The Phillies ducked into the JuCo ranks in the 7th round going with third year player Christian McGowan.
McGowan is an athletic 6’3″ righty. His fastball will reportedly get up to 99. His sitting velocity is apparently more in the mid 90s (sites have him a bit all over the place). His slider is more down than lateral and he has a solid changeup as well. He is athletic, but his delivery has had some issues in the past, which have affected his consistency. He has to base traits to be a starting pitcher, but it isn’t hard to see how it would work as a reliever. Given how the Phillies development has worked, it would not be surprising to see them give him some run in the rotation first.
From a draft ranking perspective, after going off the board for a while, McGowan (and Pena before him) are much more thought of with McGowan checking in at 178 on MLB’s list, 194 for Baseball America, and all the way up at 60 for Keith Law at the Athletic. I would guess this might be overslot because he is a junior with a 4 year college commitment.
Phillies going JUCO in the 7th with @EOSC_Baseball RHP Christian McGowan. Big time arm with power stuff, into upper 90’s with downer SL and fading CH, send him out as starter but likely reliever, real stuff #PGDraft
— Brian Sakowski (@Sakowski_GoDuke) July 12, 2021