A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Imagine being 18 years old, getting ready to be drafted by a Major League team, having already played on national television before. That’s the life of Nick Pratto. Six years ago at the age of 12, he stepped up to the plate against the always daunting Japan Little League team in the championship game of … Read more
This past weekend, Bryce Harper once again destroyed Phillies’ pitching. Pitch selection continued to be a problem on Saturday night, as it has been throughout the nine games Harper’s faced the Phillies this season. They should not be throwing him fastballs. But Harper’s dominance stems from a much deeper issue that I mentioned in my first ever … Read more
Philadelphia is in a draft frenzy mode right now. Last weekend, the city was center stage as the hosts of NFL Draft, which was a monster success and wild party. The Eagles fared pretty well in the draft as well getting some real quality players. As the NFL draft concluded, the Flyers lucked into a … Read more
There now 40 picks in the books and we are now roughly 2 days removed from that final pick being made, so it feels like a good time to look back at the three days of the draft holistically. You can read some earlier thoughts on Day 1 and Day 2, as well as all … Read more
My eyes are struggling to keep focused on the computer monitor. The Phillies meanwhile have taken another 6’10” LHP, a puzzling college pitcher, some HSers, and some other players. Round 31 – Tyler Frohwirth, RHP, Minnesota State University Mankato Frohwirth has bloodlines, a funky delivery, and almost no innings in college. Round 32 – Daniel … Read more
The middle rounds of Day 3 saw the Phillies take a couple interesting projects to go with a bunch of college arms to fill out the short season bullpen. Round 21 – Jonathan Hennigan, LHP, Texas St University Hennigan has size and projectability (6’4″ 185), but he walked over 5 per 9 this year. I couldn’t … Read more
The draft is never ending… In reality this is the part of the draft where the team is picking for need, that need is filling up the low minors rosters. The goal is to find guys who are a break or two away from being some sort of major leaguer. Almost none will make it … Read more
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