Philadelphia Phillies Predictions 2017: Five Players Who Could Break Out
By John Town
Outfield Prospect Carlos Tocci
Carlos Tocci has been in the Phillies organization since 2011 when the team signed him on his 16th birthday. Rather than spending a season in one of the foreign rookie leagues, Tocci was instead assigned to the Gulf Coast League at just 17 years old in 2012. He then went to Low-A Lakewood at 18 years old the following season, but his progress stalled from there as he didn’t reach High-A Clearwater until 2015.
Tocci spent all of 2016 in Clearwater and hit for a respectable .284 batting average and struck out just 13.7% of the time. However, his lack of power continued to show as his .362 slugging percentage and .078 isolated slugging were both sub-par.
The Phillies left Tocci off the 40-man roster last winter, leaving him eligible for the Rule 5 draft. His plus defense made him a potential candidate to be selected, but his lack of offense scared away any teams that were potentially looking at him.
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In 2017, Tocci is headed to the ultimate hitter’s haven in Double-A Reading. Playing half of his games there this year could be what Tocci needs to jump-start his offensive production. He might even hit more than just a few home runs. FirstEnergy Stadium has already facilitated breakout seasons from Andrew Knapp, Dylan Cozens, and Rhys Hoskins, and Tocci could also break out at Double-A this year.