Kennelly Rewarded For Excellent July

PRESS RELEASE Courtesy Clearwater Threshers

 CLEARWATER, Fla. – For the second straight month and third time this season, a Clearwater position player has been named Phillies Minor League Player of the Month. Tim Kennelly earned July’s honor by notching a .388 batting average, tops among the Phillies’ minor league system.

 The Australian native entered the month hitting at just a .213 clip but then went on to record multiple-hit games in seven of the first 11 contests. Kennelly notched 40 hits total in July, hitting safely in 22 of the team’s 29 games to raise his average to a team-leading .278. Kennelly has also seen a spike in his OPS, raising it .129 points to a .734 mark.

Over that span, the 23-year-old tallied six doubles, a triple, two home runs, and drove in 20 runs. Listed as a catcher primarily, Kennelly showed his versatility playing third base and right field. He also struck out just eight times in 103 at bats.

 Kennelly’s best game of the month came on July 28 when he went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI to help the Threshers rout the Jupiter Hammerheads 9-2.

 He is currently riding a six-game hit streak, accumulating 13 hits during that period.

 Kennelly follows Cody Overbeck (April) and Harold Garcia (June) as previous Threshers to win the honor this season. Both Overbeck and Garcia were promoted to double-A Reading shortly after winning their respective award. Matt Rizzotti, who began 2010 in Clearwater, earned the title in May for the R-Phils.