Four Phillies prospects ranked among best in New York-Penn League

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – OCTOBER 01: Rhys Hoskins #17 of the Philadelphia Phillies signs autographs before the start of a game against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on October 1, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Four Phillies prospects made it onto Baseball America’s top 20 rankings for the short-season New York-Penn League this year.

With all the successful Phillies prospects in the upper levels of the minor-league system, it was easy to forget about some of the younger prospects in the lower levels of the system. However, there were still plenty of prospects who had successful seasons with the Williamsport CrossCutters.

Baseball America continued their series of minor league-by-league rankings, making their way down to the short-season New York-Penn League. The Phillies had four prospects make the list, starting with Jhailyn Ortiz at No. 3 overall.

No. 3: Jhailyn Ortiz

Jhailyn Ortiz had one of the best seasons of any Phillies prospect, but no one really gave it too much attention because the major-league team was finally starting to get good and other prospects in the upper levels were doing very well.

Even though it was in short-season action, Ortiz’s year was no joke. In 47 games, he hit .302 with a .961 OPS. Ortiz matched his home run total from last year while increasing his walk rate and cutting back on his strikeouts. All this came at just 18 years old, much younger than the average player in the league.

BA’s J.J. Cooper wrote up each of the prospects on the list. This is what he had to say about Ortiz:

At first glance, Ortiz would appear to be a young base clogger with big power and little else. In reality, the massive Ortiz is surprisingly nimble for his size. And while he does have some of the best power in the league (he led the league with a .258 isolated power), he also showed a discerning eye. Right now, while he can be beaten by a pitcher who nibbles and throws a good breaking ball, he’s also proven he can turn on most any fastball, and he also can punish a hanging curve. Most of the power hitters in the NYP rely on pull power, but Ortiz is big enough and strong enough to drive the ball to all fields, showing the ability to clear the right field fence as easily as left field. He’s a right fielder with a plus arm who’s mobile enough to stick in an outfield corner.

Ortiz took a huge step forward in 2017 and looks more than ready to start in full-season action next year.

No. 6: Adam Haseley

The Phillies used their first-round pick on an outfielder for the third straight year, this time selecting Adam Haseley from the University of Virginia. Haseley played in the Gulf Coast, New York-Penn, and South Atlantic Leagues this season, but spent most of his time in the NYPL.

In 37 games with Williamsport, Haseley posted a .270/.350/.380 line with two home runs and 18 runs batted in. He walked in 8.9 percent and struck out in 17.7 percent of his plate appearances. Haseley certainly wasn’t bad, but he didn’t jump off the page either.

Cooper wrote the following about Haseley:

After posting six multi-hit games in his first eight in the New York-Penn League, Haseley looked pretty gassed during his stint in Williamsport. That’s understandable when you consider that he’d thrown 65 innings as a weekend starter for Virginia in addition to hitting in the middle of the Cavalier’s lineup all spring. In the New York-Penn League, Haseley looked more like a player with a lot of average tools rather than one with many plusses. There’s some conviction that he’ll stick in center field, but he doesn’t have the speed and jumps to be much more than average defensively. Scouts saw an average hitter with modest bat speed, but there is some thought that a rested and refreshed Haseley will show better bat speed, a better arm in the outfield and a little more speed. Scouts and managers are impressed with his makeup and feel for the game, but he’ll have to show more power in 2018 and beyond.

Haseley finished the year in Low-A Lakewood, but he may return there to start next year before moving up to High-A Clearwater.

No. 13: Kyle Young

Heading into the season there weren’t very many pitching prospects in Williamsport’s rotation, but one name that stood out was Kyle Young. He literally stands above the pack, with official measurements saying he is 6’10 while he claims he is now seven feet tall. Young is all projection with long, skinny arms as he weighs just 223 pounds despite his height.

Young had a strong statistical season, posting a 2.77 ERA, 2.20 fielding-independent pitching, 4.80 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 1.12 WHIP. He made 13 starts, leading the CrossCutters’ rotation.

Cooper dove into Young’s tools in his write-up:

More from Phillies Prospects

Young was a long-term project the Phillies took a chance on in the 22nd round of the 2016 draft, buying him out of his commitment to Hofstra. Just two years later, that very modest $225,000 gamble is showing signs of paying off. The 6-foot-10 lefty has shown stunningly impressive body control for a NBA center-sized pitcher. He repeats his delivery well, which was evident as he turned into one of the league’s most consistent starters as a 19-year-old. Just how good Young will end up being depends on how much of his still lofty projection he reaches. He generally pitched at 85-90 mph, but he showed he could ramp up to 91-92 mph when needed and his body is still filling out, so there could be more to come. His fastball plays up because he gets excellent extension–hitters rarely squared him up even when he was sitting 88-90. His curveball and changeup are both below-average now but project as future average pitches.

In the NYP chat, a subscriber asked Cooper about Young and other Phillies 2016 draftees:

Joseph (Philadelphia): What is your view of the high school players that the Phillies drafted in 2016 that played in this league? What are the prospects of Stobbe, Stephens and Kyle Young? Thanks J.J. Cooper: Young is the one that stands out the most. Scouts/coaches were unimpressed with Stobbe’s approach. He has significant power but his approach sells out so much to try to drive the ball that a pitcher can just throw sliders off the plate over and over and know that Stobbe will never hurt him.

No. 20: Spencer Howard

The Phillies made a surprising selection with their second-round pick this year, drafting righty Spencer Howard from Cal Poly Luis Obispo. Howard was viewed as more of a third-round pick, but he was selected No. 45 overall.

A small sample size balooned many of Howard’s stats, but for the most part he looked pretty good in Williamsport.

Cooper broke down how Howard used his large arsenal to take advantage of the relatively inexperienced hitters in the New York-Penn League:

More from That Balls Outta Here

Two bad innings in two bad outings blew up Howard’s ERA, but generally he looked more advanced than the league, showing off a varied four/five-pitch mix. Howard doesn’t really have a true put-away pitch, but he keeps hitters off-balance by throwing a wide variety of solid offerings. Howard’s 90-94 mph fastball is hard to square as he has some natural deception thanks to a cross-fire delivery and his ability to manipulate the pitch, cutting it or running it as needed. His changeup could end up being a plus pitch while his curveball should end up being at least average. He mixes in a fringier slider as a change of pace and sometimes it ends up dissolving into a true cutter. Howard does a good job of staying on-time in his delivery and uses his lower half well, giving him a chance to move quickly as a relatively polished back-end starter.

Next: Phillies waive Ty Kelly, clear 40-man roster spot

All of the prospects on this list are still a few years from the majors, but they are doing pretty well early in their minor-league career.

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