Draft Day 2 Recap

So day 2 of the draft is over. The Phillies picked 8 players today, as 240 players went off the board total. If for some reason you are just stumbling on this post, first of all welcome, second go read all of the reports on the draft tracker, and then come back here. Now that we are all on the same page on the players taken, I want to talk about the Phillies draft to this point.

It has been uninspiring. Not bad, just kind of bland.

I was a big fan of Adam Haseley at the #8 pick. His tools don’t jump off the page, but I think he has plenty of upside, and he should move very quickly. Then the next 5 picks just don’t have the impact that gets you excited about their future. I do think the Phillies got some major league players in that group. Their 2nd and 3rd round picks look like major league starters, and Dalton Guthrie in the 6th is a nice player, but his upside is limited. Even the high school pitcher they took in the 5th round lacks the big projection that was there in the high school pitchers that went off the board in the earlier rounds. It remains to be seen how the bonuses shake out for that group, but hopefully collectively they are under slot, even if a few are a bit over.

I do really like the Phillies 7th and 8th round picks. I don’t know much about Nick Maton, but I do approve of taking all of the shortstops you can, and it sounds like Maton has some upside and the possibility of sticking at short, with third as a fine fallback. I am interested to see how the Phillies use him and to what affiliate they send him.

The Jhordany Mezquita saga was my favorite part of the draft. The Phillies essentially hid a solid left handed pitching prospect until the 8th round because they stumbled upon him in the Dominican Republic and learned the hard way he was draft eligible. To me he is one of the most interesting prospects the Phillies took on Day 2.

The senior signs were senior signs. They don’t look like nothing, but neither do they look like more than fringe pieces if they make it.

I do feel down on the Phillies draft to this point, but we still have 30 rounds to go tomorrow. I think the Phillies saved enough money to take the run at a couple of decent money overslot signings. I don’t think they have millions lying around, but I also don’t really see the player worth that lying around. If the Phillies can get a couple of future relievers and some higher upside high schoolers tomorrow it will turn this into a well rounded draft class.