Revisiting Baseball America’s Phillies Top Ten
Baseball America’s Phillies top ten prospects list came out in January. Now, with a month left in the season, and the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, let’s take a look back at that list. Later this week, we’ll take a look forward at a potential list for 2010.
List below, our comments in italics.
01. Domonic Brown, OF…called up to Reading after hitting .303 with Clearwater this year…turns 22 on 9/3 and is 7-25 with Reading…Phils wouldn’t put him in the deal for Halladay…Surprised some when put atop this list last year but has justified the ranking…On track to be in bigs in 2011…All-star potential…Ranking was sharp.
02. Carlos Carrasco, RHP…in the deal for Cliff Lee after going 6-9, 5.18 with Lehigh Valley…2-0, 6.23 in two starts with Columbus…Topped this list last two years, but even had he stayed in system, would have fallen to at least four…Still, Ks/9 very good (about 9), didn’t give up that many hits, and 5.18 made it seem he was throwing worse than he was…Inconsistency hurt him, still can be a good big league pitcher…Could help Indians next year.
03. Lou Marson, C…in Cliff Lee deal…got off to terrible start, hitting .230 through May but from June 1st through trade hit .339…Again, would have been passed by Taylor and Drabek but hitting well in first year in AAA…23-year old will have chance to get jump on top Indians prospect C Carlos Santana, and should be September call-up with Victor Martinez traded to Boston.
04. Jason Donald, SS…Another in trade for Cliff Lee…hit .236 with Lehigh Valley, .220 from May 1st through trade…Concerns about his hitting but played hurt most of year, also missed from June 11th through July 28th, when the hitters start to get going…Would have fallen on new list, but he’ll have a chance to be an Indians utility infielder out of camp next year.
05. Kyle Drabek, RHP…One the Phillies obviously wanted to keep…7-2, 3.66 with Reading after tearing up Clearwater…Either he or Brown would be tops on this list if they did it again today…58 Ks in 78.2 innings, lower than his previous ratios, says he needs more time, but he’s only 21…could be Phillies factor sometime in 2010. No issues at all, and he has a chance to be really good…Tommy John surgery helped him mature and tighten his delivery.
06. Michael Taylor, OF…Hit .333-15-65 with Reading and is at .241-3-11 in 23 games with LV, though he started 3-17…turns 24 in December and the Phillies will have a tough time finding a spot for him next year, but he can hit, no question…Phils have chance to have him for six years, into age 30, before he’s a free agent, a major advantage, as he will already be a few years into his prime before he hits free agency, which is why they are in no rush to trade him.
07. Travis D’Arnaud, C…hitting .246-12-58 with Lakewood this year…has shown excellent power in the best pitchers ballpark in the SAL and also was hitting .188 on June 13th, so he’s been on a nice roll for almost two months…he’ll move up this list next year and doesn’t turn 21 until February. Marson trade stamps him as catcher of the future in the organization, and is a big endorsement of his ability.
08. Zach Collier, OF…Sent down to Williamsport after hitting .218 with Lakewood through July 20th…There, he’s hitting .280 with his first pro home run, and is 13 for his last 36…A second year pro, drafted out of high school, in the NY-Penn League is certainly not cause for concern…Would probably be put behind Anthony Gose on this list if done today, however. He’ll likely be back in Lakewood next year.
09. JA Happ, LHP…8-2, 2.74 with Phillies…What can you say? Beat out Chan-Ho Park a few weeks into the season to get into rotation, and then fought off all sorts of Pedro Martinez rumors to hold onto rotation spot…NL Rookie of the Year candidate is no longer prospect eligible, but that Phillies didn’t want to put him in Halladay deal speaks volumes.
10. Jason Knapp, RHP…2-7, 4.01 with Lakewood before trade to Cleveland…Much better than those numbers indicate…He was fanning about 12 per 9 with an opponents BA around .215…Just 18, he can be really good for Cleveland and was reportedly the one they wanted most of the haul they received…He’s pitching Tuesday for Lake County against Augusta.
In conclusion…This list was very well done by John Manuel of Baseball America…There will of course be a few tweaks, and if they did it again today, Knapp would be higher up, and the top three would be Brown, Drabek, and Taylor. But this is not an easy task. We’ll come back with some movers and shakers for the 2010 version later this week.
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August 18th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
[...] America put out their Phillies top ten list, of organizational prospects. We recently took a look back at that list, and now we’ll take a shot at making our own, based on what we know [...]