Proefrock: Joseph Has Taken Advantage Of His Opportunity

In 26 games Tommy Joseph has hit 7 Home Runs and 12 RBI's, pushing Ryan Howard out of the platoon role at First Base into a backup role.  This season Joseph has more Home Runs and RBI's than Darin Ruf did before his demotion to Triple-A; meanwhile Joseph also has a better Batting Average, On-Base Percentage and Fielding Percentage than Ryan Howard.  His performance has cemented him as the current Phillies' First Baseman for the foreseeable future.

Phillies Assistant General Manager Scott Proefrock was a guest on The Sports Bash on Wednesday and spoke about what Joseph has done to put himself in position to earn the starting job at First Base:

"When I saw Tommy in Spring Training this year, he was in Minor League camp he wasn't in Major League camp I was just walking through Minor League Clubhouse after Minor League camp had started, I did not recognize him.  He's lost a tremendous amount of weight, got himself in great shape and went out and did what every player should do is work his tail off and got an opportunity because of his performance at Triple-A and has come up and taken advantage of that opportunity."

Checkout what Proefrock had to say about Vincent Velasquez recovery, the Phillies 2016 Draft class, Ryan Howard as a mentor for this young team, and more