A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Before becoming on of the centerpieces of the Cole Hamels trade, Jorge Alfaro injured his ankle at second base. He hasn’t played a game since while rehabbing from surgery. Overall the injury was supposed to have ended his season and begun the speculation over where he would play winter ball. There had been word out … Read more
In 2014 the GCL Phillies had a nice pitching staff and some interesting players, but the lack of HS players limited the prospect power of the team. This season has been much different. The lineup has a premium prospect at every position and while the rotation isn’t full of household names, it has carried the … Read more
The GCL roster is always full of hope, but the current version could be one of the best in recent memory. The infield should feature 3 Top July 2 prospects who signed for a combined $2.5 million, all are 17 or younger. Unlike last year, the GCL roster will be bolstered by some additions from … Read more
We kicked off our recap season yesterday, here is part 2 of the GCL recap an interview with Baseball Betsy.
Before we jump into talking about the players on the field, introduce yourself and how you came to be covering the GCL Phillies and where people can find your work?
I’m Baseball Betsy, I live in Clearwater and am a follower of the Phillies at all levels. I have my own site www.baseballbetsy.com and a blog at http://baseballbetsy.
Given the amount of time and effort that goes into covering the season while it occurs, we want to give it equal attention after it is all over. This year we will be featuring wrap-ups such as this one, done by the writers here at Phillies Minor Thoughts, and then an interview with someone has gotten to see the team a lot in person. We are very excited to start rolling these out, especially for the insights by those we talked to.
Team: GCL Phillies
Record: 36-23
Standing: Missed Playoffs, Second Place in Northwest Division
After half a decade of trading away prospects the Phillies system bottomed out in the winter of 2012-2013. The system lacked impact and it lacked depth. This lead to a large fallow period for the Phillies farm system, one that sat over Clearwater and bled up into the high minors. The Phillies responded to this crisis of depth with high school heavy drafts in 2012 and 2013, and those prospects have been slow to move through the system. The Phillies have started to do something they haven’t done in a long time to help their draft classes, they have started to diversify their talent acquisition.
The GCL Phillies spent much of the early season being the rehab point for many rehabbing and drafted pitchers as Yoel Mecias, Nic Hanson, Brandon Leibrandt, Matt Imhof, Jesse Biddle, and Drew Anderson all made starts this year. But since the GCL Phillies have begun to settle into a 6-7 man rotation (double headers and … Read more
According to Angelo State University (and the GCL Roster) the Phillies have signed Angelo State junior RHP Jason Zgardowski. Zgardowski went unsigned in the draft this past year, and had gone on to play in the Northwoods League this summer. He was selected to play in the Big League Dreams Showcase in Madison, WI (which … Read more
He is only 18 years old, he can get bigger, he is only going to get better.
This post has been a long time coming, but I’m finally here to get you familiar with a very intriguing arm on the GCL roster and his name is Franklyn Kilome. The 19 year old Dominican stands 6’6″ and tips the scales at 175lbs. He sports an old school style delivery with his hands going … Read more