Baseball America released their annual Top Ten Phillies prospect list Wednesday, and there are several new faces on the list.
The Phillies farm system and multiple players in it took large leaps forward in 2016, and that was reflected in Baseball America’s most recent prospect rankings. They released their top-ten list of the Phillies farm system for 2017 Wednesday with the profiles written up by Ben Badler.
The list was as follows, and here’s a link to the 2016 list for comparison:
"SS J.P. CrawfordOF Mickey MoniakC Jorge AlfaroOF Nick WilliamsRHP Sixto Sanchez1B Rhys HoskinsRHP Franklyn KilomeOF Roman Quinn2B Scott KingeryOF Dylan Cozens"
Jake Thompson was the lone player from the 2016 list to graduate to the major-leagues. Falling off the list from last year were Andrew Knapp, Cornelius Randolph, Adonis Medina, and Carlos Tocci. Knapp’s fall was the largest as he was ranked No. 4 last year. Overall, their disappearances from the list are more due to the development of other prospects then their own failures.
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Meanwhile, the five new names on the list were Moniak, Sanchez, Hoskins, Kingery, and Cozens. In the 2016 Baseball America Prospect Handbook, Kingery ranked No. 14, Cozens ranked No. 16, and Hoskins ranked No. 23. Moniak and Sanchez did not appear since Moniak was just drafted and Sanchez only debuted stateside this year.
Crawford stayed atop the list once again despite a down season.
Badler said Crawford “didn’t take the next big leap forward that was expected of him coming into the year, but he’s still one of the game’s elite shortstop prospects.” He received grades of 60 for his batting, defense, and arm. His arm was graded as a 50 – about average – and power was rated as 45 – below average.
Badler gave Moniak a particularly rave review, finding little gripes with his game. He compared Monaik to Miami’s Christian Yelich and former big-leaguer Steve Finley. Looking towards the future, Badler said “Moniak’s balance of tools and skills on both sides of the ball make him a high-upside prospect without any major risk factors, aside from his inexperience.” It’s safe to say Moniak will be the No. 1 prospect in the system after Crawford graduates.
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Sanchez was the biggest riser from last year to this year, going from a 16-year old in the Dominican League in 2016 to a top-five prospect. Badler said Sanchez has the ability to be a “frontline starter” He credited Sanchez’s fastball that has good movement and tops out at 99 mph along with two secondary pitches that have plus potential. Badler pointed out that “Sanchez is advanced enough to jump to low Class A Lakewood in 2017.”
To some, ranking Hoskins above fellow Double-A Reading slugger Cozens is a surprise. Cozens did have better numbers and plays a more valuable defensive position.
However, Badler said Hoskins “is the better pure hitter” of the two. He also noted that “Cozens’ long, uphill swing path leaves him with holes pitchers can exploit. This is particularly true when he faces lefthanders.” Badler nicely summed up Cozens’s potential in one sentence: “Cozens has the power to mash in the middle of the lineup, but a long list of power-hitting prospects have been stymied by contact issues.”
The list is notably lacking in pitching with just two pitchers, but just three pitchers appeared last year. Sanchez took the place of Medina on this year’s list, with Kilome remaining and Thompson graduating. However, Badler did note that “The team’s best pitching prospects are at the lower levels” and that the club continues “to churn out low-cost gems from Latin America.” He noted the success of Sanchez as he fronts “a slew of promising Latin American pitching prospects the Phillies signed for less than $100,000.”
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In addition to ranking the top Phillies prospects, BA also ranked the best tools in the system. Crawford had four of them: “Best Hitter for Average”, “Best Strike-Zone Discipline”, “Best Defensive Infielder”, and “Best Infield Arm”. Quinn racked up three: “Fastest Baserunner”, “Best Athlete”, and “Best Defensive Outfielder”. Cozens was labeled the “Best Power Hitter”, Alfaro was named the “Best Defensive Catcher”, and Jose Pujols earned the title of the “Best Outfield Arm”.
Turning towards the pitchers, no one pitcher dominated the best tools list. Alberto Tirado had the best fastball, Nick Pivetta has the best curve, Edgar Garcia has the best slider, and Ricardo Pinto has the best changeup. Control freak Thomas Eshelman was a no-doubter for the best control in the system. Kilome and Sanchez, who both appeared on the top-ten, did not have any of the best tools in the system. Their stock rides in a combination of multiple useful tools.
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Thursday afternoon at two o’clock EST Badler will answer fan questions about the Phillies farm system. He will likely discuss many of the players that were left off the top-ten but could easily crack the top-30 in the next prospect handbook.