Phillies Select Matt Vierling in the 5th Round of the 2018 Draft

In the 5th round the Phillies took Notre Dame center fielder Matt Vierling. Vierling has pitched a bit, but the Phillies had him listed as an outfielder.

Vierling put up some decent numbers this year with a .310/.402/.505 line, but he sacrificed some power (19 XBHs in 2018, after 31 in 2017) while striking out a bit less. He can run a bit and is fairly athletic. As a pitcher he was up to 93 so he has some arm strength in the outfield and a fall back as a reliever.

The biggest concern about Vierling is his wood bat track record. In the Northwoods league he had good approach numbers, but only a .060 ISO in 136 PA. In the Cape Code League he hit .182/.245/.273 with a 7.1% BB% and 26.8% K% in 112 PAs. The Phillies need to believe that something has changed in the past 12 months or he could go the way of David Martinelli, another college CF with bad wood bat numbers.

Vierling wasn’t on any prospect lists, so either the Phillies see something here or they are looking to save some money.