Phillies Outfield Prospects Still Only Kind of Exciting Overall

Check out Kelly Dugan, everyone.

He’s not 75th overall anymore.

Now, he’s number one in the Florida State League in batting average (.344)and he’s number two in OPS (.981).  He does have 50 fewer at-bats than the guy in first and 30 less than the guy behind him.  Dude is killing it.  And right when we needed outfielders we could believe in.

March 1, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Darin Ruf (18) works out prior to the game during spring training against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

22-year-old Dugan has been shredding all year, carefully smothering the hamstring issues that harassed him last season.  Did I just say “shredding?”  Yikes.

Behind him is fellow Thresher Cameron Perkins (.337), who is seventh in OPS (.894) and tied for third in hits.  Perkins is hitting over .300 no matter where the pitch is coming from (.382 vs. lefties/.319 vs. righties), and sinks to a horrible .295 when he’s not in Clearwater.  Dugan is hitting .400 vs. lefties. RUN EVERYBODY RUN.

Meanwhile, the Phillies have deduced that their draft this year was at the very least to pump up the offense in their farm system.  Granted, they stayed away from pitchers, not picking one until the fifth round (Ben Wtezler, LHP) and then again in the ninth and tenth rounds.  A combination of a partially replenished offense-maker supply and guys who were picked high but underperformed (aka Dugan) could improve people’s opinions on the minor league outfield options.

But we’re, like, years away from that shift in mentality.  Right now, it’s all about Jesse Biddle, who is already up to #55 on MLB’s top prospect list.

Which is obvious, when you remind yourself that Darin Ruf only has the third best average for an outfielder on his own team (.256).  And the IronPigs’ roster list actually includes Delmon Young, who hit .294 in four games, and therefore puts Ruf at fourth.

Phillies Minor League team batting stats for outfielders with at least 100 AB:

• LehighValley:  .272/.350/.425; leader is RF Steve Susdorf (.313/.395/.429)
• Reading:  .236/.294/.402; leader is RF Anthony Hewitt (.275/.319/.443)
• Lakewood:  .228/.319/.329; leader is RF Zach Taylor (.284/.336/.471)
• Clearwater:  .299/.354/.468; leader is RF Dugan (.344/.406/.575)

Hey, they’re all right fielders.  Wow, that’s got to mean something.  Or nothing.

Sorry we had to use a picture of Darin Ruf, even though he wasn’t the focus of the post.  He’s the only one with images available.

Wooooo, look at him swing and then disappear after a second!