Phillies 2016 Instructional League Roster

Baseball America published a copy of the rosters for the Phillies Fall Instructional League team. As you would expect for a team with a strong Latin American system, the Phillies have a strong contingent of players at Instructional Leagues.

First the roster. There is some analysis at the end.

Pitchers:

• Gustavo Armas (R)
• Andrew Brown (R)
• Luis Carrasco (R)
• Rafael Carvajal (R)
• Jesus De Los Santos (R)
• Grant Dyer (R)
• Bailey Falter (L)
• Nick Fanti (L)
• Edgar Garcia (R)
• Julian Garcia (R)
• Kevin Gowdy (R)
• Tyler Hallead (R)
• Jonathan Hennigan (L)
• Cole Irvin (L)
• Jake Kelzer (R)
• Franklyn Kilome (R)
• Jordan Kurokawa (R)
• Mauricio Llovera (R)
• Denny Martinez (L)
• Adonis Medina (R)
• Justin Miller (R)
• Francisco Morales (R)
• Jose Nin (R)
• Blake Quinn (R)
• JoJo Romero (L)
• Sandro Rosario (R)
• Sixto Sanchez (R)
• Manuel Silva (L)
• Alberto Tirado (R)
• Kyle Young (L)

Catchers:

• Juan Aparicio
• Brett Barbier
• Edgar Cabral
• Rodolfo Duran
• Deivi Grullon
• Henri Lartigue
• Rafael Marchan

Infielders:

• Keudy Bocio (2B)
• Daniel Brito (2B)
• Caleb Eldridge (1B)
• Luis Encarnacion (1B)
• Arquimedez Gamboa (SS)
• Brayan Gonzalez (SS)
• Jonathan Guzman (SS)
• Darick Hall (1B)
• Jesus Henriquez (2B/3B)
• Cole Stobbe (SS)
• Josh Tobias (2B/LF)
• Nicolas Torres (SS)
• Jose Tortolero (SS)
• Lucas Williams (3B)

Outfielders:

• Juan Luis
• David Martinelli
• Malvin Matos
• Mickey Moniak
• Simon Muzziotti
• Jhailyn Ortiz
• Ben Pelletier
• Greg Pickett
• Jose Pujols
• Cornelius Randolph
• Josh Stephen

Notes and Analysis

• Not a lot to note on draft players as most of them go to Instructs each year, same with low minors players.
• New International Signings:
  • The Phillies have brought over shortstops Brayan Gonzalez, Nicolas Torres, and Jose Tortolero, but not Luigi Mujica.  Gonzalez was BA’s #19 July 2 prospect and is a switch hitter with a good feel for the game, but limited power. Torres was BA’s #45 prospect and is a plus plus runner who scouts think might need to move second base, he lacks power but there should be solid bat to ball skills. Tortolero landed outside of BA’s list, but apparently was coming on strong as the deadline got closer, against he may need to move to second, but he has increased his arm strength enough to possibly stick.
  • Big right handed pitcher Francisco Morales will be making his debut as well. He was BA’s #12 prospect and feature a fastball already showing plus velocity and promising slider.
  • Interestingly the Phillies will be bringing over 19 year old Rafael Carvajal who they signed this summer and pitched a little in the DSL, from the outside his profile looks like filler, but maybe they found something.
  • The last big money signing is Juan Aparicio a catcher with a good feel to hit. Aparicio is a converted infielder who seems to draw a lot of comparisons to 2015 signee Rafael Marchan who will also be in camp.
• DSL Contingent
  • As always there are a bunch of pitchers and hitters making their stateside debut that no one has ever seen.
  • The biggest names are probably Rafael Marchan and Jonathan Guzman. Marchan was a big money signing in 2015, he is known mostly for his bat and he delivered by hitting .333/.80/.386 in 44 games with 16 walks to 14 strikeouts. The big question will be whether he can stick behind the plate. Guzman has gotten about as much buzz as it is possible for a sub $100,000 bonus guy to get. He has yet to play stateside, but he played the 2016 season at 16 years old and more than held his own with a .300/.370/.346 stat line. He reportedly has the skills to stick at shortstop and a great feel for contact. He is also apparently very skinny and his bat lacks impact.
  • Simon Muzziotti was signed this summer after his Red Sox contract was voided. He is a very skinny center fielder with plus speed and very little power. He hit much worse after being signed by the Phillies.
  • Keudy Bocio and Manual Silva were both named sub $100k signings for the Phillies in 2015. Bocio is a second baseman who had a bit of a weird DSL season, putting up a .226/.419/.301 line in 61 games where he walked 49 times to 36 strikeouts. He is a speedster who stole 28 bases in 41 attempts this year. Silva is a bit of a project, he is a big left handed starter who sits in the high 80s. He will need to get bigger and throw harder to be on prospect radars, but it is a starting profile the Phillies development staff has had success with.
• The Injured
  • Arquimedez Gamboa missed most of the Williamsport season with a leg injury just as he was starting to show that he deserved to be talked about with some of the Phillies other top young prospects.
  • Greg Pickett missed the entire GCL season with an undisclosed injury, just seeing him back on the field will be a good start.
  • Kevin Gowdy came back from injury to pitch in the playoffs for the GCL Phillies, but this fall could be a breakout party for the second round pick with big stuff.
• The Missing and Others
  • Cole Stobbe, Raul Rivas, Jesus Alastre, Ranger Suarez, Felix Paulino, and Lenin Rodriguez are not on the roster.  This could be an oversight or there could be something else going on, the rosters are often in flux and not entirely accurate. The Phillies also will be having instructional leagues in the Dominican this winter (not sure about La Liga Paralela in Venezuela this winter) so many guys will get work in there too.
  • The Arizona Fall League crew will make their stop in Instructional League to prep for the AFL so expect to see them at some point.
  • Jim Peyton of Phuture Phillies is already reporting that LHP Elniery Garcia will be around the complex working on his new slider.

Instructional League games are not official, not televised, and there is no radio. If we are lucky, someone wandered over to the game to watch and wrote about it. The games themselves are not held to a normal structure and are all about development. Don’t worry too much about velocity being down for some players, often pitchers are backing off some as they work on things and are not pitching all out, plus it has been a long season.

Image by Baseball Betsy