Phillies top 25 under 25: Ranking the team’s best young players
By John Town
No. 15: OF Cornelius Randolph
Randolph is in the midst of his real first full season after missing almost half of the season last year due to injury. He is getting on base almost as much as last year (.355 OBP in 2016 in Low-A vs. .349 in 2017 in High-A) while walking more often. However, Randolph is striking out more often and has a lower batting average. Perhaps the biggest development in Randolph’s game this year is the first real sign of game power. Randolph has 12 home runs this year, quadrupling his professional total up to this point. If his hit tool returns to the level from the past two years, Randolph should be a solid player.
No. 14: RHP Adonis Medina
The Phillies have a plethora of top Latin pitching prospects, and one of the best is Medina. After failing to strike out even an average amount of hitters despite great stuff, it is starting to click for Medina this year. Through 19 starts in Low-A he has struck out a near-“excellent” 26.6 percent of opposing hitters while walking 7.7 percent, which is right around the average according to Fangraphs. Medina has induced ground balls 48 percent of the time and gives up home runs on just 6.8 percent of fly balls. He already has two plus pitches in his fastball and chanegup with a slider that could be plus as well. All three of those mixed together could make for a very good starter, it’s just a matter of Medina learning how to use all those pitches.
No. 13: RHP Nick Pivetta
I give the advantage to Pivetta and Eflin over Medina because they are both already major-league pitchers while Medina is still years away. Pivetta had a strong start to the season in Triple-A before being called up to fill in for injured starters. Through 17 starts, Pivetta has struck out 9.51 batters per nine innings while walking 3.84 per nine. He has a 6.25 ERA, 5.04 FIP, and 4.46 xFIP. Pivetta has flashed several dominant starts, including striking out 11 batters in just five innings Wednesday, but he struggles with home runs and control at times which hurts him. I will give the rookie the benefit of the doubt considering his age and inexperience, and while he does have potential, it will take some time to reach that potential if he ever does.
No. 12: RHP Zach Eflin
Eflin, like Pivetta, has flashed serious upside in the majors. Through his first five starts, Eflin had a 2.81 ERA while walking just 3.1 percent of batters. Since then, Elfin has a 9.22 ERA with 16 strikeouts and six walks in 27.1 innings. He missed about a month with an elbow injury, but thankfully he did not require any surgery. Eflin could be a solid No. 4 innings-eater, but he needs to be more consistent and stay on the field.
No. 11: RHP Franklyn Kilome
Kilome is still a high-upside arm, but he has lost some of his luster since there hasn’t been a huge step forward in Kilome’s development. In 19 starts at High-A Kilome walked 9.1 percent of opposing hitters while striking out 20.3 percent. While his walk rate is slightly down, his strikeout rate dropped significantly from last year. As a whole, Kilome had a 2.59 ERA, 2.56 FIP, and 1.37 WHIP for Clearwater. He was recently promoted to Double-A where he has made two starts so far, allowing five runs on 11 hits and five walks with 10 strikeouts through 12 innings. Despite his lackluster stats, he still has all that same potential with a fastball that can hit the high-90s, a plus curve, and at least an average changeup (hopefully). His control is what gives him a lot of risk, but there is definitely a whole lot of reward.