By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
This past week, we've covered four of the six Philadelphia Phillies minor league teams. Up next is their Advanced 'A' affiliate in Florida, the Clearwater Threshers. The team started off the season with some of the Phillies top infield prospects, including Scott Kingery and Mitch Walding, but they've since moved on to Double-A. Despite that, the Threshers are right in the thick of the playoff race with just over two weeks to go in the season. The Florida State League is one of the toughest leagues to hit in with the majority of the ballparks serving as Spring Training facilities with Major League outfield wall dimensions. Heading into Monday night's games, Clearwater has a 35-22 record in the second half and is 74-51 overall. In the FSL, the season is cut into two halves, with records resetting after 70 games. There's a first half and second half champion in each division along with a wild card team.
Top hitters
With both Kingery and Walding in Double-A, Clearwater's offense highlighted by catcher Chace Numata, infielders Zach Green and Kyle Martin along with outfielder Zachary Coppola.
Numata, 24, is a veteran in the Phillies minor league system having been drafted back in the 2010 draft by the Phillies in the 14th round. While he doesn't show a ton of power, Numata has strong plate discipline, with 33 walks and 38 strikeouts, while also managing to hit .320 with 17 doubles, two homers and 31 RBIs. Numata has played in 84 games, compared to Gabriel Lino's 40, so he's the primary catcher for the club.
Although Zach Green is hitting just .263 overall, which isn't necessarily bad in a pitcher friendly league, he's been hot at the plate as of late, hitting .343 (12-for-35) over his last 10 games with three doubles, a homer and seven RBIs. Overall on the season, he has 24 doubles and 12 homers, good for second on the team behind fellow infield prospect Kyle Martin.
Martin, 23, was a fourth round pick of the Phillies in the 2015 draft and he's displaying power in his second season with the organization. After hitting five homers will Class 'A' Lakewood last season, Martin has 17 in 2016, good for fourth in the Florida State League. His 74 RBIs are good for a second place tie in the league. Overall this season, Martin is hitting .246 with a .343 on-base percentage.
Outfielder Zachary Coppola has only played 14 games thus far with Clearwater, but his success at the plate has continued since his promotion to the Threshers from Lakewood. After hitting .324 with the Blueclaws through 52 games, Coppola is off to a .320 start in Advanced 'A' ball, including a .371 average over his last 10 games. He another another prospect to watch in terms of impressive plate discipline. He has a .407 OBP and has walked (33) nearly as many times as he's gone down on strikes (35). Coppola was picked by the Phillies in the 13th round of the 2015 draft out of South Dakota State.
Top pitchers
Clearwater has had some impressive pitching this season with Phillies No. 20 prospect Elniery Garcia leading the way. Garcia has been in the organization since 2012 with the Dominican Summer League team and posted a strong 3.23 ERA in 21 starts last season with Lakewood. This year with the Threshers, he's 10-4 with a 2.86 ERA in 18 games (17 starts), holding opposing hitters to a .231 average. He throws a fastball, curveball and changeup and although it's tough to project where he could end up in the majors, if he keeps building and improving, he could prove to be a back of the rotation arm come 2018 or 2019.
Temple University alumni Matt Hockenberry has been strong out of the bullpen for Clearwater, posting a 3-1 record to along with a 1.33 ERA. The Phillies selected him in the ninth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft. He's 10-5 with a 2.64 ERA in 143 innings during his pro career thus far.
Playoff outlook
Clearwater is in a tough division led by the Dunedin Blue Jays (37-20), but they only trail them by two games, putting them in the wild card lead as it stands in the FSL North. A playoff berth is not guaranteed or a given at this point though, despite their impressive record. Daytona is game behind them and the Tampa Yankees four games back in the wild card race. Last season, Clearwater made the postseason but got swept out of the first round by Daytona.
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