ubaldo Jiminez (15-12, 3.47 ERA in the regular season...0-1 with a 9.00 ERA this postseason). Lee nearly shut out the Rockies in game one of this series, but surrendered a single run in the 9th inning last Wednesday. Lee has never pitched at Coors Field before. Lee is 3-1 with a 2.64 ERA in 4 career starts in October. Jimenez was 6-3 with a 3.06 ERA in his last 10 regular season starts. In 15 starts at Coors Field this season, Jimenez was 8-5 with a 3.34 ERA and a .234 batting avg. against. Chase...

Practice- Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins in the cold weather at Coors Field on Friday It's 19 degrees and snowing in Denver, so MLB has postponed tonight's game 3 of the National League Division Series. The third game of the only MLB division series that isn't 2-0 at this point will be played tomorrow at 10:07pm, and game 4 that was originally slated to occur in that time slot will be pushed back to Monday. The delay of game 4 would allow Cliff Lee to start that game on regular rest. Read on for details on the game 3 pitching match up and other key notes. Game 3- Sunday, 10:07pm. Pedro Martinez (5-1, 3.63 ERA) vs. Jason Hammel (10-8, 4.33 ERA). Pedro has pitched only twice since his September 13th gem against the Metropolitans. In those two games, he is 0-1 with 6 earned runs allowed in 7 innings pitched (7.71 ERA). In his career vs. Colorado, Martinez is 2-3 with a 4.31 ERA, a .247 batting avg. against and a complete game shutout in 10 games. Jason Giambi...

I am not sure that I want to write about the Phillies losing game 2 of the NLDS to the Rockies on Thursday. Honestly, that's not even the worst news of the day regarding this series. Would you like to know what was...? MLB and/or TBS announced late Thursday evening that game 4 of this series, on Sunday night, will start at 10:07pm EST. Yeah, seriously. TBS/Turner Broadcasting having exclusive rights to the first round of the MLB playoffs is absurd now and needs to be rectified in the future. These start times are NOT convenient for fans. How are Colorado and Philadelphia area fans supposed to watch weekday games at 12:37/2:37pm? How are east coasters supposed to tune in for games that run past 12:30am every night? When games overlap (earlier game runs over start time for later game), TBS bumps the start of the later game over to its sister station TNT. With multiple stations at their disposal, Turner does not NEED TO have start times that are all four hours apart. They could easily...

The first of the Phillies' two "aces" threw a gem in his post season debut on Wednesday. Cliff Lee sailed through the first 8 innings of the 2009 playoff opener against the Colorado Rockies, before surrendering an RBI double to Troy Tulowitzki in the 9th inning. Lee, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, also recorded the first stolen base ever by a Phillies pitcher in the post season, when he singled and stole second base in the 3rd inning. Following their 5-1 win in game 1 of the NLDS, the Phillies are now 8-0 at home in the postseason since they were swept by the Rockies in the opening round of the 2007 playoffs. Each of the Phillies 9 batters notched at least one hit on the day. The 4, 5 & 6 batters (Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez) had 2 hits each. The Phillies will go right back at it for game 2 against the Rockies at 2:37pm EST. Starting for the Phillies will be that other "ace", Colbert Hamels. -------------------------------...

Wake up, pholks...it's been a full year, and it's time to live another October! The second MLB season begins in Philadelphia when the Rockies visit the Phillies to begin a best of five series, with the earliest game time on Wednesday. Read ahead for pitching match up details as well as other key notes from the series. Wednesday, 2:37pm. Ubaldo Jimenez (15-12, 3.47 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (7-4, 3.39 ERA with the Phillies). Jimenez is 2-2 with a 5.06 ERA in his last 5 starts. Jimenez was 6-9 before the all star break and went 9-3 afterward. Pedro Feliz is 3-for-4 off of Jimenez with a HR and 3 RBI. Six Phillies have multiple hits off of Jimenez, none of which have more than 6 at bats. Lee's focus must be to not allow any long balls. Since joining the Phillies, Lee has allowed homers in 4 games...in those games Lee is 0-4 with a 10.07 ERA. In his 8 homerless starts as a Phillie, Lee is 7-0 with a 1.20 ERA. It's obvious that when Lee is on, it's a lock for the Phils, and whe...

The 8, ohh, um...9(?) teams for the 2009 postseason are all finalized. The National League will see division champions Philadelphia, St. Louis and Los Angeles, as well as Wild Card winner Colorado fighting it out for a trip to the World Series. The American League has Wild Card winner Boston joining division winners New York and Anaheim, while Detroit and Minnesota still must play a one game play-in to clinch the AL Central. This postseason should be great for MLB. There are lots of big market teams in the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Angels and the Phillies to draw TV ratings. There is that team with the national following, in the Red Sox, to appeal to the masses. There are also regional favorites like the Cardinals to draw viewers, as well as smaller market Cinderella squads like the Rockies and whoever the AL Central winner turns out to be, that should interest news sources and other fans. I am definitely looking forward to all the match ups this postseason. It's truly tough to pic...

The National League playoff participants are all decided. The Rockies clinched a berth in the postseason, with a win over the Brewers on Thursday. All that is left is playing out the weekend to decide each team's place and seed. The Rockies or the Dodgers could be the Wild Card entrant. Colorado is 2 games behind Los Angeles, and the teams will be going head to head for three games. Colorado needs to sweep to win the West Division. The Phillies and Cardinals have qualified also as the champions of their respective divisions. With three games left for everyone, the Dodgers enjoy the best record at 93-66. The Phillies are a game behind, at 92-67. The Cardinals have the same record as the Rockies at 91-68. The team with the best record after Sunday gets home field advantage for the division series and the league championship series. Home field advantage for the World Series is decided by the league that wins the all star game, as most of you know. The tiebreakers for best record/#1 se...