I have been slowly build mailbag questions for a while waiting until I had enough to answer them all, and here it is. Like always there great questions here.
Christopher Smith (@shindaga7225): Next prospect to make an impact that has not been placed on 40 man roster ie Franco?
Dan (@Sixers_Fan1243): Chance Nola pitches for Philly next year?
I have to go with Aaron Nola as the answer to the first question. Jesse Biddle will get his 40 man spot this offseason, but Nola has more impact long term. In an ideal world Nola has 100% chance to arrive in Philadelphia in 2015. He was the most advanced starting pitcher in the 2015 draft. The reason this is not 100% chance is that there is a small chance he won’t be ready, but a slightly larger chance he gets hurt. Nola is a freak in his delivery it works really well for him, but pitchers get hurt for entirely mysterious reasons. But if Nola stays healthy next year there is probably a 90%+ chance he ends up in the majors at some point. If everything goes fairly well I would expect him to debut at some point between the middle of June and the All-Star game.
If you are looking for the sleeper guy, Crawford should be in AA next year and the jump over AAA is always in play. If Crawford tears it up in AA and shows above average defense, there is a chance he could make the majors in 2015 if there is a major Rollins injury or trade. It is much more likely he doesn’t get there until 2016, but he is so advanced he could make the majors early and then develop there.
