After the 2014 season, the Phillies embarked on a rebuild, looking to restock a somewhat barren farm system and grow a winning team from within.
It¡¯s been a slow uphill climb in the NL East for the Phillies, though they did reach .500 in 2019 for the first time since 2012. Progress was made in bringing in talent, as the Phillies made MLB Pipeline¡¯s Top 10 farm system rankings five times in six rankings from midseason 2015 through the start of the 2018 season.
That hasn¡¯t translated directly to huge win totals in the Majors, yet, though top prospects were used to bring in J.T. Realmuto and lesser ones brought in help during an unsuccessful playoff push this past season. The system is a little thin now, with just two Top 100 players, though both Alec Bohm and Spencer Howard have the chance to be outstanding big leaguers in the very near future.
TOP 5 PROSPECTS
- Alec Bohm, 3B/1B (No. 34 on Top 100)
- Spencer Howard, RHP (No. 88)
- Bryson Stott, SS
- Adonis Medina, RHP
- Luis Garcia, SS/2B
Complete Top 30 list ?
HITTING & PITCHING PROSPECTS OF THE YEAR
Alec Bohm, 3B (No. 1): Bohm was the third overall pick in the 2018 Draft and played like it in 2019, when he spent time at Class A, Class A Advanced and Double-A. He hit .305 with a .518 slugging percentage, with 21 homers and 80 RBIs.
Damon Jones, LHP (No. 20): An 18th-round pick from 2017, Jones put up an impressive season, making it up to Triple-A over the course of the year in 2019. Overall, he had a 2.91 ERA across Class A Advanced, Double-A and Triple-A, making 23 starts. He struck out 12 batters per nine innings and allowed just seven home runs. More ?
STOCK UP/DOWN
Deivy Grullon, C (No. 19): Grullon was on the Top 30 back in 2016, but had fallen off when his bat didn¡¯t develop. He opened some eyes in 2018 (.273/.313/.515 with 21 homers), but people wanted to see him do it again since Double-A Reading is so hitting friendly. The strong-armed backstop did just that, posting a .283/.354/.496 line with another 21 home runs in Triple-A en route to making his big league debut.
Arquimedes Gamboa, SS (No. 22): Gamboa has always been an outstanding defender, but one who hasn¡¯t hit consistently. Though he didn¡¯t put up good numbers offensively in 2018, he was added to the 40-man roster because of his glove last offseason with the hopes that a move to Reading would help him get his bat going. Instead, he hit .188 with a .574 OPS that was his lowest in three seasons of full-season ball.
NOTABLE ADDITIONS
Draft: Bryson Stott SS, 1st round (No. 3); Erik Miller, LHP, 4th round (No. 9); Jamari Baylor, SS, 3rd round (No. 27); Andrew Schultz, RHP, 6th round. Complete Draft list ?
The Phillies were in a buying mood as they tried to compete for a postseason spot, so they didn¡¯t add any prospects via trade. They did hand out a half-dozen six-figure bonuses at the start of the 2019-20 international amateur signing period (shortstop Randy Vasquez got the highest bonus at $350,000), but it will be some time before there¡¯s any sense of a return on investment there. The organization did bring in four players who were on the Draft Top 200 in last June¡¯s Draft.
2020 IMPACT PROSPECT
Spencer Howard, RHP: Howard missed two months in 2019 with shoulder soreness, but showed perhaps the best overall stuff in the Arizona Fall League, a repertoire that could get big league hitters out right now. He¡¯ll need to continue working on his command and might need a bit more time in the upper Minors to start 2020, but it¡¯s easy to see a scenario where his domination of Triple-A hitters leads to a lot of starts in the big leagues.
Best tools
Hit: Alec Bohm
Power: Jhailyn Ortiz
Run: Corbin Williams
Arm: Jhailyn Ortiz
Field: Arquimedes Gamboa
Best athlete: Luke Williams
Fastball: Spencer Howard
Curveball: Zach Warren
Slider: Francisco Morales
Changeup: Kyle Dohy
Control: Ethan Lindow
How they were built
Draft: 17
International: 12
Trade: 1
The Phillies have one of the most international Top 30 lists in baseball, with a dozen prospects having come from that market, including four of the top 10 and eight of the top 15. That said, the top three all hail from the Draft, with their last two first-round picks coming in at Nos. 1 and 3, respectively.
Top 30 breakdown by position
C: 3
2B: 1
3B: 1
SS: 6
OF: 4
RHP: 8
LHP: 7
Need a southpaw? You might want to give the Phillies a call. They have seven lefties on their Top 30, tied for the most (Rays) among all 30 clubs. You can also ask about their crop of shortstops as they are one of only five organizations with at least six prospects at the premium position currently.