Phillies Post-2016 Top Prospect Rankings: 26-30
By John Town
While some prospects graduated from the Phillies system this year, there are still plenty of players to look forward to. In this section, I will start off with prospects numbers 26-30.
It’s safe to say the Phillies were not good this year. They finished 71-91, an improvement from 2015, but their record was by no means good.
While the major-league team wasn’t good, the minor-league teams did quite well. As team owner John Middleton noted in a recent interview, Phillies minor-league affiliates finished with a combined .595 win percentage this season. High-A Clearwater finished with the best record in the Florida State League, and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Double-A Reading, Low-A Lakewood, and the rookie-league GCL Phillies all made playoff runs.
Phillies prospects certainly contributed to the system’s success. Twenty-seven different Phillies minor-leaguers were declared All-Stars, including nine from Clearwater.
Before we dive into the Phillies top prospects, we should note the prospects who graduated this season. Tyler Goeddel was briefly a prospect after the Rule 5 draft, but he lost his prospect status by the end of the May. Tommy Joseph, while being a fringe prospect after injuries derailed him, turned in a solid rookie season.
On the mound, Zach Eflin started off rough but did find his stride before injuries took him down. Jake Thompson was the last pitcher from the Cole Hamels trade to reach the majors, struggling in his debut. Both aren’t on MLB’s rookie stats, but they also aren’t on their Phillies Top 30 list, so I’m going to exclude them from this list.
Without much more rambling, let’s dive into the Top 30 Phillies prospects, starting with 25-30.