Phillies 2016 high school draftees disappointing in 2017

The Phillies top three draft picks were all high schoolers last year. All three of them had disappointing seasons in 2017.

The Phillies went the riskier route to start off the 2016 draft, taking three high schoolers in a row. While they often have a lot of potential, they also carry more risk as they are farther from becoming major-league players and have much more development to do. Far more things can go wrong for these players, and a lot did for Philadelphia’s high school draftees from last year this season.

It’s hard to ignore the fact that Mickey Moniak, last year’s No. 1 overall pick, struggled heavily in the South Atlantic League. The 19-year-old hit just .236 with a .625 OPS.  Moniak walked in just 5.5 percent of his plate appearances while striking out in 21.4 percent. His last two months of the season were especially worrisome as he had a .187/.230/.264 line from July through the end of the year.

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Moniak is a prospect mainly for his hit tool, so to see him struggle this much is very worrisome. He needs to be at least a plus hitter to be an above-average player in the majors as he doesn’t have the power to make up for an average or below-average hit tool. His defense is strong but that can only get you so far.

It should be noted Moniak was far younger than the average player in his league.

Therefore, it isn’t a surprise to see him outclassed by pitchers with far more experience than him. He will have to show major improvement in 2018 to bring his stock back up.

In the second round, Philadelphia went well over the slot to sign Kevin Gowdy with a $3.5 million bonus. The team had extra money to spend as they saved some signing Moniak, so that extra space went towards Gowdy.

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So far, the Phillies have gotten little return on investment for Gowdy. He pitched just nine innings last year in the Gulf Coast League before not making a single appearance this year. Gowdy underwent Tommy John surgery in August and likely won’t pitch until 2019. He is supposed to have a lot of potential, there has been little to show for it so far in his career.

Finally, third-round pick Cole Stobbe had a strong professional debut last year in the Gulf Coast League, but it did not translate up to the New York-Penn League.

While he tied Jhailyn Ortiz for the team lead with eight home runs, Stobbe had little success otherwise. He hit .203 with a .655 OPS, striking out in more than 30 percent of his plate appearances. Stobbe’s stock rides almost entirely on his hit tool, so he will need a major turnaround next year as well.

Next: Rhys Hoskins, JoJo Romero named top minor-leaguers

2017 was a rough year for Philadelphia’s 2016 high school picks, but the hope is they can turn it around when they return to the field next year (or in Gowdy’s case, in 2019).