A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Matt Winkelman 
The Phillies ducked into the JuCo ranks in the 7th round going with third year player Christian McGowan. McGowan is an athletic 6’3″ righty. His fastball will reportedly get up to 99. His sitting velocity is apparently more in the mid 90s (sites have him a bit all over the place). His slider is more … Read more
Phillies sticking with the high school and upside route with HS RHP Jose Pena in the 6th round. Pena is a 6’3″ RHP who like many of their picks, is young, having turned 18 on July 8th. His fastball has ticked up, touching 96-97 but has sat more in the lowers 90s with big spin. … Read more
The Phillies go for some possible money saving in the 5th round in Virginia RHP Griff McGarry. McGarry is a 6’2″ 190 senior who pitched 4 years at Virginia as a starting pitcher. The 2021 season was a bit of a disaster until the playoffs. He has big time control issues, walking 42 in 43 … Read more
The Phillies continued with both the HS theme and the off the board theme in the 4th round with HS RHP Micah Ottenbreit. Ottenbreit is a 6’4″ projectable right hander (175lbs). He reportedly is 90-94 with good spin on his curveball and feel for a changeup. It is less present stuff then you want to … Read more
The Phillies return to the HS ranks in the 3rd round, going off of most boards for OF Jordan Viars. Viars is one of the youngest players in the draft (turns 18 next week). He is a big (6’4″) slugger with big left handed power. He is currently a corner outfielder, but there is a … Read more
https://twitter.com/ewils5/status/1414695421058895881?s=20After going HS OFer in the first round the Phillies turned to the college ranks with South Alabama OFer Ethan Wilson. Wilson was one of the best remaining players on the board. He had terrific freshman season in 2019m, hitting 17 HRs in 56 games, but his strikeout rate was just a disaster in 2020, … Read more
With the 13th overall pick the Phillies take HS RHP Andrew Painter. Painter is a 6’7″ 18 year old who was considered to be the top HS pitcher in the draft coming into the spring. Painter has been mocked to the Phillies by multiple sources, and with the other names linked to them off the … Read more
After a 5 round draft last year, we get 20 rounds this year. Phillies pick 13th, have no extra picks, but they do have their 2nd round pick for the first time in a while. Draft Tracker Draft Recap Day 1: Round 1 (13) – RHP Andrew Painter, Calvary Christian (FL) Day 2: Draft Day … Read more
I said I would try to do this and I am going to try and stick to that. System Summary: The minor leagues have been extremely poor this year. It isn’t just a Phillies problem, though they have certainly been greatly impacted. Baseball America wrote about the weirdness that is low-A Southeast where an automated … Read more
I am not sure how this is going to go, but I am going to try writing things again and doing that with a recap of the last week of 6 game series. The goal is to highlight the most interesting hitter and pitcher, give an overall feel, and then some quick notes. We will … Read more