Phillies may finally have a legitimate lefty starting pitching prospect emerging

Damon Jones has emerged as a legit Phillies pitching prospect

Baseball America is one of the most respected resources in all of baseball for all sorts of information on the game. That is especially so regarding their evaluation and coverage of minor league baseball and top prospects.

In a regular feature, the periodical and website releases a monthly “Dynasty Stock Report” as a research tool for fantasy baseball players who might be looking for emerging prospects.

For their June release, Baseball America had an interesting name pop up in the “Surging” category of that stock report. The named belonged to a Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, left-hander Damon Jones.

Jone is a 24-year-old southpaw (he turns 25 in September) from Idaho who was the Phillies 18th round selection in the 2017 MLB Amateur Draft out of Washington State University.

After signing with the organization, Jones began his professional career that same summer at short-season Williamsport. He then advanced to Low-A Lakewood for his first full season in 2018 and began to excel. That season, Jones went 10-7 with a 3.41 ERA, striking out 123 batters over 113.1 innings across 23 games, 22 of those as starting assignments.

This year, Jones has upped his game. Over 11 starts at High-A Clearwater the lefty went 4-3 with a 1.54 ERA and 1.063 WHIP. He allowed just 38 hits over 58.1 innings, earning a promotion to Double-A Reading. There he has continued to dominate, allowing nine hits over his first 22 innings across four starts.

Reading Fightin Phils feature four top Phillies draft picks

Randolph, Moniak, Bohm, Haseley at Reading end of June 2019
(photo credit: George Young Jr)

Many fans of the Philadelphia Phillies make the trip to FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading, Pennsylvania at some point. Roughly 75-80 miles northwest of Philly, those fans make the trip to watch the Reading Fightin’ Phils, the club’s Double-A minor league affiliate.

Minor league baseball has its own attractions, with frequent giveaways and other promotional activities. There is often access to the players that you rarely get in a big-league ballpark, and the seating is fantastic in a more intimate setting.

Recently there was something even more exciting for fans who were able to get to Reading. For the first time in the history of the franchise, four Phillies first round draft picks were all being featured in the Fightins lineup at the same time.

The Phillies top prospect, 22-year-old third baseman Alec Bohm, was the club’s first round choice at third overall in the June 2018 MLB Draft out of Wichita State. Bohm was promoted last Thursday from High-A Clearwater after tearing through four levels of the system since being drafted last year.

Bohm made his home debut in Reading with a fantastic performance on Thursday night. “It was an outstanding game, all-around (for Bohm),” said Reading manager Shawn Williams per The Reading Eagle. “He did it all here tonight.”

Bohm has slashed .331/.406/.535 with nine home runs, 32 extra-base hits, 42 RBIs, and 43 runs scored over 298 plate appearances across three levels this season. It was just announced that Bohm has been selected to play for the United States team in the prestigious MLB Futures Game as part of the MLB All-Star festivities next month.

Ben Pelletier named as short-season Williamsport Crosscutters POY

Crosscutters take the field in a 2018 game
(Photo by Ruhrfisch has been cropped/shrunk)

The Williamsport Crosscutters became the Class A-Short Season minor league affiliates of the Philadelphia Phillies following the 2006 season.

The Crosscutters play their home games in a facility known as  BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field. It is currently the second-oldest ballpark in minor league baseball, having opened way back in 1926.

Williamsport is located in north-central Pennsylvania, approximately 180 miles from Philadelphia. It’s about a three-and-a-half hour drivefrom the Philly area using either I-76 or I-476.

In this recently completed 2018 season the Crosscutters finished at 32-44, tied for fifth (last) place in the Pinckney Division of the New York-Penn League.

This year’s Crosscutters Player of the Year is Ben Pelletier. The 6-2, 190lb left fielder turned 20 years old in late August. He was the 34th round selection of the Phillies in the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft out of high school in his native Canada.

Pelletier began the season playing for the Phillies Gulf Coast League East affiliate. He was promoted to short-season Williamsport on June 15.

Over 286 plate appearances across 69 games with the Crosscutters, Pelletier slashed .277/.333/.480 this season. His nine home runs, 45 RBI, and 29 runs scored led Williamsport in each of those offensive categories. In mid-August, Pelletier was named the New York-Penn League’s Player of the Week.

Back in early August, Mitch Rupert at the Sun-Gazette quoted Pelletier on how pitchers have changed their approach with him as the successful season unfolded: “I think I see more and more junk every day. I started the season seeing fastballs. But I’m seeing more off-speed than I did last year or the years before. I have to get used to it a little bit.”

Williamsport manager Pat Borders was quoted by Rupert on his young slugger’s performance and demeanor hitting in the middle of the lineup.

“He’s got a different kind of pop. The ball jumps off his bat a little different than most…He carries himself a little bit more mature…he’s gotten used to the type of attack you get in that hole because it commands a little bit of respect. His growth has been pretty good over the course of the season so far.”

Though not ranked among the Phillies organizational top prospects by any of the major scouting or evaluation sites at this point, Pelletier did show up among the “other top vote-getters” section of the Reading Eagle’s top thirty Phillies prospects survey released on September 1.

Pelletier could find himself starting to show up on more top prospect lists in 2019 should he repeat this caliber of performance. He is currently getting extra at-bats as part of the team’s instructional league entry.

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Williamsport Crosscutters Player of the Year: Ben Pelletier"