With just under a week before the draft, the Phillies announced their minor league pitcher and player of the month for May. The teams' 2014 first round pick, Aaron Nola, earned pitcher of the month while 22-year-old first baseman Rhys Hoskins took home minor league player of the month. Nola has been quite the storyline in the Phillies system this year while Hoskins has been flying beneath the radar to most.
Nola, 21, holds a 6-3 record to go along with an impressive 1.81 ERA in Double-A Reading this season. In six starts during the month of May, the LSU alum went 4-1 and posted an ERA of 1.35 spanning six starts and 40 innings. In his last start against Richmond on May 30th, Nola tossed seven strong innings, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out seven in Reading's 4-3 against Richmond. This season, Nola has struck out 50 hitters and walked just seven as opposing batters have just a .215 average against him. As the Phillies official press release reveals, Nola has been dominant and leads the Eastern League with 64.1 innings pitched, and is third in WHIP (0.87), fourth in wins (6) and strikeouts (50), fifth in ERA (1.81) and batting average against (.215). If Nola continues to pitch well for Reading, he could get the call to Lehigh Valley very soon.
Hoskins, 22, isn't one of the Phillies top 10 prospects this season, but has had an impressive campaign thus far for Class 'A' Lakewood, slashing .328/.407/.513 with 11 doubles, three triples, six home runs, 31 runs scored and 33 RBI's. Over his last 10 games, Hoskins is hitting .350 (14-for-40) with two doubles, a home run and six RBI's. Selected in the fifth round of the 2014 draft, Hoskins is an alum of Cal State Sacramento and ranks fifth in the South Atlantic League in hitting and first with 97 total bases.
Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com
