By: Brandon Apter, contributor 
With the amount of trades that the Phillies have made over the past couple of years, its easy to forget about a few of the minor ones. In an attempt to dump salary and move on from the aging players on the roster, one of the moves the team made was with the Reds. They sent veteran outfielder Marlon Byrd to Cincinnati in exchange for pitching prospect Ben Lively, who was coming off a strong season between Class 'A' and Advanced 'A' in the Reds organization. He went 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA in 2014, with hitters averaging just .215 against him. It was a good deal for the Phils whether or not Lively turned any heads since Byrd's contract was off the roster.
The first year for Lively in the Phillies organization had its bumps. After posting a 1.42 ERA through three April starts, things got rough for Lively in the following months of 2014. Hitters were figuring him out, averaging .290 against him in May, .304 in June and .333 in July. After coming back from the DL in August for a two-week stint, he finished the season with a 4.13 ERA, a far cry from his strong numbers with the Reds minor league affiliates.
This season, Lively has started out hot again, but hopes to keep things rolling once the 1st of May rolls around in a little over a week. He's been in control all season so far on the mound. Lively opened the season on April 8th against Portland and hurled six innings of two-run ball, striking out seven. The 24-year-old righty followed that up with five innings of two-run ball on the 13th against Richmond, punching out nine hitters. Over his past two starts, spanning 13 innings, Lively has scattered just six hits while fanning 11 and walking none. He's shown a lot more confidence in his pitches this season and credits it to pitching where he knows he can succeed.
"Last year I felt more like I had to do everything myself, like I had to dominate every single inning and every single batter," he said. "But this year I'm just pitching to where I know I can pitch. I'm throwing quality strikes and getting quick innings, and everything else gets put together easy if you can do that." [MiLB.com]
Lively is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP through four starts this season. He's struck out 27 and walked just two while holding hitters to a .187 average against. If he keeps this roll going, he could find himself among the likes of Zach Eflin, Jake Thompson and Mark Appel in the Triple-A rotation sooner rather than later. His recent hot streak has earned him Pitcher of the Week honors in the Eastern League, one week after teammate Jorge Alfaro earned the Player of the Week award.
The @EasternLeague weekly awards go to @BowieBaysox OF Mike Yastrzemski and @ReadingFightins RHP Ben Lively. https://t.co/weSrntO5GV
— Eastern League (@EasternLeague) April 25, 2016
2016 has not only been a good start for Lively on the mound, but also at the plate. He's 4-for-5 on offense with two RBI's, a walk and a strikeout. Back on April 13th, Lively went 2-for-2 against Tyler Beede, who's ranked as the second best prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization. He followed that game up by going 2-for-3 against the Giants 17th best prospect with two RBI's in Reading's 6-2 win back on April 18th.
"I hit a lot when I was with the Reds in Pensacola [in 2014]," Lively said. "I felt like growing up I was a decent hitter. I guess I'm just seeing the ball pretty well. A couple of them were lucky hits." [MiLB.com]
Lively's next turn in the rotation should come on Friday night when the Fightin Phils square off against Portland on the road.
