Simon Muzziotti

Role: 5th Outfielder
Risk: Low – Muzziotti has had success at AAA, but the 2023 AAA run environment was historically high. He does not have enough power and impact to play the outfield corner position he has been playing more often.
Summary: Muzziotti had missed large portions of the last three seasons due to the pandemic, visa issues, and then injuries, making his 124 games played (plus 44 more in Venezuelan Winter Leagues at the time of this writing) not just a new high since 2019, but also a career high. He had been making incremental growth year over year, despite the limited playing time, hitting the ball harder and making better swing decisions. That all looked to be coming together to start 2023 as he hit .354/.408/.479 through the end of June. He then would go on to hit .227/.299/.315 the rest of the season. He hit the ball just as hard over the second half and slightly more in the air, but not dramatically so, so much of it was the BABIP gods leaning the wrong way. Overall, Muzziotti makes ok contact. His average exit velocity was 86.1 mph which was towards the bottom of the org, but with a 90th percentile outcome of 102.8mph which was much more mid pack (for example Scott Kingery averaged 87.7 mph with a 90th percentile of 102.8 mph), so there is some more power than he always shows. He doesn’t tap heavily into that power and the swing has its share of ground balls, but is mostly gap to gap line drives. He swings often, and he doesn’t put up minuscule miss rates, but not egregious ones either. It is a fine second division regular hitting profile for a center fielder. The Phillies have telegraphed that they don’t really believe in his glove in center. Given that they have prioritized Johan Rojas and Cristian Pache there and even moved Brandon Marsh to a corner, they might be harsh judges. Muzziotti’s bat does not play as a regular in left field, and he doesn’t have the pop or platoon outcomes that a good 4th outfielder might. That sort of leaves him as a major league ready last man on a bench who can play all three outfield positions and possibly give you a professional at bat.
2024 Outlook: Muzziotti does not have a pathway to the majors right now for the Phillies and if he makes his way to the season without being traded, he will go to AAA where he will wait for a trade on opportunity.

Role: Regular Center Fielder
Risk: High – If you wanted to say he is Medium risk to be a Second Division Regular or 4th outfielder it is totally fair. Muzziotti has played exactly 100 games in the last 3 seasons, so reading into anything he has done in that time is an exercise in reading small sample sizes the way you want to see them. His best projection has him as a good defensive center fielder who is probably about average with the bat.
Summary: Simon Muzziotti missed the 2020 season, because all minor leaguers missed the 2020 season, but he got stuck stateside, which prevented him from getting a work visa for 2021 until the end of the summer, and then in 2022 he had a brief trip to the majors then got hurt twice early in the year, finally played for 2 months, before then having a partial tear of a patellar tendon end his year in late August. If that felt like a lot, it is because it was and it means between rehab, level changes, the Arizona Fall League, and a brief VWL appearance he has played only 100 games in 2021 and 2022 combined.

For not playing very much, there are real improvements to point to. The Phillies spent the AFL in 2021 getting him to be more selective at the plate, which traded a few more strikeouts for a lot more walks and a drop in poor contact as Muzziotti stopped swinging at, and hitting, pitches he shouldn’t be swinging at. He has also gotten stronger and is impacting the ball a bit more. He is hitting the ball in the air more, and while he has had a drop in his line drive rate, the increase in balls in the air has come mostly from his very high ground ball rate. This led to 5 home runs in AA (only 1 in Reading) in just 46 games, which was more home runs than he had in his entire career prior to 2022. He is never going to be a big home run hitter, but he has good rotation and solid strength, meaning double digit home runs are not a pipe dream and he should get a decent number of doubles as he is actually able to get the ball into the gaps.

He is still a good center field defender (assuming he comes back fully healthy from the knee injury) and has been a willing, if undisciplined, base runner. If the batting improvements are real, he has the sneaky chance to be a solid player. Given Brandon Marsh’s place in Philly, there does not seem to be a long term place for him. If he can stay healthy and play, he will function as depth and could be a decent trade chip at the deadline or next season.
2023 Outlook: The best thing for Muzziotti will be for him to go to AAA and play a bunch of baseball games. Given the makeup of the Phillies roster, he is probably the primary injury backup if Brandon Marsh gets hurt, but is not really a fit on the roster with Marsh.

Role: Second Division Regular
Risk: Medium – Muzziotti is going to be a plus defender in center field, but he doesn’t project to be a good enough defender that his offensive output will be irrelevant. At the plate, Muzziotti has historically shown a great feel for contact, but has struggled to make contact on the right pitches and hit for any power.
Summary: Muzziotti was stuck in his native Venezuela for most of 2021 on a visa issue. When he did arrive stateside, Muzziotti blitzed through the minors, playing at all 5 stateside levels, most for only a week. Muzziotti has always been a good defensive center fielder thanks to his plus speed, and that has not changed during the lay off. The problem for Muzziotti has always been his impact at the plate, because while he is a career .270 hitter, he has a career .074 ISO and .318 on base percentage. He has been an aggressive hitter throughout his career, and his great feel for contact has meant that his strikeouts have been low, but he has never sported a good walk rate, and much of his contact has been on the ground. Over the missed time, he has gotten stronger, but the Phillies have also been working with him to elevate the ball more. He does show that he can hit the ball with authority, not enough that he will ever be a home run threat, but enough that he should hit more line drives and fewer balls on the ground. This has not only translated to improvements to his swing to drive the ball more, but it has also made him more selective at the plate. He is likely going to be pitched more in the zone at the upper levels and in the majors because of his lack of power, but he has worked on his swing decisions so that he is swinging at the right pitches. The small sample size of this is that on his whirlwind tour of the minors, he walked 9 times to 11 strikeouts and walked 15 times to 13 strikeouts in the Arizona Fall League (both 20 game and 83 plate appearance samples). Muzziotti is unlikely to ever hit above the bottom third of a lineup, but he is starting to show that he could be more than a zero offensively there. It may not be flashy, but he might have enough offensive upside to exceed the second division regular profile and be a sum of the parts 2-3 WAR player on a good team. He has pretty much missed the last two years, but is now in the conversation for best internal center field option in the org.
2022 Outlook: Muzziotti mostly missed the 2021 season, which means that just getting a full season of at bats is paramount. He likely starts the season at AA (where he should have started 2021), but the Phillies are very weak in center field in the majors. Muzziotti’s presence on the 40 man roster means he could suddenly find himself in the major league mix in 2022 or 2023 if he can get on track.

Simon Muzziotti in many ways is the center field version of Marchan. He is a big bonus signing, overshadowed by having his first contract with the Red Sox voided due the Sox violating international signing rules. He doesn’t have a ton of power, but has very good bat to ball skills that can get him into trouble occasionally as he expands the zone. He is a plus defensive center fielder with a strong arm and plus speed. The problem with Muzziotti is that the power is poor and the approach is aggressive, so it will be hard for him to really have a large offensive impact, and he has a slight frame with not a lot of places to put more muscle. His defense should be good enough to give him the ceiling of an everyday regular, just one that probably hits 7th or 8th in a lineup.

Role: Solid Regular
Risk: High – Muzziotti’s glove is major league ready, and he might have the bat the ball skills to make contact now. To be an everyday starter, Muzziotti is going to need to make hard enough contact to at least put the ball in gaps, and right now he does not have that strength.
Summary: The surface level connections between Muzziotti and former Phillies prospect Carlos Tocci are unavoidable. They are both skinny, low strength, Venezuelan center fielders. Muzziotti is more compact than Tocci was and has a better feel for contact. The lack of strength part is definitely true, and Muzziotti does not have a frame that projects to add much power as he matures. He is a plus runner which allows him to turn balls into the gaps into extra base hits. He can get a bit swing happy, but has a solid feel for the strike zone. In the field, he is a good center fielder, who should be at least plus in the long run. His arm was a liability when he signed initially with the Red Sox, but it is now a positive for him. It is unlikely that Muzziotti will ever be an impact player in the majors, but given his glove and contact abilities, he could be a solid regular on a playoff team for much of his career.
2020 Outlook: Given his age and lack of mature physicality, it is likely that Muzziotti just spends the whole year in Reading manning center field. He is likely to see less of an effect on his offensive numbers than some of his more power hitting counterparts.

Role: Solid Regular
Risk: High – Muzziotti has the base tools to be a solid player with his speed and defense, but he still is missing a lot of physical development to reach his offensive ceiling.
Summary: Muzziotti initially signed with the Red Sox in 2015, but was declared a free agent as part of their punishment for contracts against MLB’s international signing rules. When he originally signed with the Red Sox, he was a speed and defense outfielder with a weak arm. Since signing, and even more so after signing with the Phillies, Muzziotti has shown a plus arm and surprising feel for contact. He is already an above average defensive center fielder and should be at least plus at his peak. He is a plus plus runner which helps both in the outfield and on the bases. He is becoming a better base runner as well, going 16 for 17 on steals after returning from injury. The injury in this case was a broken finger from a hit by pitch that cost him almost exactly 2 months and did not seem to impact him much once he was back. At the plate, Muzziotti has a great feel for contact, but his pitch recognition and plate discipline lag enough to lead him towards poor contact at times. He currently lacks any sort of power in his bat, but he does have the frame to fill out and be maybe a 5-10 home run a year player at his peak while peppering the gaps with doubles and triples. The lack of power holds back Muzziotti’s upside some, but his glove and speed mean that if he can add some amount of strength, and clean up the pitch recognition, he could be an Ender Inciarte type player in center field.
2019 Outlook: Despite missing time and having just ok numbers, Muzziotti has enough feel for contact that the Phillies will likely send him to Clearwater and look past the lack of power, given that they know he needs to add strength still.

Role: Above Average Regular
Risk: Extreme – Like most complex level batters, Muzziotti is ages away from the majors. While his defense, speed, and feel for contact give him a solid base, Muzziotti’s lack of present strength severely limits his impact.
Summary: Much like Abrahan Gutierrez, the Phillies were able to sign Muzziotti because his original contract was voided, in this case because of the Red Sox’s bonus manipulation. Muzziotti hit ok for the Red Sox DSL team in 2016, before struggling to have the hits fall in for the Phillies after his midseason change of teams. In 2017, the Phillies sent Muzziotti to the GCL, where he once again missed time in the season, only this time for an injury and not a voided contract. Because he is a skinny Venezuelan center fielder with little power, Muzziotti is going to draw comparisons to Carlos Tocci. It is true there are some similarities; both have little power, both are good center fielders, and both are plus or better runners. Muzziotti has more strength than Tocci did in the GCL, but he is also 2 years older at the same point. He has shown a better hit tool as well, but at the same age Tocci was having the bat knocked out of his hand in Lakewood. The hit tool is what really separated Muzziotti in 2017. He showed good contact rates in the DSL, but with a 5.7% K% in 2017 he really showed how good his feel for putting the bat on the ball is. He probably is not going to walk very much, because he is going to put the ball in play so much. It isn’t just slap and run either, he can hit the ball to all fields and has shown that balls in the alleys can easily become triples. He will need to get stronger and at least develop enough power to keep pitchers from just pumping fastballs right down the middle to him. In the field, Muzziotti is an above average center fielder and has shown improvements in arm strength as well. There is still a lot of development ahead, but the pieces are there for an everyday major leaguer.
2018 Outlook: Given the players in front of him and his further needed physical development, it seems likely that Muzziotti starts the year in Extended Spring Training before heading to Williamsport. There is a small chance the Phillies aggressively send him to Lakewood.