Most Triple-A players who are working to reach the Major Leagues are focused on improving a physical part of their game, whether it be hitting for power, improving their defense or making better pitches consistently.

For Lehigh Valley's Nick Williams, there are other lessons he has learned this season.

One lesson Williams, the Phillies' third-ranked prospect, has learned is to not pay attention to what's happening in Philadelphia while playing for the IronPigs.

With April rumors that the Phillies needed an outfielder swirling around his head, Williams hit .184 in his first 11 games with Lehigh Valley.

"I did [pay too much attention to what was happening with the Phillies] early in the season, and that's why I got off to such a slow start," he said. "I was just trying to do too much.

"Then I realized it wasn't on my time, it was on their time. I needed to just play the game, get better every day and enjoy where I was."

A 5-for-8 burst got Williams' bat jump-started, and he's been hitting ever since. By the time April ended, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound outfielder had raised his batting average to .299. Through 95 games, he's hitting .286 with 10 homers and 53 RBIs and is tied for second in the IL with 42 extra-base hits and 62 runs scored. Williams also ranks third with 175 total bases and fourth with 27 doubles.

"I noticed [early in the season] Nick was trying to force things and he was pressing with his at-bats," Lehigh Valley manager Dave Brundage said. "He can gain from that, learn from that, and that will make him a better player tomorrow."

Williams, who came to the Phillies from the Rangers as part of the Cole Hamels trade last year, also has been learning from some on-field incidents that have cost him playing time.

In one mid-June game, he hit a fly ball to shallow left-center field that was dropped. But because Williams did not run hard, he did not advance past first base and was benched for two games. Then, near the end of the month, he hit a ground ball back to the pitcher but ran slowly down the first-base line, never reaching the bag before slowly returning to the dugout, then tossing his helmet down the tunnel that connects to the clubhouse.

"I messed up," Williams told The [Allentown] Morning Call. "I didn't want to cop an attitude or throw a fit. I messed up. I've got to own up to what I did.

"It's frustrating. I was mad, but at the end of the day, it was my fault. It [stinks] watching my teammates battling and you can't go out there and battle with them."

It appears those lessons have been learned as he's sharpened his game. Defensively, Williams has six outfield assists while committing two errors, despite having played at least 25 games in all three spots. And offensively, he's cut down on his strikeouts: after fanning 33 times in 27 games in May and 28 times in 24 games in June, Williams fanned 15 times in his first 26 games in July.

"He's got a lot of raw talent -- his talent is off the charts," Brundage said. "He's got great bat speed, he runs well and he throws well. He's learning the game and he's learning from his experiences."

In brief

Like grandfather, like grandson: Charlotte OF Jacob May is looking to become a Major Leaguer just like his grandfather, Lee May, who played for the Reds, Astros, Orioles and Royals. But while Lee May's totaled 354 homers, Jacob May has drawn attention with his speed. In his first 58 games with the Knights, he stole 11 bases and hit .244 with a homer, 15 RBIs and 26 runs scored.

For whom the Bell tolls: Indianapolis 1B Josh Bell is making a run at the IL's Triple Crown as he ranks fifth with a .314 batting average, third with 55 RBIs and just outside the top five with 13 homers. Bell also stands third with a .403 on-base percentage and fourth with a .507 slugging percentage. He's tied for fourth with 50 walks and leads the league with seven intentional walks.

Skole on a roll: Syracuse 1B Matt Skole hit one homer and drove in 11 runs in 20 games in April. But when the weather heated up, so did his bat. In the three months that followed, he's cracked 13 homers with 41 RBIs in 84 games. Skole ranks sixth in the IL with 14 long balls and 10th with 52 RBIs.

He said it: "I started throwing a new [slider] about two months ago and it's kind of been a secret weapon for me. It's still kind of a work-in-progress, trying to learn the pitch. But I've been able to throw in behind in the count, ahead in the count and get strikeouts and weak contact with it." --Gwinnett RHP Aaron Blair to the Gwinnett Daily Post on July 27 after allowing an unearned run on five hits over six innings to beat Indianapolis. For the season, he's 4-3 with a 4.06 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings.