The minor league season is now a week in. Almost every player has found their roster. The one exception is the Phillies affiliate most loaded with talent. While still a talented group, the Clearwater Threshers are missing their crowning jewel, right handed pitcher Sixto Sanchez. Once Sanchez arrives in the next week, the Threshers should be one of the most talented teams in the minor leagues.
Quick Pitch:
Last year’s Lakewood BlueClaws had an electric rotation, and the Threshers benefit this year with Adonis Medina and Sixto Sanchez at the top. The rest of the rotation and bullpen is competent and should make the Threshers formidable. The lineup is highlighted by first round picks Adam Haseley and Mickey Moniak, and they are joined by shortstop Arquimedes Gamboa and slugging first baseman Darick Hall.
Top Hitter: Arquimedes Gamboa
Gamboa was the largest signing of the Phillies 3 shortstop signings in the 2014 signing period, and after a hot end to his 2017 season he is finally the highest ranked of the trio. Gamboa is an athletic shortstop with a good arm. He can sometimes struggle with the routine, but he should be able to stick at shortstop long term. At the plate, Gamboa has a much better swing from the left side, where he shows great pitch recognition and approach to go with some decent occasional power. Gamboa is much worse from his right side and will either need to make some major improvements on that side or eventually give up on switch hitting. If Gamboa can build on the end of his 2017 season offensively, he can be an above average or better shortstop for a good team.
Top Pitching Prospect: Adonis Medina
With Sixto Sanchez 1-2 weeks behind starting, Medina is the best pitcher on the Threshers’ roster. Medina is a strong prospect in his own right. His fastball sits 91-96, sitting more in the 94-96 range, but he can make it a heavy sinker in the low range. Last year he finished adding a plus slider that he had previously flashed in 2016. The pitch still lacks some consistency, but it profiles as a bat misser. Additionally, Medina’s changeup took a large step forward in 2017, showing great deception and fade. Medina is a bit undersized but has shown the ability to handle a full season workload. He doesn’t have front line stuff, but he should be at least a solid #3 and should end the year in Reading.
Breakout Potential: Connor Seabold
Seabold pitched very little in pro ball after the Phillies drafted him last year in the 3rd round. A workhorse year at Cal State Fullerton and a run in the College World Series had put the righty at well above his career high in innings, so the Phillies eased him as a reliever for a total of 10 innings. That didn’t stop Seabold from flashing why the Phillies valued him so highly. His stuff is pretty pedestrian, his fastball is in the low 90s, but can touch 93-94, and he has a solid set of secondaries. What he does is throw strikes and not walks. Seabold is not the surgeon that college teammate Thomas Eshelman is, but he is pretty good at hitting his spots. Seabold isn’t quite a finished product, and there may be a little bit more in his frame, which when combined with his present command makes him interesting as a starting pitcher. Even without a jump forward in stuff, he could move very quickly and arrive in AA by midseason, much like Eshelman in 2016 and Cole Irvin in 2017.
The Roster:
Placement on my Phillies Top 50 prospect rankings indicated in parentheses next to each player.
Lineup:
C Edgar Cabral
1B Darick Hall
2B Jose Gomez (36)
SS Arquimedes Gamboa (7)
3B Luke Williams
LF Adam Haseley (8)
CF Mickey Moniak (10)
RF Jose Pujols
Edgar Cabral has established himself as one of the best defensive catchers in the system, but his bat is a bit on the weak side. Darick Hall’s prospect status is much debated, but he should be fine in hi-A where he should find enough mistakes to mash 20-30 home runs. Jose Gomez and Luke Williams will likely play all over the field more than second and third respectively. Gomez is a shortstop by trade, but with Gamboa present he will likely play both 2B and 3B. He doesn’t have much power, but he should hit and profiles as a utility infielder. Williams never fit well as a 3B with no power and plus speed. The Phillies have had him moving around the field, and he theoretically could play all over the diamond. Jose Pujols has big power and speed and a massive arm in right field. Pujols’ pitch recognition and plate discipline doomed him in Clearwater. Adam Haseley and Mickey Moniak had differently disappointing 2017s in pro ball. After having an amazing junior year in college, Haseley showed below average tools and looked more like a 4th outfielder. If the decline was purely exhaustion related, Haseley profiles as a 5 tool outfielder with above average tools across the board. He will split time in center with Moniak. Moniak struggled in Lakewood to make solid contact. Some of this was strength related (which he is working on), and much stemmed from concerning plate discipline and pitch recognition.
Rotation:
McKenzie Mills (33)
Connor Seabold (29)
Adonis Medina (5)
Alejandro Requena (50)
Bailey Falter (34)
Mauricio Llovera
Joining Medina and Seabold in the rotation are not a bunch of aces, but a bunch of solid pitchers who have major league stuff. Mills is a big bodied left handed pitcher who showed strong growth in strike throwing last year with the Nationals before joining the Phillies in the Howie Kendrick trade. Mills throws in the low 90s, with a curveball and changeup that profile as average in the future. Unless the secondary pitches take off, he is a back end starter or lefty reliever. Requena is another back end starter with potential average pitches across the board with solid command. Falter is a bit more projectable than Mills and has shown a better feel for his offspeed pitches, but he is another back end starter. Llovera throws very hard, sitting in the mid 90s, touching up to 99 in relief and routinely hitting 98. His slider is a bit flat, and his changeup is hard, so his future is probably in a bullpen.
Bench:
Jose Antequera
Austin Listi
Henri Lartigue
Gabriel Lino
Wilson Garcia
Raul Rivas
Kevin Markham
Antequera and Rivas are glove first middle infielders. Wilson Garcia can make a ton of contact, but has limited power, doesn’t walk, and is essentially limited to first base. Lartigue is a bat first catcher without enough bat to be a regular. Lino is back in the Phillies system and has AAA experience and plus raw power. Kevin Markham makes contact, but is probably org filler. Austin Listi has plus pull power, but a lot of swing and miss, and is 1B/LF.
Bullpen:
Felix Paulino
Blake Quinn
Ismael Cabrera
Aaron Brown
Jeff Singer
Jakob Hernandez
Alexis Rivero
The Threshers’ bullpen matches the intrigue of the rotation. Felix Paulino has a live arm up to 96 and a good slider. His command can go at times, but he does offer the ability to go multiple innings. Blake Quinn had a big arm when he was drafted, but has been pedestrian since. Ismael Cabrera has arm strength, running his fastball into the mid 90s. Aaron Brown is now a pitcher after entering camp as a hitter since being drafted. He has some arm strength and a good slider. Jeff Singer’s control faltered last year, but he is a short lefty who can run up to 96 with a good slider. Jakob Hernandez is a beefy lefty with a below average fastball, but a tough to hit curveball. Alexis Rivero has upper minors experience but has not been able to translate a good fastball into success.
Potential Upgrades:
Sixto Sanchez (2)
Nick Fanti
Jesus Alastre
Sixto Sanchez is the best Phillies prospect still in the minors. He is an elite level pitching prospect. Sanchez’s fastball sits 95-98 and will routinely touch 100, and can get to 102, all while featuring explosive life and plus control. Sanchez flashes a plus curveball, slider, and changeup, all of which need some refinement. Sanchez needs to work on locating his pitches, but he profiles as a front end starter. He won’t turn 20 until July. Fanti is the opposite of Sanchez. He starts on the DL, but is a command control lefty who mixes his pitches well despite lacking overwhelming stuff. Alastre is a fast center fielder who can draw a walk but does not make much impact with the bat. He also starts on the DL.
Season Expectations:
Given the pitching talent on the roster and the first round picks in the field, there are high expectations for the Threshers. Sanchez, Haseley, Medina, Seabold, and Hall could all be in line for mid season promotions, so the high expectations for the Threshers could be limited to just the first half.
Photo by Baseball Betsy
You have Moniak rated #10 and Hall not rated ?
Hall is a natural hitter like Ceasar Hernandez and Scott Kingery were in the minors and he is an RBI machine. In my humble opinion, everyone is really over rating Moniak and Randolph. Time will tell…
I have not talked to a single scout or evaluator who was confident that Hall would hit. Most cited his long swing, problem with left handed pitching, and inability to hit anything that wasn’t a fastball. Additionally Hall is a first baseman who has not shown any ability to walk at a high level, and the offensive bar for first base is much higher than CF. Moniak is still only 19 and maybe he is nothing, but he is 3 years younger than Hall and has a defensive position to fall back on. That is a lot more potential when we are talking about hi-A prospects. If Moniak doesn’t hit this year he will join Hall in non-prospectdom
I’m not talking to any scouts just reading box scores. That’s why your writing and I’m reading ! Do you recall how Hall’s assessment match up with scouts assessments of Hoskins in Single A , who also always appeared to me, to be able to hit the ball (though not the long ball early on) ?
My opinion on Moniak is that unless he can hit over .300 with 30+ doubles and 30+ SBs there is no place for him on this team. So far he hasn’t even been able to hit a fast ball, but your right he is still young. We will see………………..
Even in Lakewood there were guys saying that Hoskins could really hit. They liked his approach and contact abilities. A lot people were worried about how much power he would have and whether he is was a 15-20 HR guy, and how that was probably not enough at first base. Some guys didn’t like his vs offspeed pitches. At that level it was a lot of second division regular or AAAA platoon bat.
That offseason he really worked on making some swing changes that unlocked his power (a leg kick to add some timing elements and get him in a position to add loft). His approach also went from good to insane about halfway through his time in Reading.
Thanks for the insight. I’m still not on board with Moniak being ranked that high…but I guess time will tell.