A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Matt Winkelman The Phillies take their first college senior in the 7th round, drafting Caleb Ricketts a catcher (and part time outfielder) from University of San Diego. Ricketts had 3 underwhelming years, before a massive power explosion this year hitting .373/.423/.658 with 16 home runs. He is a big dude (6’4″ 225lbs) and there are questions about … Read more
The Phillies have often taken a high school arm in the middle of Day 2. This year they took LHP Mavis Graves in the 6th round. Graves is all projection. MLB lists him at 6’6″ 205lbs and Baseball America lists him at 6’4″. His fastball is reportedly a high 80s, touch low 90s. He has … Read more
In the 5th round, the Phillies take their second college pitcher in a row in South Florida’s Orion Kerkering. Kerkering is a 6’2″ righty who moved from two years in the bullpen into the starting rotation and then back to the bullpen for the Bulls. His overall numbers weren’t great with a 5.72 ERA, but … Read more
In the 4th round the Phillies took a very Phillies type pitcher in 6’4″ RHP Alex McFarlane out of Miami (Fl). McFarlane has… Athleticism High end velocity (95-96 T99) High spin fastball (though it seems it isn’t the ride shape they have prioritized, according to Fangraphs) Plus slider Poor control It isn’t quite the Griff … Read more
For the second draft in a row the Phillies go with a small conference college corner bat with their second pick. Last year it was Ethan Wilson in the second round, this time it is Florida Atlantic outfielder Gabriel Rincones. Rincones is a big dude who currently plays right field, but it looks like his … Read more
With their first pick and only pick of Day 1 of the draft the Phillies selected high school outfielder Justin Crawford. Crawford is the son of Carl Crawford and obvious has many similar characteristics. He is an elite level runner and great defender in center field. All the reports have him with good hit tool … Read more
The draft is now locked into 20 rounds. The Phillies do not have their 2nd round pick due to signing Nick Castellanos. Draft Tracker Draft Spreadsheet Day 1: Round 1 (17) – Justin Crawford, OF, Bishop Gorman HS (LV) Day 2: Round 3 (93) – Gabriel Rincones Jr., OF, Florida Atlantic Round 4 (122) – … Read more
Prospect evaluations are constantly changing and shifting as more information becomes available. A month of baseball (particularly a cold on in the northeast) is not enough to make or break a career. However, that does not mean that information is not gained during that time. With that in mind, I am going to use the … Read more
Today the Phillies sent Adam Haseley to the White Sox for a minor league reliever, McKinley Moore. It was a move that many saw coming and is largely more interesting for what it does to the opening day roster. Barring crazy happenings in the next few days the Phillies will add Bryson Stott to the … Read more
The Phillies optioned James McArthur to the minors today, earlier in the week they optioned Hans Crouse and Francisco Morales. This leaves 8 nominal starting pitches in big league camp, the 5 pitchers in the expected opening day rotation and then Bailey Falter, Cristopher Sanchez, and Nick Nelson. While critiqued by some, the Phillies expected … Read more