Phillies minor-league report

Andrew Knapp entered Friday batting just .259 with an .324 on-base percentage. The catcher has just 12 hits this month and appears to be stuck in a rut after a strong season in double A. "I just watched that club for a couple of days and watched him catch for a couple days. His numbers aren't off the charts, but I don't think he's in a rut," said Joe Jordan, the Phillies' director of player development. "I had a great conversation with him just a couple days ago and that was my point to him. Numbers are numbers and he's progressed so much this year defensively. He's gotten better. He's a better player than when the season started. He doesn't have the numbers to jump out at people, but I'm not concerned at all because I believe that in his situation, he's a better player than when we got started. He'll be fine." Knapp needs to be added to the 40-man roster this winter to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, so it would not be surprising to see him join the Phillies in September. . . . Darin Ruf hit his 20th homer Thursday night, becoming the first IronPigs player to hit 20 homers since Brandon Moss hit 23 in 2011. . . . Cody Asche played first base Tuesday night and has now played three positions since joining the IronPigs on Aug. 13. . . . Hoby Milner allowed six earned runs in his first nine innings since moving to triple A. He allowed just 10 earned runs in 49 innings at double A.

Jimmy Cordero spent almost the first four months of the season in Florida, as he slowly rebuilt his arm strength following a shoulder injury that occurred after a biceps injury. It was a rough start, but Cordero seems to be back just in time for a playoff push. His electric fastball reached 100 mph Thursday night as he pitched a scoreless ninth. He has five strikeouts and no walks in his first 101/3 innings with Reading. "You never know how a guy is going to come out of it, but that's a credit to Joe Rauch, our rehab coordinator, and his guys in Clearwater," Jordan said. "Joe told me way up front on this that this was going to be slow. He was going to make sure it went slow. He felt like he and his guys could get this kid back to where he was, but it wasn't going to happen fast. It was a slow process and it was hard to wait to get Jimmy back out there, but I think he's normal and healthy. He just needs mound time." Cordero will make up for that lost time this winter, Jordan said. Cordero will play winter ball in his native Dominican Republic. . . . Mitch Walding entered Friday batting .283 in his first 16 games with Reading. . . . Rhys Hoskins entered Friday without a homer in his last 14 games. It is the longest stretch of the season without a homer for Hoskins, who has 35 long balls.

The Phillies knew Kyle Martin had power potential when they drafted him in the fourth round in 2015. The first baseman hit 14 homers with a .635 slugging-percentage in his senior year at South Carolina, playing in the challenging SEC. His power was there. It's now starting to show in the minors - Martin hit his 18th homer of the season Tuesday night. He has a .744 OPS and plays in a ballpark that is not exactly a hitter's haven. "Kyle has power. The one thing that happened is our scouts signed or drafted guys that have that tool," Jordan said. "It's all about how these guys continue to develop as hitters. There's no question that Kyle Martin will have game power if he continues to develop as a hitter. The same could be said about a lot of guys in our system."...Tom Windle, who was acquired as part of the trade that sent Jimmy Rollins to Los Angeles, has allowed runs in five of his 11 outings with Clearwater. The 24-year-old lefthander started the season in double A. . . . Josh Tobias entered Friday with a hit in five of his last six games. The 23-year-old second baseman is batting .268 since being promoted on July 27 from Lakewood, where he batted .304.

Alberto Tirado was a wild, flame-throwing reliever last summer when the Phillies acquired him along with Jimmy Cordero from Toronto for Ben Revere. The righthander had 45 walks in 611/3 innings with Toronto's high-A affiliate. He needed to be tamed. For the Phillies, that took some time. They started him this season as a reliever with the BlueClaws before moving him to Clearwater, where he struggled. They sent him to extended spring training, transitioned him to the starting rotation, and sent him back to Lakewood. The results have been stellar. Tirado, 21, struck out 11 batters Thursday night. It was his fifth straight start with eight or more strikeouts. He walked three or fewer batters in eight of his last nine starts as he begins to find his control. "It was a tough, tough time for him because he really couldn't command the baseball. He was frustrated," Jordan said. "We were still in the process, I think, of gaining his trust and he hadn't really given himself to our pitching guys. I give him all the credit in the world because we have had to do some things and make some adjustments, and he was the one that had to make them. So far, it's been a tremendous success story for him and for our staff. What manager Shawn Williams and pitching coach Brian Sweeney have done to help this kid. His stuff has always been special and he's fun to watch."

South Philadelphia's Kenny Koplove has bounced back at Williamsport after a rough stretch in Lakewood. The righthanded reliever did not allow a run in 10 of his last 12 outings. Koplove, who starred at Penn Charter before heading to Duke, has struck out 21 batters and walked 12 in 211/3 innings. The Phillies drafted him in the 17th round in 2015 and he opted to join the Phillies over returning to Duke for his senior year. He started the season with a 14.59 ERA in 10 games at Lakewood, but he has seemed to turn around since that nightmarish beginning. . . . JoJo Romer, a 19-year-old lefthander, struck out five batters and did not register a walk over six innings on Aug. 20. It was his second start to reach six innings and he has allowed just five runs in his last 27 innings. The Phillies drafted him in the fourth round in June after he led his junior college to a national championship.