2019 Top 50 Phillies Prospects: 41-50

The Phillies farm system has certainly taken its beatings over the past few years. Some of it has been good, like the graduations of Rhys Hoskins, Jorge Alfaro, Nick Pivetta, Nick Williams, Scott Kingery, J.P. Crawford, Seranthony Dominguez, and others. Some has been bad, like the injuries to Sixto Sanchez, the stagnation of high picks, and the outright regression of some former top prospects. Unlike some past years, there has not been a wave of breakouts to fill in the ranks, but the Phillies have finally done something they haven’t done in over a decade, find contributors at many levels of the draft. So while the top of the system may have lost its shine, it still has impressive depth down to 50 and beyond.

Index: 1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 

All ages are for major league opening day.

41. Bailey Falter – LHP

DOB: 4/24/1997 (21)
H/W: 6’4″ 175lbs
B/T: R/L
Acquired: 5th Round Pick in the 2015 Draft by the Phillies
2018 Stats:

Team (LVL)	G	GS	W-L	IP	ERA	H/9	HR/9	BB%	K%
GCL East (Rk)	1	1	0-0	3.2	0.00	4.9	0.0	0.0%	46.2%
GCL West (Rk)	1	1	0-1	4.1	8.31	14.5	2.1	0.0%	33.3%
Clearwater (A+)	17	17	8-4	93.2	2.69	8.4	0.6	4.0%	22.1%

Role: #4/#5 Starter
Risk: Medium – Falter shows 3 average-ish pitches and good control, but his stuff will need to improve to be more than a backend starter.
Summary: Since being drafted in 2015, Bailey Falter has had tantalizing potential. He has a large frame and shows feel for spin and a changeup. The problem has been that his stuff has plateaued after a few seasons. His fastball is still 88-92, touching 93 (though he gets very good extension on it and all his pitches), and his secondary pitches have not become wipeout offerings. The result in 2018 was a near copy of his 2017, just marred by a minor injury. Falter does miss some bats, and does a very good job of limiting free passes and keeping the ball in the ballpark. Those secondary skills will benefit him greatly if he shows an uptick in raw stuff, but they are unlikely to hold up against the upper minors. Falter will only be 21 on opening day, so he has time to improve his pitches, and a trip to Reading to open the year could force the issue a bit more. He will also be Rule 5 eligible after the season, and with the Phillies facing another potential 40 man crunch he will need to start standing out a bit more.
2019 Outlook: Falter surpassed the 100 inning mark with his rehab innings and winter work, so he shouldn’t need to repeat Clearwater to gain experience. He likely opens in the Reading rotation, where he will need to show a way to consistently miss bats to succeed against higher level batters.
ETA: 2020
Previous Rank: 34

42. David Parkinson – LHP

DOB: 12/14/1995 (23)
H/W: 6’2″ 210lbs
B/T: R/L
Acquired: 12th Round pick in the 2017 Draft by the Phillies
2018 Stats:

Team (LVL)	G	GS	W-L	IP	ERA	H/9	HR/9	BB%	K%
Lakewood (A-)	17	17	8-1	95.1	1.51	7.0	0.4	6.8%	30.0%
Clearwater (A+)	5	4	3-0	29.0	1.24	5.3	0.3	8.3%	24.1%

Role: #5 SP
Risk: Medium – Parkinson is a polished starter with a major college track record and great feel for pitching. He has yet to face upper minors hitting, and with his lack of dominant stuff, it should be a more difficult test than the competition he has faced so far.
Summary: Parkinson was arguably one of the best pitchers in the minor leagues in 2018. His 1.45 ERA across two levels led all of the minors, and he struck out 141 batters in 124.1 innings. However, under the surface there are a lot of red flags. Parkinson has the classic profile that dominates the low minors. He is a lefty with an unusual arm angle, good control, and a good changeup. Pitchers like Parkinson are built to dominate aggressive and raw hitters. Parkinson does have a good pitch mix, but his fastball sits more in the high 80s, topping out at 91 this season. There is a chance he ends up with a bunch of average pitches and an above average changeup at his peak. As for the stats part of Parkinsons’ season, his ERA was a bit deflated by the 11 unearned runs allowed in Lakewood (7 of which were in a single 1.1 inning start), representing 41% of the runs he allowed in the South Atlantic League. Then there is the strikeout rate that dropped from 30% to 24% after his promotion, albeit in a small sample size. The fear with pitchers like Parkinson is that each level has more hitters that can deal with deception and require pitches of a higher caliber to get them out. The larger the population of those hitters, the more things like strikeout and home run rate are going to errode, to the point where a pitcher is ineffective by the time they reach the major leagues. Parkinson is going to have to offset that by being perfect with his command and his pitch/location selection, or by developing a plus pitch out of nowhere. If he can play the part of the control artist, Parkinson profiles as a back of the rotation starting pitcher, and should be near that role in the majors by the end of the 2019 season.
2019 Outlook: Parkinson only pitched in 5 games in Clearwater so a return trip to the Florida State League is likely. If he has early season success, he could move to Reading quickly as AA is where he should be tested for the first time.
ETA: 2020
Previous Rank: HM

43. Brayan Gonzalez – 2B

DOB: 1/14/2000 (19)
H/W: 5’11” 172lbs
B/T: R/R
Acquired: 2016 International Free Agent Signing by the Phillies
2018 Stats:

Team (LVL)	G	PA	HR	SB	BB%	K%	AVG	OBP	SLG
Williamsport (SS)	56	216	1	3	6.5%	40.3%	.198	.256	.274

Role: Average Regular
Risk: Extreme – Gonzalez had a disaster of a year in 2018 in the New York-Penn League, where he struck out over 40% of the time. However, he has the tools to be an elite level defender at second base, and the offensive upside to do a little bit of everything well at the plate.
Summary: The Phillies gave Gonzalez their largest bonus of the 2016 signing period. While there were questions about his ability to stay at shortstop at the time, his bat was supposed to be polished enough to make it work. The Phillies moved him to second base in deference to Jonathan Guzman, and he has become a possible elite level defender at the position. He had a solid year at the plate in his first year, but like his double play partner, Guzman, he struggled greatly in 2018. He made decent quality contact when he made contact, but his strikeout rate skyrocketed, which meant contact was rare. He has a higher offensive requirement at second base than shortstop, so he will need to fix the approach issues quickly. The advantage for Gonzalez is his age, as he will only be 19 for the 2019 season. The tools that got him signed are still all present, so there is a chance he can regain his prospect stock quickly with a bounce back.
2019 Outlook: Given his horrendous showing in Williamsport in 2019, Gonzalez likely will be set for a return trip in 2020 after opening the year in Extended Spring Training.
ETA: 2023
Previous Rank: 28

44. Jose Pujols – OF

DOB: 9/29/1995 (23)
H/W: 6’3″ 175lbs
B/T: R/R
Acquired: 2012 International Free Agent Signing by the Phillies
2018 Stats:

Team (LVL)	G	PA	HR	SB	BB%	K%	AVG	OBP	SLG
Clearwater (A+)	95	387	18	1	8.5%	32.8%	.301	.364	.523
Reading (AA)	26	104	4	2	13.5%	33.7%	.270	.365	.427

Role: Second Division Regular
Risk: High – The 2018 season was a big step forward for Pujols, especially holding his own for a month in AA, however he still strikes out at an enormous rate, putting a huge roadblock in his way to the majors.
Summary: Coming into the 2018 season, it looked like Jose Pujols’ time in the Phillies system was coming to an end. He was only 22, but he was coming off a year where he hit .194 with a 42.6% strikeout rate and very little power. When he started April by hitting .254 it looked like a positive, but too late sign. He hit .317 in May, but 7 walks to 63 strikeouts through the first two months looked like the end. From June 1 until he was promoted to Reading on August 3, Pujols hit .312/.391/.568 in the FSL with 26 walks to 64 strikeouts. His strikeout rate of 28.4% was high, but nowhere near where he had been for much of his career. In AA, his strikeout rate jumped back up over 30%, but he walked a lot, and hit .270 in his 26 games. He also did it against RHPs, striking out nearly half his time vs lefties, but only 21 times in 66 PAs vs righties. The big key to Pujols’ success was a quieter more consistent swing. He still struggled with offspeed pitches and aggressiveness, but he was able to make contact more often. He mashed the ball when he made contact, too. Pujols has long been known for his plus plus raw power stemming from strong wrists and great bat speed, and he can hit monster shots to all fields. It isn’t just at the plate that he has cleaned things up, as he has become a better fielder in right. He still isn’t great out there, but he does still have an elite throwing arm. There are still a ton of holes in Pujols’ game, and his profile is a common one to flame out in AA against better arms. However, for the first time in his career he took huge tangible steps forward, and if he can build on that he could beat the odds. There is still huge upside here if he can actually tap into his power with even average contact, but for now if he can get to major league poor, he should get a major league shot some day.
2019 Outlook: Pujols will open the year in the Reading outfield. The park should inflate his power numbers, but the real test will be whether he can bring his strikeout rate under control. He is a free agent after the season so he is trying out for more than just the Phillies.
ETA: 2019
Previous Rank: UR

45. Jake Scheiner – 1B/3B/OF

DOB: 8/13/1995 (23)
H/W: 6’1″ 200lbs
B/T: R/R
Acquired: 4th Round pick in the 2017 Draft by the Phillies
2018 Stats:

Team (LVL)	G	PA	HR	SB	BB%	K%	AVG	OBP	SLG
Lakewood (A-)	122	517	13	10	9.5%	15.7%	.296	.372	.470

Role: Second Division Regular/Bench Bat
Risk: High – Scheiner was one of the best hitters in the South Atlantic League, especially in the second half. He also is a corner bat who was a 22 year old 4th round pick, so he should have performed well at this level. He will need to show success against higher level competition before there is any sort of certainty about his MLB role.
Summary: Scheiner was a college performance pick for the Phillies in 2017. He hit well for most of a season for Houston in what was his only year at 4 year school. A shortstop and third baseman in college, he played second and third for Williamsport in his first year. For the BlueClaws, Scheiner played just over half his games at third base, with the rest of his time split near evenly between first base and left field. The move down the defensive spectrum puts more pressure on Scheiner’s bat. He got off to a rough start at the plate in April, before a monster May and a powerless June. Overall in the first half of the season he hit .268/.321/.436 in the first half for the BlueClaws. He just exploded in the second half, hitting .330/.428/.512 with 31 walks to 36 strikeouts in 57 games. The walk rate was encouraging to see from Scheiner, but even with Lakewood’s ability to suppress power, 13 home runs over a full season for someone of his age is slightly worrying. He does hit a ton of line drives, so there is hard contact in his profile. The lack of a truly impactful offensive tool means that his only path to being a regular is at third base, and even then he will need to hit his offensive ceiling to stick there everyday. The Phillies have offset this by building in positional versatility. There is no reason Scheiner shouldn’t be able to play all 4 corners, and the Phillies even briefly had him take reps behind the plate in Instructional League. Given his defensive profile and age, Scheiner is going to need to mash at every level to climb up prospect lists. He should have a prominent role in hi-A to see if his second half was the start of a breakout.
2019 Outlook: Scheiner should open with the Clearwater Threshers at a position to be determined. He has shown to be comfortable moving between third, first, and left field and it is not unreasonable that he eventually sees time in right field. If he hits in Florida like he did in the second half of 2018, he could be in Reading before midseason.
ETA: 2021
Previous Rank: 39

46. Drew Anderson – RHP

DOB: 3/22/1994 (25)
H/W: 6’3″ 185lbs
B/T: R/R
Acquired: 21st Round Pick in the 2012 Draft by the Phillies
2018 Stats:

Team (LVL)	G	GS	W-L	IP	ERA	H/9	HR/9	BB%	K%
Lehigh Valley (AAA)	19	19	9-4	104.2	3.87	7.9	1.2	6.6%	19.2%
Philadelphia (MLB)	5	1	0-1	12.2	4.97	12.1	0.0	3.4%	18.6%

Role: #5 SP, Middle Reliever
Risk: Low – Anderson has reached the majors and is essentially a finished pitcher.
Summary: Drew Anderson re-emerged onto the prospect scene in 2016 when he returned from Tommy John surgery throwing 97 and oozing projection. Since then, he has been kind of average, putting together a solid year in AA in 2017, followed by an ok year in AAA in 2018. He has made some appearances in the majors, including a spot start in 2018, but with 15 total innings under emergency circumstances, it is hard to judge his results. Anderson is still much the same guy he was in 2016. He fills up the up the strike zone, sitting mostly 91-95, touching up to 96 in the rotation. The problem has been his secondary pitches. Anderson’s curveball is an above average and usable pitch, but it isn’t a dominant bat misser. He will throw a changeup and slider, but both only top out at average. The collection of pitches allows Anderson to keep hitters off balance, but the lack of a dominant one among them means Anderson struggles to miss bats and generate weak contact. If Anderson can maintain solid control he could carve out a role as a back end starting pitcher. However, given his limited upside in a rotation, he could move to the bullpen at some point. In a relief role he should throw harder, possibly touching back up into the 97+ range. It would also allow him to shorten his arsenal and focus on possibly just the curveball, possibly making it a plus secondary pitch. Anderson is right on the edge of the majors so he will go to Spring Training with a very outside shot at a major league job, but his results there may be more of an indication of his future role than immediate role.
2019 Outlook: Anderson doesn’t have a major league job waiting for him, so he will return to AAA Lehigh Valley, likely in the rotation. Depending on the other arms in the system, Anderson could be an early injury call up in the rotation or shifted to the bullpen at some point.
ETA: 2017
Previous Rank: 24

47. Ethan Lindow – LHP

DOB: 10/15/1998 (20)
H/W: 6’3″ 180lbs
B/T: R/L
Acquired: 5th Round pick in the 2017 Draft by the Phillies
2018 Stats:

Team (LVL)	G	GS	W-L	IP	ERA	H/9	HR/9	BB%	K%
Williamsport (SS)	13	13	3-2	70.0	2.19	7.5	0.3	6.8%	22.6%

Role: #4/#5 SP
Risk: Extreme – Lindow’s future is still based on projection, but he is young enough and far enough away that he has time to reach his ceiling.
Summary: Lindow was a bit of a project when the Phillies drafted him in the 5th round of the 2017 draft. He had flashed some ceiling early in the spring, but by the time of the draft his stuff had regressed. In his first taste of pro-ball, he sat in the mid 80s and topped out at 88. In his second year, Lindow dominated the New York-Penn League. His fastball was still below average, sitting around 90, topping out at 92. His secondary pitches are still works in progress, with his changeup being a better pitch than his curveball. He backs up those pitches with solid control. This combination allowed Lindow to keep hitters off balance and keep the ball in the park. Lindow has some projection left in his frame, so he may sit in the low 90s at his peak. His secondary pitch growth has come with the help of Hall of Famer Tom Glavine (Lindow played with Glavine’s son and works out back home), but Lindow also shows some natural feel for spin. Without any unforeseen bumps or leaps forward, Lindow projects as an innings eating backend starter. Between WIlliamsport and Extended Spring Training he pitched enough innings in 2018 that he should be in a rotation for the full 2019 season.
2019 Outlook: Lindow will open the season with Lakewood and like will spend the full season with the team.
ETA: 2022
Previous Rank: HM

48. Abrahan Gutierrez – C

DOB: 10/31/1999 (19)
H/W: 6’2″ 214lbs
B/T: R/R
Acquired: 2016 International Free Agent Signing by the Braves. Granted Free Agency due to Braves punishment. Signed as a 2017 International Free Agent by the Phillies
2018 Stats:

Team (LVL)	G	PA	HR	SB	BB%	K%	AVG	OBP	SLG
GCL West (Rk)	41	178	1	2	5.6%	9.0%	.315	.362	.407

Role: Second Division Regular
Risk: Extreme – Gutierrez has a lot of polish for a teenage catcher, but his offensive profile is already shaky, and he lacks to the physical projection to see much growth in that area.
Summary: Gutierrez was one of the top international players about 6 months before July 2016 signing deadline. By the time the Braves signed him, his star had fallen, and by the time he was granted free agency and signed with the Phillies, his star had fallen even more. Gutierrez grew more as a defender in his first year with the Phillies, and he projects to stay at the position. He is also a fine hitter for a catcher, but his bat is never going be impactful. Gutierrez is still young, but his frame and skill set is already fairly mature. Right now, he projects as a backup catcher, but the offensive bar at catcher is low, and if Gutierrez hits his offensive ceiling he could be low end everyday catcher.
2019 Outlook: After two years in the complex, Gutierrez likely gets a third year in Extended Spring Training, but instead of the GCL goes north to Williamsport.
ETA: 2023
Previous Rank: 48

49. Jhordany Mezquita – LHP

DOB: 1/30/1998 (21)
H/W: 6’1″ 185lbs
B/T: L/L
Acquired: 8th Round Pick in the 2017 Draft by the Phillies
2018 Stats:

Team (LVL)	G	GS	W-L	IP	ERA	H/9	HR/9	BB%	K%
Williamsport (SS)	9	9	1-0	35.0	3.60	7.2	0.3	11.3%	27.3%

Role: #4 SP
Risk: Extreme – Mezquita already had a limited track record of pitching before pro ball, and injuries limited his time further in 2018. The lack of reps coupled with a changeup that needs a lot of work means that Mezquita is a high bullpen risk.
Summary: Mezquita looked like a big time breakout after a circuitous route to the Phillies in the 2017 draft. However, Mezquita’s 2018 got off to a rocky start when he was late to join the Williamsport Crosscutters due to injury. In his time north he was limited workload wise, never getting more than 15 outs in a game. Mezquita was up and down all season. , his few truly bad starts dragged down his overall numbers, which ended up pretty solid. He has a decent fastball, sitting mostly in the 88 to 93 range, but he did get it up to 94. He has a good curveball, which helps him miss bats, but his changeup is a work in progress still. If he can polish what he has, the fastball and curveball could make him a back of the rotation starter, but his age (he will be 21 on opening day) and lack of pitching experience could lead him more towards a bullpen role.
2019 Outlook: For now, Mezquita likely sticks in the rotation and should spend most of the year with Lakewood. The Phillies may look to limit his innings beyond just the 6 man rotation, so it is possible he starts in Extended Spring Training before going north.
ETA: 2022
Previous Rank: 47

50. Cornelius Randolph – OF

DOB: 6/2/1997 (21)
H/W: 5’11” 205lbs
B/T: L/R
Acquired: 1st Round Pick in the 2015 Draft by the Phillies
2018 Stats:

Team (LVL)	G	PA	HR	SB	BB%	K%	AVG	OBP	SLG
Reading (AA)	118	465	5	3	10.3%	19.8%	.241	.324	.322

Role: Second Division Regular
Risk: High – Randolph provides very little defensive value and so far very little power in left field. However, he is still only 21 put great number in Reading to end the year.
Summary: Randolph’s prospect stock has been falling since the Phillies drafted him. He has moved all the way down the defensive spectrum to left field, where he isn’t a great defender. He was touted for his hit tool out of high school. He hit just ok in his first 3 years, and then he started off his time in AA by hitting .187/.274/.238 for his first 3 months in AA. He also has shown very little power, with 21 career home runs (13 came in 2017) and just 23 extra base hits in 2018. All of those reasons are why most evaluators had Randolph marked as a non-prospect. From July onward, Randolph hit .314/.391/.434 while continuing to walk over 10% of the time and cutting his strikeout rate from 24% to around 14%. This change also highlights a problem with Randolph, he is caught in the middle. At his best, he is a fringe average power bat who sprays line drives all over the fields, walks a bunch and puts up a high average. That profile sort of works if he hits his absolute ceiling, but it is rough because of the position and defense. When he tries to hit for power, he can do it some, but everything else falls way down. When he tries to do both, he is an absolute mess. In order for Randolph to be something more than an up and down bench bat, he is going to need to do both. He is physically maxed out, so there is not much more strength coming, it is going to need to come from a swing and approach change that keeps him in his comfort zone and allows him to turn on his pitch. It won’t be easy, and he really is at the end where any missteps will mean that he is firmly a non-prospect.
2019 Outlook: Given his youth, and the lack of outfielders pushing from behind, Randolph likely returns to AA to try and build on the strong end to the 2018 season. If he can hit well to open the year, a midseason promotion to AAA is certainly possible.
ETA: 2020
Previous Rank: 19