A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Matt Winkelman 
Keith Law put out his mideason Top 50 prospect list today. No surprise that J.P. Crawford was #2 on the list. However, Aaron Nola came in at #38 on the list. I ranted about this on Twitter so I won’t rant here and instead will just leave this. Nola has straight up better stuff … Read more
Development is rarely linear. There is no prospect that better exemplifies this than Aaron Altherr. Altherr was a 9th round pick in 2009 and at the time Perfect Game listed him as 6’1 155lbs and Baseball America cited him as an athlete who hadn’t played much baseball. He went unranked by Baseball America that offseason, but then … Read more
When the Phillies took Cord Sandberg in the 3rd round of the 2013 draft the consensus was that they had gotten a late first round talent. It has been a mixed bag since as Cord had a rough first two years (.585 and .612) and so far 2015 has not been much different as he … Read more
I don’t think I have officially posted this, but the midseason Top 30 will come out on August 1. The idea was that I wanted to account for any trades the Phillies make, but more importantly I wanted to let the short season teams play some and hear the reports on low level guys and … Read more
Last night the Phillies officially handed a 16 year old outfielder a $4,000,000 signing bonus. During what should have been a celebration it game to my attention via Ryan Lawrence and Eric Chesterton that the amount of Latin America players on the Phillies is concerning some fans. This got me realizing just how little press … Read more
The Phillies continue to work through their late round picks, having signed Nick Fanti this week. The newest addition is 34th round pick Canadian outfielder Ben Pelletier. Proud to have agreed to terms with the Phillies!⚾⚾ — Benjamin Pelletier (@benpelletier19) July 9, 2015 Outside of just being another player into the system, Pelletier will be … Read more
If I was talented at this writing thing, this whole post would be a brilliant piece of writing. But I am not one who thrives on creativity, so you will need to settle for me just writing a normal piece with a disappointing headline. I mentioned it early in the season, but the Phillies major league rotation … Read more
For the most part this year I have avoided talking about Aaron Nola because there hasn’t been much to add to the conversation. Nola hasn’t seen a big jump in raw stuff, he hasn’t lit up radar guns, he has met every scouting report. On the surface he is a 6’2″ starter with a fastball … Read more
Yesterday Baseball Prospectus presented their Top 50 prospects and today Baseball America did the same thing (both lists exclude recent draftees). Nothing surprising when it comes to Phillies prospects. J.P. Crawford #5 Much like Francisco Lindor, Crawford’s defense and hitting ability make him a low-risk prospect Aaron Nola #12 Nola is like investing in Treasury … Read more
Over the years my preferences for what I like in a pitcher has adapted and changed. But if you have followed me for a while you know that I like projection, I like left handers, and I like players with feel for a changeup. One pitcher checked all these boxes and was my first real … Read more