Phillies Draft History : Studs, Thuds and Duds
The Phillies hold the top pick in tonight’s MLB Amateur Draft, and there is wide-spread speculation as to whom the team will select.
As history has shown us, there’s no telling whether the Phillies will get the next great player in team history, an Utley for instance, or whether time will prove this to have been a wasted opportunity, with a Brink-like selection, even though the club is holding that first overall pick.
This will be only the second time in franchise history that the team makes the top overall pick in the MLB Amateur Draft. The last time, they famously hit on “Pat the Bat” back in the 1998 draft process.
There is tremendous speculation as to which way the Phillies will go tonight: pitcher or hitter, college or high school. Legitimately, it would go any combination of those directions.
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When the team has “hit” big with their first rounder, such as with a Luzinski, Hamels, Myers, Burrell, or Utley it has often ultimately meant something very big for the ball club. Each of those first rounders helped lead the team to a World Series crown.
But when the team has missed, such as they did frequently in the late-1980’s and into the early 1990’s in trying to put together a young, winning pitching staff, it has led to a long period of losing for the team.
While the outcome with this first overall pick may not necessarily be make-or-break with a team like the Phillies, an organization filled with high-level prospect talent, it remains important. The player could be a key in a few years to something special, or a dud who becomes a missed opportunity.
In honor of the crapshoot that is the MLB Amateur Draft, I thought we’d revisit some of the studs, thuds, and duds that have held the honor of being the top pick of the Phillies over franchise history in each particular year’s draft.
Next: PHILLIES DRAFT HISTORY: THE STUDS
PHILLIES “STUDS” FIRST ROUNDERS
Chase Utley -2000 – UCLA – Rd 1, Pick 15
What can’t be said for Utley in his 13 years as a Phil ? World-F’ing Champion, 6-time All-Star, 4-time Silver Slugger winner, 1551 games played, 233 homers, over 900+ runs scored and 900+ RBI, a career .282/.366/.481 hitter, stole 142 bags while only being caught 18 times in 13 seasons ! Three 30+ HR seasons, and 137 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) at 2B. Finishing with 61.5 WAR as a Phillies player, the man did it all. Enjoying a nice late-career season in LA. Future Wall of Famer. Strong argument for the Hall of Fame.
Cole Hamels – 2002 – Rancho Bernardo H.S. (San Diego, CA) – Rd 1, Pick 17
Perhaps the best homegrown pitcher the Phillies ever cultivated, Hamels pitched for a decade in the City of Brotherly Love, capturing the NLCS and World Series MVP Awards on the way to a world championship in 2008. He sported a 114-90 career W-L mark, a 3.30 career ERA in Philly, received Cy Young votes in four different seasons, and was a three-time All-Star. He was 7-4 in the postseason for the Phillies, finished in the top ten in strikeouts seven times, the top ten in ERA on five occasions, and had 43.1 WAR with the Phils. Future Wall of Famer, still pitching well after a trade to Texas.
Greg Luzinski – 1968 – Notre Dame H.S. ( Niles, IL ) – Rd 1, Pick 11
Luzinski would become a feared power-hitter in the Phils’ lineup throughout the 1970’s, with numerous “Bull Blast” home runs at Veteran’s Stadium. In his 11 seasons and 1200+ games for Philly, “The Bull” was a 4-time All-Star, had three 30+ HR seasons, finished 2nd in NL MVP voting in both ’75 and ’77, and led the league in RBI (120) in 1975. 19.1 WAR as a Phillies player. He was a vital cog in three straight NL East winners from 76-78, as well as on the 1980 Wold Series champions. Now runs an incredible BBQ joint down at Citizens Bank Park.
Pat Burrell – 1998 – University of Miami – Rd 1, Pick 1
The only other time the Phillies held the #1 overall spot was in 1998 when they selected the highly touted Burrell. In 9 seasons with Philly, “Pat the Bat” would slash .257/.367/.485 with 251 HR and 827 RBI, including four 30+ home run seasons. He had 16.7 WAR in Philadelphia, and may have set the modern-day ladies-man mark for local athletes during the 2000’s. Key cog in the 2008 World Series championship lineup, and the first from that team to be enshrined on the Phillies’ Wall of Fame.
Mike Lieberthal – 1990 – Westlake H.S. (Westlake Villiage, CA) – Rd 1, Pick 3
While one might expect more from a #3 overall pick, Lieberthal more than held his own as the Phillies backstop for 13 seasons. He was a two-time NL All-Star, playing in 1174 games for Philadelphia. He led the league in Fielding Pct for a Catcher (.997) in 1999, winning a Gold Glove. It was a career year for the catcher as he hit 31 homers, drove in 96 runs, hit .300 in 145 games and slugged .551. Lieberthal finished as a career .274/.337/.446 hitter with 15.5 WAR and is enshrined on the Wall of Fame.
Brett Myers – 1999 – Englewood Senior H.S. (Jacksonville, FL) Rd 1, Pick 12
Myers spent time as both a starting pitcher and as a closer in his 8 years in Philadelphia. He had a 73-63 record, 4.40 ERA and 21 saves in his 240 games pitched (183 started) with the club. He was 2-1 in the 2008 playoffs, proving some of the biggest performances at clutch time. Myers finished in the top 5 in the National League in K’s twice, as well as the top 10 innings pitched twice. Finished with 9.7 WAR as a Phillies player. He will make an interesting Wall of Fame nominee in the coming years.
Next: PHILLIES DRAFT HISTORY: THE THUDS
PHILLIES “THUDS” IN THE FIRST ROUND
Adam Eaton – 1996 – Snohomish H.S. (Snohomish, WA) – Rd 1, Pick 11
After three years and a 36-34 minor league W-L, Eaton was traded to San Diego. After several years more, he found his way back to Philadelphia. All he managed was a 14-18 overall W-L and a 6.10 ERA in 1178.2 career innings. Sporting a 1.630 career WHIP with the Fightins, he was gone in two years – though he did pitch with the 2008 team before being sent out, and was honored with a World Series ring.
Wayne Gomes – 1993 – Old Dominion – Rd 1, Pick 4
For being the 4th overall pick in 1993, so much more was expected from Gomes. In five seasons as a Phillies reliever, he pitched in 288 games, notched 28 saves, and had a 27-21 career W-L, with a 4.42 ERA. Not exactly what you want out of a Top 5 overall pick.
Lonnie Smith – 1974 – Centennial H.S. (Compton, CA) – Rd 1, Pick 3
Although he did contribute strongly as a rookie to the 1980 World Series champions, and would later find some success with the Cardinals and Braves, Smith’s four seasons in Philly were pretty unremarkable overall. He stole 60 bases in 196 games while batting for a nice .321 average. “Skates” saw the most action in that 1980 season, appearing in 100 games while hitting .339 with 33 stolen bases. Even the SB numbers lose their luster when you consider the era they were accumulated in, and era wherein the running game was much more featured on Astroturf than it is in today’s game.
Gavin Floyd – 2001 – Mt. St. Joseph’s H.S. (Baltimore, MD) – Rd 1, Pick 4
Floyd’s three seasons in Philly were nothing short of a disaster. The ability of the Phillies to flip him to the White Sox in acquiring Aaron Rowand in trade is the only reason he isn’t on the ‘Duds’ list. The righty had a 6.96 ERA in 19 career starts for the Phils, and his 10.4 H/9, 1.7 HR/9, 5.3 BB/9, and 1.739 WHIP as a Phillies pitcher are just plain awful. Floyd is still hanging around the big leagues as a reliever with Toronto after moving through five organizations over 13 seasons.
Tyler Green – 1991 – Wichita State University – Rd 1, Pick 10
Once touted as the future ace of the Phillies’ 1990’s rotation, Green’s 4+ seasons did feature an NL All-Star appearance in 1995. But with an overall 18-25 W-L and a 5.16 ERA in 68 career starts, there wasn’t much else to celebrate.
Pat Combs – 1988 – Baylor University – Rd 1, Pick 11
Combs would go 17-17, with a 4.22 ERA in 54 career games over four seasons in Philly. At one time he was the Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Year, but he simply never lived up to the hype generated from his time with AA Reading and AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Combs and Green could have been a nice 1-2 1990’s combination. Instead, they are twin “Thuds” here.
Next: PHILLIES DRAFT HISTORY: THE DUDS
PHILLIES “DUDS” FIRST ROUNDERS
J.D. Drew – 1997 – Florida State University – Rd 1, Pick 2
This may go down in history as one of the worst moves in Phillies history. Not just Phillies draft history, but their franchise history. Drew made it abundantly clear that he would not sign if Philadelphia selected him. The Phils chose him anyway, and Drew returned to FSU, where the following season he went 5th overall to St. Louis. What makes it worse is that Troy Glaus, Vernon Wells, Michael Cuddyer, and Lance Berkman were all selected after the Phils took him. Doh !
Brad Brink – 1986 – University of Southern California – Rd 1, Pick 7
Brink would go 0-4 with a 3.99 ERA in seven starts over two seasons with the Phillies. He’d go on to log a few more starts with San Francisco and was then sent to the minors. Brink bounced from the Giants to the Oakland A’s organization in 1995, but was out of baseball after that at age 30.
Carlton Loewer – 1994 – Mississippi State University – Rd 1, Pick 23
Loewer was one of many failed attempts by the Phillies to draft solid pitching in the 1990’s. Across 34 career starts, he went 9-14 with a 5.68 ERA and 1.500 WHIP. Loewer would only go on to make seven more starts in the majors after leaving Philadelphia. He was clearly nothing like the previous Carlton to don the red pinstripes.
Greg Golson – 2004 – John R. Connally H.S. ( Austin, TX ) – Rd 1, Pick 21
Drafted mainly for his speed, this light-hitting outfielder would appear in all of six games as a Phillies player. He appeared in only 40 games over his MLB career, slashing a paltry .195/.214/.244 mark. He last appeared briefly with the 2011 Yankees in MLB, then played four more minor league seasons. He is currently playing Independent ball with New Britain in the Atlantic League at age 30.
Reggie Taylor – 1995 – Newberry H.S. ( Newberry, SC ) – Rd 1, Pick 14
Taylor would appear in 14 games over two seasons with the Phillies. In 19 PA, he had a .056/.105/.056 slash line. What makes it worse was Roy Halladay went three picks later to Toronto. Of course, the Phils did eventually get Halladay, it just took almost fifteen years.
Next: PHILLIES DRAFT HISTORY: MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
There have been several top picks, such as Trey McCall (1985-16th overall), Jeff Jackson (1989- 4th overall), and Chad McConnell (1992- 13th overall) who never even played an inning of big league ball.
What makes that even more disheartening is going back and skimming through the list of players who the Phillies could have had in some of these drafts.
In the case of Jackson in 1989, Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, ‘The Big Hurt’, went three picks later. Manny Ramirez went three picks after Tyler Green in 1991.
Tino Martinez, Royce Clayton and Charles Nagy were all drafted after Pat Combs in 1988. Instead of taking John Stearns with the 2nd overall pick in 1973, we could have had Robin Yount or Dave Winfield, who were taken with the next two picks.
If the past few years are any indication, the Phillies are doing a lot better with their picks. Their #7 overall pick in 2014, pitcher Aaron Nola out of LSU, is enjoying success in his second big league season, while 2013’s selection at 13th overall, SS J.P. Crawford, is finishing his development and waiting in the wings at AAA.
So, while we may not get the next Chase or Cole on Thursday night in Secaucus, here’s to hoping we don’t end up with the next Scott Munninghoff (1977 – #22), Johnny Abrego (1981 – #20), or Mike Adamson (1965 – #18) who appeared in a grand total of 20 MLB games between the three of them. That’s the beauty of the MLB Draft though, there’s really no way to know until you KNOW.