For the Philadelphia Phillies’ High-A affiliate Jersey Shore BlueClaws, they had put together a strong 2024 season in which they posted a winning record of 74-58. In doing so, they just missed out the South Atlantic League playoffs as they finished 1.5 games behind in second place during the first half and 4.0 games behind in third place during the second half in the SAL North Division.
Phillies’ only High-A All-Star isn’t even a player
The BlueClaws’ successful year was fueled by many key players on the squad, including some of the Phillies’ top prospects along the way. However, when it came to handing out the year-end awards and All-Star honors to High-A affiliates, only one BlueClaws member actually made the cut. Surprisingly, it wasn’t even a player, as manager Greg Brodzinski was named an All-Star for the manager position in the South Atlantic League, as voted on by his peers.
Brodzinski, a former Phillies draft pick and minor league player, was named the BlueClaws manager before the 2023 season. He had previously spent time as a coach with the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils (2017-2018), the Williamsport Crosscutters (2019), the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs (2022) and as the Phillies' bullpen catcher and catching coach (2020-2021).
Brodzinski sure had a great season, helping many of the Phillies’ prospects develop and grow over the course of the year while almost getting the team into the postseason. But one would have expected with names such as Justin Crawford, Aidan Miller and Jean Cabrera suiting up for the BlueClaws at one time or another during the season, at least one or two of them would have at least received an award or All-Star nomination.
After all, Crawford, the Phillies' No. 3 prospect, just recently took home the 2024 Paul Owens Award for being the Phillies’ top minor league player of the year. In addition, Miller, the Phillies’ No. 1 prospect, was recently recognized by MLB Pipeline as the organization’s hottest-hitting prospect to end the 2024 minor league season. Not to mention pitcher Jean Cabrera being named also by MLB Pipeline as the Phillies’ breakout prospect of 2024.
Nevertheless, one thing is for sure, the Phillies are grateful that they have some can’t-miss prospects coming up their minor league system that have all the potential to become significant contributors at the major league level in the near future. With also an All-Star minor league manager now in Brodzinski at the helm for the BlueClaws, he will do his part to help ensure that those promising prospects continue to develop in the right way going forward.