A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Matt Winkelman 
Day 3 is well underway with 5 rounds already in the books. It is rapid fire today with the draft tracker down for the first 3 rounds before coming back to life. You can follow the picks live on the Draft Tracker. Round 11 – Josh Stephens, Mater Dei HS, CA The Phillies kicked off … Read more
I think at this point we can say Almaraz drafts are going to be strange and unconventional. Unlike last year we had an added wrinkle that Pat Gillick was much more involved in the hands on scouting of players. He was spotted at games for some of the top players they took, but also JoJo Romero. … Read more
In the 9th round the Phillies take Blake Quinn, he is a senior with a year of eligibility left because he transferred from Fresno State to Cal State Fullerton. Quinn is a big right handed pitcher who struck out more than a batter an inning in an up and down season. It looks like his … Read more
In the 8th round you are looking for players with some path to a major league role. Grant Dyer out of UCLA pitched well as a starter for UCLA this year, but the scouting reports are less than inspiring. He got away with solid control and a fastball up to 90. As a sophomore he … Read more
Phillies go with another college bat in the 7th round in Mississippi catcher Henri Lartigue. Lartigue only started in his junior year after converting to catching in college. He was first team All-SEC after hitting .353/.414/.464. Lartigue is still rough behind the plate and will need to make improvements to stick there, but he does … Read more
The Phillies take their first college bat in the 6th round. Martinelli is a junior out of Dallas Baptist. He has seen his stock rise this year after striking out a ton as a sophomore and having a horrendous summer on the Cape. He rebounded nicely in his junior year, but increased contact lead to … Read more
The Phillies take their first surprise of the draft in Oregon left handed pitcher Cole Irvin. Irvin is a crafty lefty who never had his velocity fully return from Tommy John surgery. He pitches in the hi-80s and has good command of his breaking ball. He could be a quick moving back end starter. More … Read more
With the 4th round we move into the take best player available phase of the draft. The Phillies take JoJo Romero out of Yavapi College (same college as Ken Giles). Romero is an athletic leftt handed pitcher with a fastball up to 95. He has a slider, curveball, and changeup. There is some debate on … Read more
Day 2 opens with the Phillies having had a full night to regroup and figure out how much they have spent and what everything left will cost. With that money they went out and got Cole Stobbe a HS SS out of Nebraska. Stobbe is considered a tough but not impossible sign, so he shouldn’t … Read more
Day 2 kicks off at 1pm ET with the 3rd round and it should fly by compared to the first two rounds. The Phillies still have a lot of money to spend so there shouldn’t be any cost cutting moves for a while. Day 1 Thoughts: If you think of the draft as a portfolio of upside and … Read more