Switch-hitting second base prospect Harold Garcia of the Clearwater Threshers has been named the Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Player of the Month for June 2010. Matthew Way of the Lakewood BlueClaws has been named the Phillies’ Minor League Pitcher of the Month.
Garcia, who to this point in his career has not had a lot of pop in his bat, had an explosive month during which he batted .370 with eight doubles, two triples, and two home runs. He collected 22 RBI and 13 runs scored and stole 10 bases in 13 attempts for the High-A Threshers.
Garcia is batting .335 with a .492 slugging percentage and an .889 OPS. He has hit safely in 43 of 46 games after beginning the season in extended spring training before joining Clearwater on May 16th.
Garcia is a switch-hitting second baseman who stands at 5’11” and 165 pounds. While any thought of Garcia joining the big club before 2012 is out of the question, Garcia will be worth a look down the road.
Matthew Way, the Phillies fifth-round selection a year ago out of Washington State University, was electric in the month of June, going 4-0 with a 1.32 ERA in four starts for the Single-A BlueClaws. Way had 21 strikeouts and nine walks in 27.1 innings while allowing an opponents batting average of only 1.65.
At 23 years old, the 6’1″ left-hander is developing nicely, and the Phillies would like to see him major league ready sooner rather than later. His performance in June represents a significant turnaround from his earlier season performance. He is now 7-4 with a 3.65 ERA in 14 starts with the BlueClaws this season.
Asher B. Chancey lives in Philadelphia and is a co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com .
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com