A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
The big headline last night was that Scott Kingery was being promoted from Reading to Lehigh Valley. It was just one transaction in a long list of transactions that included the Phillies cutting ties with two veterans. So once the dust all settled, the Phillies made the following moves. To Phillies: Mark Leiter Jr. Cameron … Read more
The Phillies entered the season loaded with starting pitching at every level of the minor leagues. Unfortunately injuries to Vince Velasquez, Clay Buchholz, Zach Eflin, Sixto Sanchez, and Seranthony Dominguez, and Elniery Garcia’s suspension left the Phillies rotations thin at every level. The Phillies prospect depth meant that most levels of the system were also … Read more
When the Phillies took Aaron Brown in the third round of the 2014 draft there was a lot of controversy about their decision to make him a full time outfielder. In the field Brown was an average center fielder, but spectacular in the corners. He showed plus raw power and a solid arm. The problem … Read more
I am sorry I have not written as much as I used to. A big thanks to Jeff for taking over the draft previews. Some things happened in the last week and I want to write about current events the way I used to write about current events. Jesmuel Valentin to Have Surgery for Shoulder … Read more
On April 13th, I went to my 1st minor league game of the year. It was the home opener for the Lakewood and Sixto Sanchez’, arguably the Phillies top pitching prospect, depending on who you talk to, was on the bump. While he got zilch in run support that night in a loss, it was a … Read more
Last night the Mets lineup in the 6th began Bruce/Walker/Duda, so LH/switch/LH. So Joely Rodriguez, as the only LHP on the active roster, was obviously the choice. But in his brief career he hasn’t been reliable at getting LH hitting. Entering last night, LH hitters: 11/30 (2 XBH), 3/6 K/BB; RH hitters: 8/33 (5 XBH), … Read more
It is list writing season and right now I am in the middle of writing my Top 50 Phillies prospects. Part of the process is thinking about the next season and where players fit into the organization. As you go through this process it is hard to not start putting together future rosters. It is not … Read more
The ranking season continues with the Eastern League and Florida State League Top 20s. Florida State League: #14 – Scott Kingery Eastern League: #6 J.P. Crawford #12 Jorge Alfaro #13 Dylan Cozens Thoughts: Before jumping into my normal bullet points of thoughts, I wanted to talk about Cozens at #13 on this list. It is … Read more
There was a time when some worried that the Phillies had too much left handed starting pitching. Their rotation was headlined by Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels, and their top prospects were Jesse Biddle and Adam Morgan. This year the only left handed starting pitcher the Phillies used was Adam Morgan. The top pitching prospects … Read more
Ranking season goes ever onward and we are now firmly into Baseball America’s league Top 20 prospects. Joining the GCL list we now have the NYPL list and SAL list. I am going to address the NYPL list first before going into my philosophical differences with the SAL list. New York-Penn League Top 20: (Link) … Read more