Minor league second baseman Daniel Brito earns Gold Glove Award

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For the second consecutive season the Philadelphia Phillies organization has the best defensive second baseman in the minor leagues.

Daniel Brito, who split the season between the Low-A Lakewood BlueClaws and the High-A Clearwater Threshers, was named as a Gold Glover by Minor League Baseball and the Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. in honors announced on Monday.

The 20-year-old second baseman was signed by the Phillies back in 2014 as an amateur free agent out of his native Venezuela. He played 92 games with Lakewood this season, then was promoted to Clearwater where he appeared in another 27 contests.

In announcing the honor, Minor League Baseball stated that Brito “…recorded a .988 fielding percentage in 116 games, the highest mark among second basemen in Minor League Baseball. The 20-year-old handled 418 total chances in 92 games for Class A Lakewood, and 101 more in 24 games for Class A Advanced Clearwater, helping turn 78 double plays across the two levels.”

Brito is ranked as the #12 Phillies prospect by MLB.com at this time. In our Phillies Nation Top 20 Phillies Prospects rankings back in early August, he received mention in the “Also receiving votes” section.

A year ago it was Scott Kingery being honored as the minor league 2017 Gold Glove Award winner at second base. Kingery went on top play most of this 2018 season as the Phillies starting shortstop.

Brito is considered a glove-first player at present. He hit for just a .252/.307/.342 slash line with 16 stolen bases over 468 plate appearances across the two minor league levels this past season.

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Daniel Brito earns minor league Gold Glove honors"

Zach Warren named as Low-A Lakewood BlueClaws POY

This guy is not the BlueClaws Player of the Year
(Photo: Ted Kerwin)

The Lakewood BlueClaws became the ‘Low-A’ minor league affiliates of the Philadelphia Phillies beginning with their relocation to that New Jersey community for the 2000 season.

The BlueClaws play their home games at FirstEnergy Park. Built in 2001, the ballpark seats nearly 6,600 fans and has hosted outdoor concerts by big names, including the legendary Bob Dylan.

Lakewood, New Jersey is approximately 69 miles northeast of Philadelphia. It is about an hour-and-twenty-minute drive starting out either on I-95 or the New Jersey Turnpike, and finishing up along I-195.

In the 2018 season the BlueClaws finished in first place in the North Division of the South Atlantic League. In fact, their 87-51 mark was the best by far in the entire SAL.

Despite their fantastic regular season, Lakewood fell short of a championship. The BlueClaws swept Kannapolis by 2-0 in the playoff semi-finals, then edged Lexington by 6-5 in the opener of the finals. However, Lexington roared back to take three straight by scores of 5-2, 6-3, and 2-1 to capture the SAL championship.

This year’s BlueClaws Player of the Year is Zach Warren. The 6-5, 200lb reliever turned 22-years-old in early June. He was the Phillies 14th round choice in the 2017 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of Tennessee.

The hard-throwing southpaw reliever registered 15 Saves this season, appearing in 39 games. Over that span the lefty dominated opposing hitters, allowing just 33 hits across 56.2 innings with a 100/28 K:BB ratio.

Warren fashioned a 3-2 record with a 1.91 ERA, a 1.076 WHIP, and was tagged for just two home runs this year. He became the closer for the BlueClaws in June after starting out the season in middle relief.

Patrick Mulranen for the Press of Atlantic City quoted Warren on the change in role back in the middle of July:

“It’s different. I had things to work out in the beginning of the year to get that consistency that I wanted. But now I feel like my mechanics, my plan and my pitches are all coming together at the right time, and it’s giving me the ability to execute pitches and get guys out.”

“Zach has been a privilege to work with this year,” Lakewood pitching coach Brad Bergesen said per Mulranen. “He is an extremely hard worker. He is very diligent with his preparation…He has found himself in that (closer) role and has done a tremendous job…Every single day, we really preach preparation here. That has been our big thing, and he has been a guy that really takes that seriously. He is very routine-oriented. … You can tell he does everything with an intent…I think he has a great feel for what he is doing. He’s got a great curveball and fastball mix. I’m very pleased with how he’s doing right now.”

A native of Vineland, New Jersey, Warren grew up as a huge Phillies fan during last decade’s fabulous winning era. As he told Mulranen, that has given him additional motivation to reach the big-leagues and eventual wear the red pinstripes:

“It’s an awesome feeling. The pitchers that I model myself after — Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, a lot of guys like that — it is cool to play in the same organization that they left a big mark on.”

As with Ben Pelletier, named yesterday as the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters Player of the Year, Warren has not yet shown up on any of the Phillies top prospect lists. However, there is always a place for a tough lefty reliever. 

Should he repeat his dominating performance when next season gets underway, Warren is sure to begin popping up on evaluator radar screens.

Originally published by Phillies Nation as "Lakewood BlueClaws Player of the Year: Zach Warren"

Pharm Report: Low-A Lakewood BlueClaws

The Phillies 'Low-A' level minor league club, the Lakewood BlueClaws, currently find themselves at the bottom of the South Atlantic (SAL) League standings in the North Division.

The BlueClaws are 16-24, which has them tied with the Marlins' affiliates in Greensboro for last place. Both teams trail the first place Hagerstown Suns (Nationals) by 10.5 games already.

Manager Shawn Williams' club has been hurt by the struggles of one of the Phillies top minor league pitching prospects at the lower levels, right-hander Franklyn Kilome.

Kilome thus far has an 0-4 record with a 7.30 ERA and a 1.99 WHIP. He has allowed 34 hits in 24.2 innings with a 25/15 K:BB ratio across his first half-dozen starts.

Named as our #7 Phillies prospect over at TBOH during the preseason, Kilome had a solid season a year ago with short-season Williamsport as a 20-year old during which he saw a major uptick in his fastball, leading to the lofty ranking.

Kilome struggled mightily with command and control issues during the season's opening month. In April, the righty went 0-3 with a 15.83 ERA and walked 10 batters over his first 9.1 innings.

However, things may finally be coming together for the high-ceiling pitcher who is now 21 years old.

Franklyn Kilome Has Rough Start

On a freezing cold Thursday afternoon at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington, Kentucky, the Phillies A-level affiliate Lakewood BlueClaws opened their 2016 season with a 7-4 defeat at the hands of the host Lexington Legends.

When the BlueClaws starting pitcher, Franklyn Kilome, strode out to the mound the thermostat read 37 degrees on an overcast afternoon that blotted out any chance of a warming sun. The 18mph winds blowing out of left field made the temperatures on the field feel more like it was in the low-teens.

The 20-year old Kilome was ranked by our staff here at TBOH as the Phillies' #7 overall prospect back in February. He is a tall and lanky native of the Dominican Republic whom the club signed as a 17-year old international free agent back in January 2013.

A huge spike in the velocity of his fastball and improved command of his secondary pitches shot Kilome up all of the major scouting boards last summer, to the point now where he is considered as a Top 10 organizational prospect by evaluators across the game.

RELATED STORY: TBOH Phillies #7 Prospect: Franklyn Kilome

Very little of that was on display on Thursday afternoon, as Kilome appeared overwhelmed by the weather conditions. He was crushed for five earned runs on five hits including a home run in just two innings pitched. He also walked four batters while striking out just two.

Prior to the start, Lakewood skipper Shawn Williams had said that Kilome "was very impressive" during spring training. That spring performance and last season's results had led Williams to name the youngster as his starting pitcher on Opening Day in the minor leagues.

While the weather was certainly a major factor for Kilome on Thursday, it didn't seem to affect 22-year old fellow Dominican Jose Taveras, who followed Kilome with three shutout innings over which the 6'4" righty struck out five and walked two. So the weather cannot be considered as the sole issue with Kilome's performance.

Kilome is next scheduled to take the mound for the BlueClaws on Tuesday night in Hagerstown, Maryland on what is likely to prove to be another cool evening. The Phillies would love to see their young prospect gut up some mental toughness and overcome the typical northeast April chill, and begin to bring some of the heat that he showed a year ago.

Phillies 2015 Winter Banquet Circuit

Phillies Winter Banquets coming in late January 2015

The Phillies Winter Banquet circuit takes players, coaches and staff on a tour around the various minor league affiliates as an opportunity for fans in those locales to meet the big leaguers. It is also an important fund-raising charitable opportunity.

Phils manager Ryne Sandberg leads the contingent this time around, and he will be joined by various players at the different minor league venues in Lakewood, Reading, and out in the Lehigh Valley.

On Tuesday evening, January 20th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Reading, PA the doors will open for a cocktail hour beginning at 5:30pm. This will be followed by the actual banquet at 6:30pm. In addition to Sandberg, the scheduled guests of honor are players Ben Revere, Domonic Brown, and Ken Giles. 

This event in Reading will benefit Baseballtown Charities. For reservations you can call 610-370-BALL, or visit the Ticket Office at FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading, or visit Fightins.com for more information. Baseballtown Charities keeps the game alive in Reading through programs that honor the city’s baseball history, and secure its future by giving kids the chance to play and learn from the game’s life lessons.

The banquet circuit moves to the Woodlake Country Club in Lakewood, NJ the following evening of January 21st. Here the gates will open at 6pm, with the event beginning at 6pm. A full 3-course dinner will be served, and your $40 tickets will benefit BlueClaws Charities and their community partners program.

The guests of honor in Lakewood are again scheduled to be Sandberg and players Revere, Brown, and Giles. Tickets can be purchased online at the Lakewood Blue Claws MiLB site, or by calling JoAnne Bell at 732-901-7000 ext 100. You will be asked to choose between Roast Sliced Sirloin, Chicken Francaise, or Flounder Bella Vista for your dinner main course.

Finally, the Lehigh Valley banquet stop will take place on Thursday, January 22nd, with a cocktail hour beginning at 6pm at the Sands Event Center in Bethlehem, PA. Tickets here are $85 per person, tables of 10 for $775. There are also “Championship Table” setups available at $1,500 which allow entrance to a private pre-event reception.

This Lehigh Valley event benefits IronPigs Charities, and the guests of honor include Sandberg, Revere, and Brown joined this time by both Darin Ruf and David Buchanan. To order tickets, call 610-841-PIGS, or you can email Dana DeFilippo at ddefilippo@ironpigsbaseball.com, or order online at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs winter banquet site.