How do the Phillies match-up with the Braves?

Embed from Getty Images

Freeman and Harper will lead their teams for years to come

Following a half-decade of losing baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies are trying desperately to build their roster back to a truly competitive level.

Ownership opened their wallets this past off-season, shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade the starting lineup.

Last summer, the Phillies surprised many by taking and holding first place in the National League East Division for much of the summer. However, the club eventually collapsed over the final seven weeks of the season to finish in third place, once again with a losing record.

Bolting past the Phillies were the Atlanta Braves, who themselves were coming off a string of losing campaigns. Heading into the 2018 season, the Braves had suffered through four consecutive losing seasons. From 2015-17, Atlanta never finished closer than 23 games to the top of the division.

So, both the Phillies and Braves were awful for years coming into the 2018 season. But in the end, the Braves won a division crown, only their second since 2005. The Phillies missed the postseason for a seventh consecutive season.

There was a surge in excitement around the Phillies after the big cash outlay this past off-season. And as the 2019 season got underway at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies swept the Braves, outscoring their rivals by 23-11 over three late-March games and looking for all the world like the better ball club.

Flash forward four months, and things could not look any different. The two teams have met seven times since that opening series, with Atlanta winning five of those. Over the last three meetings, the Braves have now outscored the Phillies by a 30-10 margin.

The standings reflect this change as well. The Phillies early season lead in the division evaporated in a cloud of injuries, poor pitching, and inconsistent offensive production. Meanwhile, the Braves caught fire and again bolted to the top.

After Friday night’s 9-2 victory, Atlanta now leads the Washington Nationals by 5.5 games in the NL East standings, with the Phillies now 6.5 games back. And the fact is, the talent gap appears grimly wider than that between the two teams.

An examination of the two starting lineups, both now and projected over the coming seasons, reveals a major challenge ahead for the Phillies in trying to catch and stay with the Braves.

As the MLB trade deadline approaches, Phillies center field target emerges

Embed from Getty Images

Jackie Bradley Jr would slide perfectly into Phillies center field

As the July 31 trade deadline approaches in Major League Baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies have a number of holes that could use filling if the club wants to seriously take a run at the 2019 postseason.

The struggles of the pitching staff are well known to all Phillies fans. The starting rotation could use two more reliable, veteran arms. The bullpen, struggling through numerous injuries all season, could use better options as well.

Among the reserve position players, a more reliable, veteran backup is needed at catcher. In addition, the club could use a more talented veteran bat with some pop than is currently available off the bench for manager Gabe Kapler.

The glaring need in the everyday lineup can be found out in center field. That is the one position that immediately jumps out as an area where improvement is needed.

During this season, the Phillies suffered the unexpected loss of the incumbent starter, Odubel Herrera, to his legal troubles and league suspension stemming from a domestic violence incident. It is not likely that he is ever going to appear in a Phillies uniform again, at least not if the fan base has anything to say about it.

Andrew McCutchen sliding over was a possibility, and the veteran actually filled in a number of games when Herrera had suffered an April injury. But McCutchen was also lost for the season when he suffered an ugly knee injury which required surgery. He will not return until spring training of next year.

Kapler has been trying to get by with a combination of the perpetually out-of-position Scott Kingery and the perpetually injured Roman Quinn. Also, youngster Adam Haseley has been given a shot when healthy.

But if the Phillies are serious about getting to the 2019 postseason and making a legitimate further run by 2020, they need a more proven answer in center field. Enter my suggestion as a potential trade target, Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr.

Bradley is a 29-year-old Virginia native who was the Red Sox pick at 40th overall in the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of South Carolina. He made his big-league debut in the 2013 season, and is now in his fourth season as Boston’s full-time starter in center field.

Mickey Moniak beginning to look like a worthy top draft pick

Embed from Getty Images

Moniak was the top overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft

During their recent half-decade plummet to the bottom of the National League standings, the Philadelphia Phillies found themselves picking at a high position in the annual MLB Amateur Draft on a regular basis.

The Phillies had such a horrendous season in 2015 that their 63-99 record proved to be the worst in all of Major League Baseball. That set the club up with the #1 overall pick of the 2016 MLB Draft.

This was going to be far from a slam-dunk selection. Sure, the draft has yielded some true impact players with that first overall pick. Since the turn of the century, that top pick has produced stars in Joe Mauer, David Price, Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Gerrit Cole, and  Carlos Correa.

However, there have been as many misses as hits. Players selected #1 overall since the year 2000 also include Bryan Bullington (2002), Delmon Young (2003), Matt Bush (2004), Mark Appel (2013), and Brady Aiken (2014). Some were injury casualties. Some simply never developed as hoped.

Others made an impact, but it would be hard to say that they justified a first overall draft selection: Luke Hochevar (2006) and Tim Beckham (2008) fall into this category.

Even Justin Upton, taken first overall in 2005, has to be considered an overall disappointment when considering he was the top draft pick. Dansby Swanson, the top selection in the 2015 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks, is just emerging this year as an impact player after being traded to the Atlanta Braves.

In June of 2016, Matt Klentak was overseeing his first draft as the general manager of the Phillies. Johnny Almaraz was the club’s head of amateur scouting at the time. When MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stepped to the podium to announce the selection, he called the name of Mickey Moniak, an outfielder from La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, California.

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.

Adam Haseley suddenly finds himself starting for Phillies, ready or not

Embed from Getty Images

Series of unfortunate circumstances propel Haseley to the bigs

There has been no official announcement from manager Gabe Kapler, general manager Matt Klentak, or anyone else in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.

But there is no other way to look at the present situation regarding the Phillies injury-depleted outfield. Against all odds, Adam Haseley has become the starting center fielder for a Philadelphia Phillies team that still hopes to contend for a National League East Division crown.

The center field position has been in flux for weeks. The year opened with Odubel Herrera beginning what appeared to be his fifth season as the everyday starter. At just 27 years old and with a contract that runs at least through the 2021 campaign, and with no other healthy candidates appearing ready in the organization, Herrera’s job appeared as secure as any on the team.

However, Herrera came up injured on April 17, just 17 games into the 2019 season. At that exact same time, the perennially injured Roman Quinn was ready to return to the team. Quinn immediately was inserted into the lineup in Herrera’s place.

As most anyone who has followed the team over the last few years could have predicted, Quinn didn’t last long. After just seven games, he came up injured once again. Scott Kingery, the super-utility player who the team believed was also capable of covering center field, also came down with his own injury issues.

This began a nearly two-week period in which the position was in flux. Andrew McCutchen was moved over from left field to cover center field most days. The problem there was that it left a hole in left field. Aaron Altherr‘s game had completely fallen apart, to the point where he was released. Nick Williams wasn’t hitting at all, and would eventually find himself shipped back to Triple-A.

Herrera finally returned from the Injured List on May 4, but he did not produce. Over 22 games and 70 plate appearances during the month of May, Herrera slashed just .175/.257/.302 with no homers, nine RBIs, and five runs scored. He was proving a black hole in the batting order.

And then it really began to completely unravel. Just over a week ago as the club returned home from a tough road trip, Herrera was arrested following a domestic assault incident at an Atlantic City casino hotel. He is now being investigated by Major League Baseball, and his career with the Phillies may be over.

Odubel Herrera's time as Phillies center fielder may be coming to an end

Embed from Getty Images

Odubel Herrera has manned center field for five years in Philly

Despite losses in their last two games, the Philadelphia Phillies remain atop the standings in the National League East Division, a post they have occupied now for all but seven days this season.

But the team has some significant roster and lineup holes which are keeping them from really establishing themselves as clear favorites.

One such hole, by far the biggest where the everyday lineup is concerned, has developed out in center field. Incumbent Odubel Herrera, who has filled the position for the better part of the last five years, is just not getting the job done.

Herrera is slashing just .219/.280/.342 over his first 35 games and 125 plate appearances. This is not some aberration, but the continuation of a career trend. Herrera’s batting average has dropped every season of his big-league career.

From hitting .297 as a rookie in 2015, he has dropped to .286, .281, .255 to his current low point. Over the last four years his on-base percentage has also plummeted from .361 to .325 to .310 and now today’s poor level. His slugging has fallen off for a third straight year from .452 to .420 to its now .342 mark.

From August 1 onwards last season, Herrera slashed just .189/.242/.287 over 45 games and 153 plate appearances. His was not the only poor performance leading to the club’s collapse from first to third place over the final seven weeks of 2018, but it was a major piece to that puzzle.

Searching for a better option, manager Gabe Kapler turned in desperation to Scott Kingery to man the position during the second and third games of the current four-game series against the host Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

For a second straight series a top opposition prospect bat debuts against the Phillies

Embed from Getty Images

Brendan Rodgers was the third overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft

For the second straight series, Citizens Bank Park has been part of the introductory process to Major League Baseball for the top prospect of the Philadelphia Phillies opposition.

Earlier in the week, top Milwaukee Brewers prospect Keston Hiura made his big-league debut. The 22-year-old second baseman was the Brewers’ first round selection at ninth overall in the 2017 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of California-Irvine.

Hiura went just 2-12 over his first three games, with both hits coming in his first start on Tuesday night. But all the California native has ever done is hit, wherever he has played. He was tearing up the Triple-A Pacific Coast League to the tune of a .333/.408/.698 slash line with 11 homers, 24 extra-base hits, 26 RBIs, and 23 runs scored prior to his promotion.

Last night in South Philly it was the visiting Colorado Rockies turn to break in their top prospect. Like Hiura, Brendan Rodgers is also an infielder who was their first round choice, going at third overall in the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft out of a Florida high school.

Also like Hiura, Rodgers had been tearing his way through the Pacific Coast League when he got the call. He was slashing .356/.421/.644 at Albuquerque with 20 extra-base hits, nine homers, 21 RBIs, and 34 runs scored.

Rodgers made his big-league debut with the Rockies on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park. (David B. King)

A natural shortstop, Rodgers is expected to play mostly second base in Colorado, the position at which he debuted last night. That is due to the presence of All-Star shortstop Trevor Story already in the lineup for manager Bud Black.

Watching talented young hitters such as this make their entry into the big-leagues, Phillies fans have begun to wonder, where is ours? When will a legitimate top young hitter again come out of the Phillies minor league system and establish himself as a force in Major League Baseball?

Phillies Nation places Alec Bohm at top of latest Phillies Top 20 Prospects rankings

Embed from Getty Images

Alec Bohm ascends to the top of the Phillies prospect rankings

The Phillies Nation official Top 20 Philadelphia Phillies prospect ranking is being updated here based on a survey of select members of our current staff taken as Spring Training wound down back in late March.

Taking part in the survey were Editorial Director Tim Kelly, lead writer Matthew Veasey (yours truly) and staff writers Alec Whitaker and Drew Rhoades.

We each presented individual Phillies top 20 prospect lists. These were subsequently compiled into what you find presented below as our official ranking.

As always, the staff here at Phillies Nation follow the organization on a regular basis, from the lowest levels of the minor leagues on up through the big league club. We regularly read evaluations from industry experts and those who closely follow the team.

In forming our opinions we incorporate those of the scouts and industry experts from various sources including MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, Fangraphs and a variety of other respected outside resources. We also attend games in person at a number of levels and watch televised broadcasts of the big club and minor league affiliates. As often as possible, we work to see players and prospects actually perform on the field with our own eyes as well.

This latest Phillies Nation version of the current Phillies Top 20 Prospects is meant to present fans of the team with a clearer picture of the very best youngsters now moving through the organization’s minor league system.

Our usual standards applied: in order for players to be considered, they must have not used up their rookie qualifications of 130 big-league at-bats or 50 innings pitched with Major League Baseball.

To come up with each player’s ranking, I simply took each of our staffer’s lists and assigned a numeric point value based on those lists. A first place ranking from our staffer got you one point, a fifth place spot five, a 12th place spot got you 12 points and so on.

A dozen prospects found themselves on all four of our lists. You will find them as the No. 1-12 ranked prospects below. The next five from 13-17 were named on three of our four lists. The final three players at 18-20 were on two lists. Two other players were also named on two lists but ranked lower overall.

Full write-ups on the top 10 are supplied with 11-20 simply ranked. And once again as a bonus, players who were mentioned by at least one of our staffers but who did not make the overall top 20 are presented as well.

Phillies have used 11 center fielders in this Graperfuit League season

Embed from Getty Images

Adam Haseley has seen center field action this spring

The announced starting lineup for the Philadelphia Phillies for the Saturday afternoon March 16 game at Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Florida against the visiting Houston Astros included 24-year-old Dylan Cozens in center field.

The start for Cozens is his second of spring training in center field, the last coming back on March 6 in Dunedin against the host Toronto Blue Jays.

For these tune-up games down in Florida the Phillies have utilized 11 different players at the crucial center field position. None of them has been named Odubel Herrera. The starter at the position for the last four years has been sidelined by injury. He will make his first start today, serving as the Designated Hitter.

Herrera had entered the spring in a head-to-head competition for the starting center field job with 25-year-old Roman Quinn. However, the speedy Quinn suffered yet another in a series of injuries which have repeatedly set his career back. He got to make just one start, in the Grapefruit League opener against the Tampa Bay Rays.

With both Herrera and Quinn out of commission the Phillies have leaned heavily on three players. Aaron Altherr has received nine starts in center and is the only player to start out there on back-to-back days, having done so on both February 27th and 28th.

The other two players who have seen stead action in center field are a pair of prospects. 22-year-old Adam Haseley has made four starts and come on as a substitute in three others. 20-year-old Mickey Moniak made one start and came on as a sub a half-dozen times.

Haseley is one of just two who have played a full game in center field all spring. He did so for the split-squad game on the road against the Detroit Tigers on March 7.

The other player to go a full game in center was Lane Adams. The 29-year-old who has three years of big-league experience is here as a non-roster invitee. He also played a full split-squad road game, that one on March 14 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. That was Adams lone start. He has also appeared in three more games out in center as a substitute.

First round of a dozen spring cuts leaves Phillies with 49 players in big-league camp

Embed from Getty Images

Enyel De Los Santos was among first dozen Phillies reassignments

The Philadelphia Phillies dropped an 8-2 decision on Monday to the visiting Tampa Bay Rays at Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Florida. With that game in the books the club has now officially passed the halfway point of its Grapefruit League schedule.

The Phillies record under the Florida sun sits at 9-7 following the defeat. They now have 14 games remaining on their schedule prior to heading back north for the March 28 regular season opener against the division-rival Atlanta Braves.

Following their game on Saturday, March 9, a first round of seven players were reassigned. After today’s game another round of five reassignments was announced. These dozen roster moves are part of the effort to cut down to the 25 players who will be in the home clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park on Opening Day.

Both 22-year-old pitcher Adonis Medina, who is the Phillies #2 prospect now per MLB Pipeline, and 21-year-old shortstop Arquimedes Gamboa, considered their#13 prospect, were optioned to Double-A Reading on Saturday.

Today the Phillies optioned pitchers Enyel De Los Santos, Austin Davis and Edgar Garcia to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. De Los Santos is the team’s #6 prospect and made his Major League Baseball debut last season, appearing in seven games and making two starts on the mound. Davis saw action in 32 games with the Phillies last season as a situational left-hander.

Reassigned to the minor league camp over the two days were pitchers Cole Irvin, JoJo Romero and Tyler Gilbert, catcher Deivy Grullon, first baseman Austin Listi, infielder Malquin Canelo and outfielder Mickey Moniak. Romero is the Phillies #7 prospect, Moniak #9 and Irvin #16 per MLB Pipeline.

For three decades the Phillies have largely been unable to develop a top prospect

Embed from Getty Images

Pat Burrell has been the Phillies best high draftee to develop into a top prospect

Earlier this week, I wrote a piece on the current standing of the Phillies best minor league players on recently released top prospect lists. For nearly three decades, one of the most respected of the resources tracking and producing such lists has been Baseball America.

The same day as my Phillies Nation article was released, Baseball America was publishing their own piece on the history of their top prospect coverage. Specifically, the BA staff was re-visiting every prospect ranked either #1 or #2 on their annual Top 100 Prospects list.

Before even bothering to look down the entire list, which covered every top prospect and runner-up since 1990, a thought popped into my head – have the Phillies ever had someone finish in either spot? I follow the prospect game pretty closely and couldn’t recall the team ever having a prospect ranked that highly.

Sure enough, the list revealed that no Phillies prospect has been ranked as the best in all of baseball on the annual Top 100 list. Only one of the club’s prospects has ever found themselves in the #2 spot. That would be Pat Burrell back in 2000.

A look around the National League East Division reveals that the Atlanta Braves have seen five of their prospects ranked as the best in the game: Steve Avery (1990), Chipper Jones (93), Andruw Jones (96-97), Jason Heyward (2010), and Ronald Acuna just last year. Jones was also the #2 prospect of 1994.

The Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos organization has produced a pair of top prospects: Cliff Floyd (94) and Bryce Harper in both 2011 and 2012. While still in Montreal, Vladimir Guerrero was the #2 prospect in 1997. After the franchise had moved to D.C., Stephen Strasburg finished in the runner-up slot for 2010.

Two of those divisional rivals, the New York Mets and Florida/Miami Marlins, have fared even worse than the Phillies in placing prospects at the top of the ranking lists.

The Mets had Paul Wilson rank #2 in 1996. Wilson pitched just one disappointing season in the Big Apple at age 23 in 1996 before his career was derailed for four years by injuries. He finally recovered enough to appear in parts of three seasons with Tampa Bay and three more in Cincinnati.

The Marlins, established as an expansion organization in 1993, have never placed a prospect in either of the top two slots on the Baseball America rankings. But despite not joining Major League Baseball until the 1998 season, the best at producing top prospects has been another expansion club, the Tampa Bay Rays.

There have been a pair of Rays at the top: Josh Hamilton in 2001 and Delmon Young in 2006. Five Rays prospects have finished in the runner-up slot: Rocco Baldelli (03), B.J. Upton (04), Evan Longoria (08), David Price (09), and Matt Moore in 2012.

Director of Player Development Joe Jordan departs Phillies organization

Jordan has seen mixed results over seven years.

The Philadelphia Phillies announced on Tuesday that director of player development Joe Jordan would not continue with the organization. His exit from a position that he has held for the last seven years was swift and sudden.

“…last week I walked into Matt’s (Phillies GM Klentak) office and told him I didn’t think I was the guy to take this thing forward,” said Jordan per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Much of what you need to know about the bottom line reasoning behind Jordan’s exit from what is essentially the traditional “farm director” position can be traced back to his hiring.

Jordan was hired by former general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. Over the last few years since Amaro was replaced by Klentak, the new Phillies GM has done what pretty much every new head of any organization does in all industries – bring in his own people.

Those people have included “new thinkers” like Klentak, well-versed in video and computer analytics. In a comprehensive piece on the changes, Matt Gelb of The Athletic named three of those individuals as assistant GM Bryan Minniti, minor league information coordinator Ben Werthan, and player-development coordinator Dana Parks.

Gelb described behind-the-scenes maneuverings involving an increased role for Minniti over the past year which likely helped lead to yesterday’s announcement:

“…Minniti, who was promoted to assistant general manager last offseason, oversees  the club’s player-development process along with amateur talent procurement. He has begun to exert more influence in how both departments are run. Two sources said Jordan was asked to take a reserved approach — more hands off — this season.”

The Phillies did not immediately name a new farm director. There are internal candidates, but the club has shown with many of its recent hiring’s such as manager Gabe Kapler that they are willing to search aggressively outside of the organization for new talent fitting their ever-increasing move towards an analytical approach to talent evaluation.

What all this means for the future is that the new director of player development will either be one of the newcomers, perhaps Parks, or will be a new hire from outside who fits that same mold.

At the big-league level, players such as Aaron Nola, Rhys Hoskins, and Scott Kingery came into and developed up through the organization during the Jordan years. They have brought not only long-term talent but are also providing the fan base with the first group of relatable and marketable players in years.Jordan’s tenure has resulted in a somewhat mixed bag of results.

There have been undeniable steps forward. The Phillies have a handful of minor league affiliates in the playoffs this season, and that minor league system has become respected throughout the industry.

There have also been stutter-steps and frustration from high draft picks and top prospects such as J.P. Crawford, Mickey Moniak, and Cornelius Randolph who also came into and have been developing through the Phillies organization during his tenure.

Though there certainly were behind-the-scenes frustrations, the public parting of the ways between Klentak and Jordan was amicable. The 56-year-old Jordan was quoted by Bob Brookover of Philly.com:

“It would not be accurate to say that I was opposed to analytics. But I think our organization was in some form of transition and it was time for me to move on. I’m not leaving Matt at all. I had a phenomenal experience with the Phillies.“

As the organization moves forward, fans of such an increased emphasis on analytics will be happy. “Old school” fans who long for days where the eyes and minds of grizzled veteran scouts watching players and filing reports led to decisions regarding on-field talent are likely to become more frustrated.

The Phillies appear to properly recognize that there is merit to both approaches in helping push the organization forward. Klentak is now leaning more and more on his own hand-picked lieutenants to do the job of overseeing the evaluation and development of ball players with an ever-increasing emphasis on statistical analytics.

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Exit of Joe Jordan means more Matt Klentak analytics in Phillies player development"

Phillies Top 20 Prospects Summer 2018

Embed from Getty Images

Pitcher Sixto Sanchez is the consensus top Phillies prospect

The Phillies Nation official Top 20 Philadelphia Phillies prospect ranking has been compiled from a survey of select members of our current staff.

Taking part in the survey were myself, Editorial Director Tim Kelly and staff writer Alec Whitaker, who produces our “Minor League Mash-up” series and regularly covers the Phillies minor league system here at Phillies Nation.

Each of these staffers presented their own individual Phillies Top 20 Prospect lists, which were then compiled into what you find presented below as our official ranking.

The staff here at Phillies Nation all follow the organization on a regular basis, from the lowest levels of the minor leagues on up through the big league club. We regularly read over the evaluations of both industry experts and others who closely follow the team.

We also attend games at a number of levels, watch TV broadcasts of the big club and minor league affiliates, and get to see players and prospects actually perform on the field.

These types of lists are always going to be subjective in nature. However, we incorporate the opinions of industry experts from places such as MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and a variety of other respected outside resources in helping to form our individual opinions.

This Phillies Nation version of the current Phillies Top 20 Prospects reflects those influences. It presents fans with a realistic picture of the very best youngsters now moving through the organization’s minor league system.

As for qualifications, we operated with the standard that to be considered, players must have not used up their MLB rookie qualifications of 130 big league at-bats or 50 innings pitched.

To come up with each player’s ranking, I simply took each of our three staffer’s lists and assigned a numeric point value based on those lists. A first place ranking from our staffer got you one point, a fifth place spot five, a 12th place spot got you 12 points. Add up the points for a total with the lowest being the best, and that’s how the final PN rankings were established. There were 15 prospects who received votes from all three of us.

You will find full write-ups on the top 10, and then 11-20 simply ranked. As a bonus, players who were mentioned by one of our staffers but who didn’t make the official rankings will be noted as well.

PHILLIES NATION: PHILLIES TOP 20 PROSPECTS

Sanchez was rated in the top spot by all three Phillies Nation evaluators.

1. Sixto Sanchez, RHP: The consensus top Phillies prospect at this time, not only on our PN list, but also per every reputable industry resource. Sanchez just left his teenage years behind a little over a week ago, and has spent the past couple of months on the minor league disabled list after suffering inflammation in his right (pitching) elbow. Signed by the Phillies as a 16-year-old international free agent out of his native Dominican Republic back in 2015, Sanchez has been advancing incrementally through the club’s farm system ever since. Over eight starts at High A Clearwater this season, he’s gone 4-3 with a 2.51 ERA and 1.071 WHIP, allowing 39 hits over 46.2 innings with a 45/11 K:BB ratio. Whitaker commented that “no one in the Phillies system has as much upside as the 20-year-old flamethrower.” MLB.com backs up that description with their scouting report: “It’s hard not to get excited about Sanchez’s combination of pure stuff and feel for pitching. While he is just six feet tall, he’s strong and athletic with a repeatable delivery that points to a future in a rotation. He can hit triple digits with his four-seam fastball and also features a two-seamer with a ton of sinking action. His fastball is better than its pure velocity because of its movement as well as his ability to command it extremely well. His secondary stuff continues to improve, with a breaking ball he adds and subtracts from and a changeup he shows a good feel for at times. Both will flash above-average to plus, and given his overall feel for pitching, there is confidence both will get there consistently in time.” The Phillies are being understandably conservative in handling his rehabilitation. It is hoped that he will return to pitching this month. Assuming he is recovered and progresses physically, it would not be unreasonable to expect Sanchez to reach Double-A Reading next season, and possibly get a taste of Triple-A Lehigh Valley as well. By spring of 2020, when he will still be just 21 years of age, Sanchez should be pushing for a role in the Phillies starting rotation.