The big club has a decent shot at the division this year, which is good – because the farm is looking lean. And not in that good “I’ve lost twenty pounds and can touch my toes again” lean. No, this is the lean where every other spec is a pitcher and even the top prospects don’t touch 60 with their overall grade. Will it matter? Maybe. It’s nice to build a contender and still have some big chips to trade during a run. But that’s asking for cake and eating it too. Sixto’s gone. That leaves last year’s draft pick as their best prospect. Meh. Grab a roast pork and let’s do this jawn.
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1. Alec Bohm, 3B | Age: 22 | ETA: 2021
Bohm is your best bet in this system for fantasy porpoises. He’s a big dude who can hit and hit for power at the hot corner. His pro debut was just okay, with no homers but a tidy 8% walk rate and 15% strikeout rate. He should see both levels of A-ball this season and the upper minors the following year, setting him up for a relatively quick ETA if he’s successful.
Grade B
2. Adonis Medina, RHP | Age: 22 | ETA: 2020
Medina is a high-upside arm with three plus pitches in his heater, slider, and change. He struck out 123 in 111 innings last season and has the ceiling of a 2/3 starter. I like the control and the strikeout potential, but I’m not ready to go all in until he gets some innings under his belt in the upper minors. It’s very difficult to choose between Medina and our next pitching spec…
3. Spencer Howard, RHP | Age: 22 | ETA: 2020
I love Howard’s strikeout stuff – he punched out 12 per nine in 112 innings at the Single-A level last season. He also made some improvements with his control, walking just 3.2 per nine in 2018. Howard can touch triple digits with his heater, while also creating whiffs with a plus change up and curve. The Phils could push him towards the bigs at the end of this year as a reliever, but long term he’ll have much more value as a starter, where the ceiling is a 2/3 with nice strikeout totals.
4. Luis Garcia, SS | Age: 18 | ETA: 2022
Repeat after me. Ain’t not prospect like a switch-hitting shortstop prospect. I just love ’em! Garcia is really interesting (especially compared to the rest of this list). He’s got a great bat/approach (.369 in Rookie ball last year) and at just 18 there’s the potential for some power to develop. This could be a big year for his stock, so get in before it ticks up.
5. Adam Haseley, OF | Age: 22 | ETA: 2019
My guess is Haseley will be a trade chip this summer. He’s already looking like a fourth outfielder type and the Phils have no immediate need there (guys like Quinn are waiting in the wings). Haseley did have a nice season in 2018 though, hitting .305 with 11 homers and seven steals between two levels.
Grade C
6. JoJo Romero, LHP | Age: 22 | ETA: 2019
If you have a JoJo in your life you’re doing alright. Like, you’re an interesting person. Unless that JoJo is your dead pet that you had stuffed and placed on your mantle. That’s not interesting. That’s just weird. This JoJo is somewhere in between the interesting dude and the stuffed pet. He’s a lefty. Cool. He lost time with an oblique strain. Not cool. His velo is all over the place. Shrugging shoulders emoji.
7. Enyel De Los Santos, RHP | Age: 23 | ETA: 2019
DLS got a cup of coffee in the bigs last year, but there’s currently no room at the inn when it comes to the Phils rotation. Eickhoff is probably still ahead of him on the depth chart as well. It would be nice to see the club stick with him as a starter, where he might find some success in the back of the rotation, but there’s also a nonzero chance he just ends up in relief or traded.
8. Mickey Moniak, OF | Age: 20 | ETA: 2020
I’m a Moooniak…Moooniak on the floor. And I’m writin’ like I’ve never writ before! Not to hate on this dude – who still has time to develop and is a former first rounder – but do you know who Mickey Moniak is? He’s the prospect everybody in your league who can fog a mirror is including in their trade offers before you start negotiating for somebody you actually want. Possible buy low but I’m just not really seeing the upside.
9. Jhailyn Ortiz, 1B/OF| Age: 20 | ETA: 2021
Welp, same old story here. Big power and big whiffs. Ortiz struck out at a 33% clip in 2018 and I don’t see that getting better. He doesn’t walk enough to be a three outcome guy either. I’m not taking the risk personally, but I could see how the power might be tempting to buy into at 20 years old.
10. Nick Maton, SS | Age: 22 | ETA: 2021
The best part of writing up these crappy systems is I can throw anybody into this tenth slot and it won’t phase the readers, who stopped reading around number six and clicked on an ad featuring a picture of an onion that looked vaguely like a nipple. Maton is kind of like that onion. Yeah, maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s just an onion. But also maybe…just maybe…it turns out to be this really useful utility player that can swing it a little bit. Ya know, like a nipple.
