Joseph Ready To Get Started At AA Reading
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Catcher Tommy Joseph was the key piece the Phillies acquired in Tuesday's trade that sent Hunter Pence to San Francisco. The 21-year-old backstop was rated as the #2 prospect in the Giants organization coming into the season. He will start his Phillies career in Double-A, playing for Reading, and says he was not expecting to be changing teams.
"I definitely was very surprised when I was part of the trade," Joseph told KYW Newsradio. "Around the clubhouse in Richmond, we kind of knew that maybe somebody was going to be in a big trade if we were going to trade for a big player like Hunter Pence, and, you know, it was myself and I definitely couldn't be happier to be a part of the Philadelphia Phillies."
But he says it all still seems a bit surreal right now.
"To tell you the truth, it hasn't sank in at all. All I did yesterday was pretty much switch clubhouses in Richmond (Reading, ironically, is playing the Flying Squirrels down in Virginia right now), so I'm still here in a city that I've known and loved for the last couple months. So I'm sure it will set in after I start playing and get back to Reading and find a home and everything."
Listen to Matt Leon's interview with Tommy Joseph:
Joseph was hitting .260 with 8 home runs and 38 RBI in 80 games for the Giants Double-A squad in Richmond, this after he hit .270 with 22 home runs at Single-A in 2011.
He talks about his development to this point.
"I think my biggest strength right now - probably just being able to get along with the pitching staff and and kind of understand where they come from and kind of just work off of their strengths and be able to call a game that they like and they want to throw. Hopefully I can continue that here with the Phillies. Offensively, I think I can bring some power to the table and hopefully I'll be able to drive in some runs for Reading."
Joseph was a second round draft pick of the Giants back in 2009.
You can follow Matt on twitter @mattleonkyw.
