Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects: Near Misses

Over the past week, I have been releasing a countdown of the Philadelphia Phillies Top Ten Prospects as of Fall 2016.

That Phillies top prospect list shows that this vastly improved organization has a tremendous mix of talented youngsters coming at a variety of positions.

The current top ten includes three pitchers, a catcher, a second baseman, a shortstop, and four outfielders. At least three of these prospects appear ready to impact the team in the 2017 season.

But there were others who didn’t make the cut, but who were close. Players who are legitimate big league prospects. 

Certainly a few of them would have made the top ten list in the estimations of other talent evaluators. Let’s examine a few of the prospects who just missed my list.

Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects: #1 - Jorge Alfaro

For the last week, I’ve been counting down the Philadelphia Phillies current top ten prospects. Now we’ve reached the top spot in this vastly improved organization.

Jorge Alfaro came to the Phillies organization as one of the centerpieces in the big package received from the Texas Rangers for Cole Hamels at the July 2015 trade deadline.

Texas had originally signed Alfaro as a 16-year old amateur free agent out of his native Sincelejo, Colombia back in January of 2010.

He advanced incrementally through the Rangers farm system, first popping up on prospect rankings at #101 by Baseball Prospectus in 2012. 

By the 2014 and 2015 seasons, Alfaro was a top 75 prospect with all of the major evaluation services.

Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects: #2 - J.P. Crawford

The Philadelphia Phillies minor league organization has enjoyed a welcome resurgence over the last two seasons. 

A handful of astute trades have built up the quality and depth, particularly at the upper levels.

But a big piece of the organizational improvement has come via the draft process. 

Because the big league club has deteriorated, the Phillies have been selecting at or near the top of the MLB Amateur Draft for the last four seasons, and have largely made those picks count.

In 2014 it was starting pitcher Aaron Nola, who joined the rotation a year later. That draft also produced first baseman Rhys Hoskins in the fifth round. He shared the organizational Paul Owens Award this year.

In 2015, the Phillies selected outfielder Cornelius Randolph at 10th overall, and then chose second baseman Scott Kingery in the second round. Both now rank within this Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects countdown.

Two more players on the current countdown were produced in this year’s 2016 MLB Amateur Draft. Outfielder Mickey Moniak is ranked third, and pitcher Kevin Gowdy is now ranked at #9 on my Fall 2016 list of the Phillies top prospects.

Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects: #3 - Mickey Moniak

The Philadelphia Phillies Fall 2016 top prospect countdown is now into the most elite of this greatly improved organization’s young performers.

In 2015, the Phils’ rebuilding program underwent perhaps its most important development. Team ownership woke to the necessity of changing those making the decisions and talent evaluations. 

Andy MacPhail was brought on board. He would quickly rise to his current position of president of baseball operations. MacPhail then hired Matt Klentak as his general manager.

The pair was further supported by a change in ownership control to John Middleton. This effectively began during 2015 as well. But it was made formal in a vote by the MLB owners just in the last couple of weeks.

That controlling group had their first real opportunity to begin putting their stamp on the future of the organization through the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft.

The Phillies owned the top overall selection in that draft process for the first time since selecting Pat Burrell all the way back in 1999. This would be a vital pick as the rebuilding program moved forward.

It is far too early to know exactly how it will turn out. So much can still happen in the way of injuries and other developmental issues. But it appears that they may have hit a home run with the selection.

Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects: #4 - Roman Quinn

The Philadelphia Phillies just completed what can be considered the second season of their rebuilding process.

There are probably some who might trace that rebuild back to the 2012 “throw in the towel” deals of Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence.

I think there was still a sense of denial in the organization at that point. For me, the real concerted effort did not begin until the December 2014 trades of Jimmy Rollinsand Marlon Byrd.

As the process moves forward, the pieces that will make up the future are beginning to come into focus. For me, one of the keys to that rebuilding process is the #4 prospect in this Philadelphia Phillies Fall 2016 Top Prospects countdown, Roman Quinn.

Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects: #5 - Nick Williams

The Philadelphia Phillies minor league and prospect improvement resulted in a lot of winning throughout the organization this past season.

That improvement included each of their minor league affiliates reaching the playoffs, and MiLB naming the Phillies as having the Best Farm System in 2016.

With all of the success, there were a few high-profile disappointments this year among the organizations crown jewel prospects. One of those was outfielder Nick Williams, who remains the Phillies #5 overall prospect.

Prior to the 2016 season, Williams was considered one of the top few dozen prospects in the game. Baseball American had him ranked 27th overall, and Baseball Prospectus had him ranked 25th in the game.

Williams had come to the Phillies organization as part of a massive haul from the Texas Rangers in the Cole Hamels deal at the 2015 non-waiver trade deadline.

The Rangers second round pick in the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft out of a Galveston, Texas high school, Williams is a 6’3″ lefty hitter and fielder.

Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects: #6 - Franklyn Kilome

It is widely accepted throughout the industry that the Philadelphia Phillies have one of the most improved farm systems in the game.

As my own “Phillies Fall 2016 Top 10 Prospects” countdown progresses, the player in the #6 slot becomes the third and final pitcher on the list.

Franklyn Kilome is a 21-year old, 6’6″, 175 pound right-hander signed by the Phils out of the Dominican Republic back in 2013.

Kilome’s Pro Career to Date

Kilome began his professional career pitching as a teenager with the GCL Phillies in the summer of 2014. He went 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA and 1.165 WHIP while allowing 36 hits over 40.1 innings in 11 games, eight of them starts.

In 2015, Kilome was moved up to short season Williamsport, where he put together a 3-2 record with a 3.28 ERA and 1.257 WHIP as a 20-year old. He yielded 41 hits in 49.1 innings over 11 starting outings.

This past summer saw Kilome take the next step, moving up to Low A Lakewood in the South Atlantic League. He went 5-8 with a 3.85 ERA and 1.42 WHIP over 23 starts, allowing 113 hits in 114.2 innings.

In his three seasons, Kilome has produced a combined 191/82 K:BB ratio over 204.1 innings.  He has allowed 190 hits over his first 45 pro games, 42 of those as starting assignments.

It is believed that Kilome is beginning to fill out his large frame as he matures, and that his actual weight is significantly greater now than the bio listed 175.

Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects: #7 - Ben Lively

The Philadelphia Phillies have brought a number of young starting pitchers to the big leagues over the last two seasons who have a shot to become members of their rotation over the long term.

In 2015 it was Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, Adam Morgan, and Alec Asher getting their shots. Eickhoff has become perhaps the club’s most reliable starter. Nola has a world of talent, but is now battling injury concerns.

Asher and Morgan started slow a year ago. Morgan struggled even more mightily this season, but Asher righted his ship and put himself back into the long term conversation.

In 2016 the debut came for both Zach Eflin, now also battling back from injury, and for Jake Thompson, who held his own in a late season promotion.

At some point in the 2017 season, possibly right away depending upon the health of some of the other starting pitchers, right-hander Ben Lively should get his own shot.

Lively will turn 25-years old in early March down in Clearwater as he fights to impress the Phillies coaching staff and team management.

MLB Pipeline currently has him listed as the club’s #23 prospect. None of the major evaluation resources have him ranked as highly as I have him here. So why do I have Lively as my #7 Phillies prospect for the Fall of 2016?

Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects: #8 - Cornelius Randolph

The 2015 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft would prove to be the final one for the Philadelphia Phillies under the regime of former general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.

With the first pick in that draft at 10th overall, the club surprised many. The Phillies selected 18-year-old Cornelius Randolph out of Griffin High School in Georgia.

Randolph was a Perfect Game First Team High School All-American in the 2015 season. He hit .526 with seven home runs and 18 RBI over just 17 games.

Ranked by Baseball America as the 20th best prospect entering the draft, I had predicted that he would go to the Kansas City Royals at 21st overall. The Royals had been all over him in the buildup to that draft.

A shortstop in high school, the Phillies almost immediately moved him to left field. It is likely his only path to the big leagues, as it will be his bat that is going to have to carry Randolph.

Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects: #9 - Kevin Gowdy

The Philadelphia Phillies went to the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft knowing that they had the top overall pick, which gave them the entirety of the field of prospects from whom to select their favorite.

With that top overall pick the Phillies chose high-ceiling high school outfielder Mickey Moniak. But the club also hoped that by the time their second round choice came around at #42 overall some player who they had ranked highly would slip to their position.

When that turn came the Phils brain trust was ecstatic to find another high-ceiling high schooler, pitcher Kevin Gowdy, theirs for the taking.

Gowdy, who turns 19 years old this week, is a 6’4″ right-hander out of Santa Barbara High School in California who the club had rated as a first round talent. ESPN had him rated as the 24th best prospect prior to the draft.

Phillies Fall 2016 Top Ten Prospects: #10 - Scott Kingery

The Philadelphia Phillies minor league system has been universally proclaimed throughout the baseball industry as one of the most improved in the game over the last two years.

Over the next week, I am counting down my Top 10 Phillies Prospects as of Fall 2016. That process begins today with #10 on my list, second baseman Scott Kingery.

Kingery was the choice of the Phillies in the second round of the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft at 48th overall out of the University of Arizona. An identical twin, Kingery played in the Little League World Series in 2006 with a team from the Ahwatukee Little League.

“At the time, I thought it was the best thing that could ever happen to me,” Kingery said per Guy Curtright at MiLB.com in July of this year. “It was awesome being on a stage like that and getting to play on ESPN.”

He was a First Team Louisville Slugger All-American at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix, and a Baseball America Second Team All-American.