Re-Ranking the Top 10

Here on BlueClaws Blog, Greg Giombarrese has already taken a visit back to the top ten prospects within the Phillies organization as they stood before the season began in April. Now, with the trade deadline having passed, and the bulk of the games played in 2009, its a good time to see how the list of prospects stack up now within the Phillies organization. Here is a reminder of how the top ten looked in April with the year they played in Lakewood.
01. Dominic Brown (2008)
02. Carlos Carrasco (2006) - Traded to Cleveland
03. Lou Marson (2006) - Traded to Cleveland
04. Jason Donald (2007) - Traded to Cleveland
05. Kyle Drabek (2007) - (Pictured)
06. Michael Taylor (2008)
07. Travis D’Arnaud (2008)
08. Zach Collier (2009)
09. JA Happ (2005) - No longer at “prospect” status
10. Jason Knapp (2009) - Traded to Cleveland
So a lot has changed, to preface, of the four players traded to Cleveland, all of them but Knapp would have dropped significantly if they had stayed with the Phillies…Here is my (Josh Ellis) look at the Phillies top 10, Greg’s will follow.

1. RHP Kyle Drabek - The centerpiece of the trade talks with the Blue Jays in their attempt to trade Roy Halladay to the Phillies, it is clear that other teams, as well as the Phillies, have him as the highest rated player in the organization. After a very successful Tommy Johns Surgery, Drabek started the season with Clearwater and went 4-1, 2.48 and then went to Reading, 7-2, 3.66. Strong control and high strikeout numbers with a good pedigree (Doug Drabek) the Phillies first-rounder in 2006 has a bright future and may even see his name on the 40-man roster. He’s my #1.

2. OF Dominic Brown - Could go Michael Taylor or Dominic Brown here, but Brown’s quick success with Double-A Reading gets him the slight nod. Just shy of his 22nd birthday, Brown is the better athlete of the pair and is a bit younger. He hit .303 with Clearwater this season with a .517 slugging and is already slugging in Reading. With the R-Phils, he is hitting .324 with three bombs in nine games. He was also a key player the Phillies did not want to see go.

3. OF Michael Taylor - Barely the #3 behind Brown, Taylor is a heavy hitter that earned a promotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley recently. Taylor hit .333 with Reading and slugged 15 home runs. With LV, Taylor is hitting .247 with three home runs in 26 games. Nothing to look into yet here with the slow start with the Iron Pigs, Taylor is still a supreme talent that the Phillies see with a bright future.

4. C Travis d’Arnaud - With Marson gone, d’Arnaud is now the top catching prospect in the Phillies organization. After a slow start to the season, d’Arnaud is hitting as everyone expected he would in the second half. Since the All-Star break, he is hitting .311 and slugging at a .500 clip. Also, in my opinion, hes doing a much better job throwing runners out after working with Dusty Wathan and Tim Gradoville. Without the 2nd half resurgence he finds himself lower than four, but with it, he keeps the confidence everyone had in him to start the season as a top catching prospect.

5. LHP Joe Savery - Believe it or not, but I have Joe Savery here. Why? He is a college guy, polished and now at the top of the Phillies Minor League system with Lehigh Valley. The Double-A starter in the All-Star game endured a rough July, but is 14-4 this season with a 4.41 ERA. He has pitched relatively well with the Iron Pigs in two starts, so that is nice to see…but hes a first-rounder, with a strong college career at Rice and he deserves some respect in the Phillies MiLB rankings.

6. RHP Trevor May - The young, tall righty takes the place of Jason Knapp in the organization as a potential future Phillie. After beginning the season in Extended Spring Training, May struggled in his first two outings of the year, but has really come on recently and showed great command of his fastball (92-94) and change-up (80-82). Once he develops the curve ball, May will be a very successful pitcher at higher levels. He projects well and, like I said, is the new tall high school righty with Knapp gone.

7. OF Anthony Gose - At seven because of competition at this position, he and Quintin Berry are relatively similar players but I give the nod to Gose because he is a better base-stealer, very very good in centerfield, both with his range and his arm, and hitting .270ish in his first real season as a hitter since pitching and being a very highly rated pitching prospect in high school. If Gose can progress at the plate, and I think he can, and add the base-hit bunt to his game, which he is making progress on, he could be a future CF in the bigs.

8. RHP Michael Stutes - There is a pretty strong trio of Stutes, Vance Worley and Michael Cisco that can be slotted here but with the best numbers this season, I like Stutes. All three were very good with Lakewood last season and the Phillies saw it in Stutes and Worley to jump Hi-A Clearwater and start the season in Reading. Of the two, Stutes has reacted better and posted an 8-6 record with a 3.74 ERA. Needs to find a little better control on his pitches, 52 walks in 122.2 innings is slightly high, not bad, but because he has made the jump better, I have Stutes here.

9. LHP Antonio Bastardo - Despite his injury, Bastardo has done things this season that give him the laurels to belong here. In the minors, Bastardo went 47.2 innings and allowed fewer than two runs per nine. In the majors, Bastardo started very strong but struggled in his final three starts. Could he be a guy the Phillies can rely on in the future to start? Probably not. Maybe a bullpen guy, but let’s wait and see what kinds of things Bastardo does back from his injury.

10. OF Steve Susdorf - Why? Because he can flat out hit. His numbers this season are staggering, .333 for the BlueClaws in 21 games and .373 with Clearwater in 39 games. In 63 games this season Susdorf is hitting .356, and that’s pretty tough to ignore. He is with Reading now and has gone 3-for-11 in his first three games, but if he hits well with Reading, he will start there next year with an open ceiling. Love the way this kid plays the game, let’s see how he does.

Other movers….
Up: BJ Rosenberg, Justin De Fratus, Sebastian Valle, Yohan Flande, Matthew Way, Austin Hyatt, Tyler Cloyd, Michael Schwimer, Harold Garcia

Whats missing? Infield prospects and Greg’s top ten, to follow soon…