The Philadelphia Phillies purchased his contract in , and assigned him to the Hazleton Mountaineers of the New York–Pennsylvania League where he hit .305. In , he hit .327 with 19 home runs and 109 runs batted in (RBI). He tied for the league lead in home runs and was one RBI from the best in the league. He played his first matches in Major League Baseball, where he made .313 batting average over 13 games. He moved to the outfield, playing mostly in left field for the rest of his career. In , he hit .290 and had a career-high five double plays from the outfield. In , he made the most outfield assists of his career - 18 - a third of all outfielders in the league. He also led all Northern League left fielders in double plays, with five, and in range factor/game, at 2.58. He was referred to as the "Son of Israel", or the "Next Jewish Star" by the Anglo-Jewish press.