The Phillies take their first pitcher of the draft in Georgia Tech LHP Camron Hill.
Hill is 6’6″ and long and lanky, and at 215lbs has room to fill out some. Baseball America has him as 90-94 touching up to 96 with a slider and a changeup. He has started and relieved all three years at Georgia Tech and it has been ugly, this year he posted a 5.56 ERA with 19 walks and 44 strikeouts in 34 innings. He struggled in 3 starts in the Cape Cod League this year, but was dynamite last summer with a 1.09 ERA in 33 innings with 16 walks and 45 strikeouts.
This is the Phillies drafting we expected. There is a ton of downside risk here before getting into reliever risk. It is solid stuff from the left side, but not an overwhelming pitch in the arsenal right now. But the size is something the Phillies often value and he definitely has projectability. In the 8th round, this feels like a great arm to get into the system and see if you can do something with him.