Tuesday’s Top Prospects Round-up

As you know, every Tuesday I’ll be updating you on the progress of the Phils’ Top 10 prospects… how they’re hitting, how they’re pitching, are they choking, are they excelling… blah, blah, blah.

And while we wait for Spring Training to officially get underway, various publications are still publishing their “Top Prospects” lists for the various teams.

This week, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo shared his list of the Top 20 Phillies’ prospects for 2012.  Here’s a brief recap…

1.  Trevor May, RHP – Of course, May is the consensus #1 prospect in the Phils’ organization, and that is no different on Mayo’s list here.

2. Jesse Biddle, LHP – And like on every other list, Biddle is ranked as the #2 prospect in the organization.  Both players should start the season in Reading this year.

3. Brody Colvin, RHP – Mayo has Colvin at #3, despite a disappointing 2011 season.  However, Mayo likes Colvin for his “pitcher’s frame” and “pure stuff,” so I guess he’s got that going for him.

4. Larry Greene, 1B/OF – This is the highest I’ve seen Green ranked anywhere.  He signed too late to play ball at all in the Phils’ organization in 2011, but last year’s top draft choice (as a sandwich pick between Rounds 1 & 2) has the potential for Ryan Howard-type power.  But he’s raw and his defensive position is still up in the air.  Most experts think he could possibly play LF, but he most likely projects at 1B.

5. Phillippe Aumont, RHP – Aumont’s stock continues to rise.  Most think he will be in a Phillies uniform at some point this season, but will probably start the year as LeHigh Valley’s closer or set-up man.  A good spring could land him on the opening day roster.

6. Sebastian Valle, C – Valle starts in Reading this year as well, and Mayo thinks the young catcher will grow into more power as he develops.  Valle ran out of gas last year, leading to a down second-half.  The hope is that he’s learned from that and will keep more in the tank for later in the season.

7. Justin De Fratus, RHP – Another likely LeHigh Valley Iron Pig to start 2012, De Fratus could also find himself in the Philly ‘pen at some point this season.  Like Aumont, he throws hard and has a good slider, and commands both reasonably well.  And if he throws well in the spring, he could make the trip north to Philadelphia to start the season.

8. Freddy Galvis, SS – Galvis’ future is cloudier now that Jimmy Rollins is back in the fold for a minimum of three years. Still, the Phils can be patient with Galvis and give him a full season at AAA to prove his offensive surge in Reading last year was no fluke. At just 22 years old, he still has plenty of time to work on his offense, while his defense is already major-league ready. Should Rollins get hurt this year, it’s possible Galvis could get the call to replace him for a couple weeks, if not longer.

9. Maikel Franco, 3B – Mayo thinks Franco could become an elite-level type player at 3B, with the ability to hit for lots of power.  Mayo also notes he has a strong arm and good range.  He’s still a ways away from the Majors, likely starting the 2012 season in Clearwater with the Threshers.

10. Jonathan Pettibone, RHP – While he doesn’t have the stuff that May, Biddle or Colvin have, he does have a fastball that sits around 93 mph with an above average change-up and a slider that still needs work.  But he doesn’t walk anybody and is aggressive, which allowed him to excel in Clearwater last year with an ERA under 3.  He’ll likely start the year in Reading as well, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the first of the young studs to actually start a game for the Phillies.

The rest of the Top 20 were: 11. Roman Quinn (SS), 12. Aaron Altherr (OF), 13. Lisalberto Bonilla (RHP), 14. Cesar Hernandez (2B), 15. Leandro Castro (OF), 16. Julio Rodriguez (RHP), 17. Perci Garner (RHP), 18. Ethan Stewart (LHP), 19. Jiwan James (OF), 20. Anthony Hewitt (OF)

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Each week, I’ll try to also do a round-up of what the top prospects are saying on Twitter.  Some of these guys have accounts, some don’t, some use them, some don’t.

Top prospect May apparently has aspirations of being the next Usher or something, because he shared these rad beats with us on Twitter this week…

May also did an interview with MLB.com earlier this week that might be of interest…

We found out from Justin De Fratus this week that he knows what the ladies like. And he knows that Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and “The Voice” is one hot dish…

Funny… I don’t WANT to imagine.  Different strokes, I guess.

Jonathan Pettibone took a little heat on Monday night and Tuesday morning after the Sixers beat the Lakers in Philly. You see… Mr. Pettibone is a Lakers fan…

That’s right, Jon, your Lakers were no match for a superior Sixers team, so eat it!  Mr. Pettibone also apparently played tennis with his mom… and I don’t think he had a very good time…

Hopefully Mrs. Pettibone went all Billy Jean King on his butt.  And even though he’s not yet a Top 10 Phils’ prospect, Jiwan James’ tweets are a must follow. Some are incomprehensible, others are hilarious. We’ll be updating Mr. James’ tweets on a semi-regular basis, for sure.

That’s it for this week! Be sure to stop back again next Tuesday for another update on the Phils’ Top 10 prospects.

You can follow John’s Phillies thoughts on Twitter @FelskeFiles and on Facebook.  He can also be emailed at jstolnis@gmail.com.