Singleton, 19, left Clearwater hitting .284 with nine homers and 47 RBI. The Astros assigned him to the Lancaster JetHawks of the advanced-Class A California League. He's played 21 games for the JetHawks and is hitting .313 with four homers and 11 RBI through the weekend. Of his 26 hits, 12 have been for extra bases.
Santana, who turned 19 this month, was toiling at low-A Lakewood when he was dealt, hitting .269 with seven homers and 32 RBI. He's now with South Atlantic League rival Lexington, where he's 6-for-20 (.300) in five games with the Legends.
Zeid, meanwhile, continues to struggle despite the new duds. He was 2-3 with a 5.65 ERA in 21 appearances with Reading (11 starts). He joined Cosart in Corpus Christi and has worked exclusively out of the bullpen. It hasn't been pretty: nine games, 8 1/3 innings, 10 earned runs, 14 hits.
OF BIDDLE FAITH
Jesse Biddle has maybe three starts left in his first full pro season. The 2010 first-round pick from Germantown Friends suffered through a grueling first half that had naysayers questioning whether he was worthy of such lofty draft status.
The big lefthander won his last start, going five innings and allowing one earned run Thursday in Lakewood's 6-2 win over Greensboro. He improved to 6-8 with a darn good 3.06 ERA, but the team is handling him with care after a recent hip flexor and the general wear-and-tear on him after a long season. The numbers suggest he's having a great second half: In his last 10 games, he's 3-2 with a 1.91 ERA.
So how has his season gone in the Phillies' eyes? Largely as planned, assistant general manager Chuck LaMar said.
"He's been good," the Phillies' minor league boss said in a recent interview. "There's been a lot expected of him because he's not only a first-round pick, he's a local kid who the media likes to continue to write about. We knew at his age and his development that it was going to be a challenge for him in the South Atlantic League. We thought that rather than keep him at extended spring training and send him to Williamsport, mentally and toughness-wise he was ready to handle adversity and he's handled it. He's competed very well.
"It's been a good year for him developmentally, maybe not so much statistically, but from a learning process it's been a very good year for him."
EMERGING CLOYD
Tyler Cloyd's name doesn't appear on many top-prospect lists. Yet since he was promoted from Clearwater to Reading on June 2, he has put together a dandy season in Baseballtown.
The 6-3, 190-pound righty won again Sunday, going seven shutout innings (10 strikeouts, four hits, one walk) in Reading's 3-1 win over Altoona. In 16 games (15 starts), he's 5-3 with a 2.90 ERA with the R-Phils. He's been particularly tough in his last 10 starts, going 4-2 with 2.32 ERA.
Cloyd started the season in Clearwater's bullpen, but was impressive enough in five starts with the Threshers to earn a trip to Reading, where he was promptly added to the rotation. He spent most of last season in Clearwater's bullpen, with underwhelming results (no saves and a 5.32 ERA in 31 relief appearances). Funny, since he was coming off a South Atlantic League All-Star season with Lakewood in 2009, when he went 7-3 as a BlueClaws starter.
MORE HONORS FOR RIVERO
Meanwhile, teammate Carlos Rivero was named the Eastern League's Player of the Week.
Rivero, a third baseman, hit .370 with two doubles, four home runs and eight RBI during the seven-game period. He homered in three straight games in that span. For the season, Rivero, 23, is hitting .288 with 33 doubles, 15 home runs, and 62 RBI in 114 games for Reading.
Rivero was named the Phillies' minor league Player of the Month for July, hitting .373 with three homers and 22 RBI in 28 games. That earned him a promotion to Triple A Lehigh Valley earlier this month, where was 5-for-27 (.185) in seven games with the IronPigs. That earned him a ticket back to Reading.
MINOR DEVELOPMENTS
* Righthander Colby Shreve was putting together a fine season in Lakewood's bullpen. He had allowed one earned run in his last 23 innings with the BlueClaws and was 5-5 with a 2.75 ERA and a pair of saves. So what happened? The 6-5, 210-pounder was promoted to Clearwater on Aug. 9. In three games, he's allowed one run in six innings with the Threshers. Quite a feat, considering Shreve, 23, missed the 2008 and '09 seasons after Tommy John surgery.
* Williamsport outfielder Kelly Dugan is done for the season. He was shut down last week with a stress fracture in his back. He finished at .284 with two homers and 21 RBI in 47 games with the Crosscutters.
ON THE FARM
Lehigh Valley (AAA - 73-57)
IronPigsBaseball.com; 610-841-7447
Tonight: at Indianapolis, 7:05
Tomorrow: at Louisville, 7:05
Thursday: at Louisville, 7:05
Friday: at Louisville, 7:05
Saturday: at Louisville, 6:05
Sunday: vs. Syracuse, 5:35
Monday: vs. Syracuse, 7:05
Reading (AA - 65-62)
ReadingPhillies.com; 610-375-8469
Tonight: at New Britain, 7:05
Tomorrow: at New Britain, 7:05
Thursday: vs. Portland, 7:05
Friday: vs. Portland, 7:05
Saturday: vs. Portland, 6:35
Sunday: vs. Portland, 1:05
Monday: at Akron, 7:05
Clearwater (A - 28-27)
ThreshersBaseball.com; 727-467-4457
Tonight: vs. Brevard, 7
Tomorrow: vs. Brevard, 7
Thursday: vs. Brevard, 7
Friday: vs. Lakeland, 6:30
Saturday: vs. Lakeland, 6:30
Sunday: vs. Lakeland, 1
Monday: vs. Lakeland, 7
Lakewood (A - 29-26)
BlueClaws.com; 732-901-7000
Tonight: at Delmarva, 7:05
Tomorrow: at Delmarva, 7:05
Thursday: at Delmarva, 7:05
Friday: vs. Hickory, 7:05
Saturday: vs. Hickory, 7:05
Sunday: vs. Hickory, 5:05
Monday: vs. Hickory, 7:05
Williamsport (A - 36-25)
Crosscutters.com; 570-326-3389
Today: at Batavia (dh), 5:05
Tomorrow: at Batavia, 7:05
Thursday: at Batavia, 7:05
Friday: at State College, 7:05
Saturday: at State College, 7:05
Sunday: at State College, 7:05
Monday: vs. Mahoning Valley, 7:05
(Team records are through Sunday.)
