Phillies now have only one Top 100 prospect per Baseball America
By John Town
The Phillies started the year with five top 100 prospects according to Baseball America. They now only have one player on the list.
The days of Phillies prospects littering Top 100 lists may be nearing their end. While the team started the season with five prospects on the Baseball America Top 100, they now have only one. Sixto Sanchez is the only Phillie on BA’s updated list for the month of June.
When the season started, J.P. Crawford, Sanchez, Scott Kingery, Adonis Medina, and JoJo Romero were all Top 100 players. Crawford and Kingery are obviously no longer on the list because they have graduated to the major leagues.
Medina, who ranked No. 86 overall in April, has not put up great numbers for High-A Clearwater despite it being a pitcher-friendly league. In 10 starts, he has a 4.82 ERA, 4.15 fielding-independent pitching, and 1.31 WHIP. His strikeout rate has fallen and walk rate has risen compared to his breakout 2017 campaign in Lakewood.
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Romero has also not done well this year at Double-A Reading. He has a 5.11 ERA and 5.14 FIP in 11 outings this year. His numbers are much better away from the hitter’s haven in Reading, as he has a 3.75 ERA and eight strikeouts per nine innings on the road. Romero’s 3.94 expected fielding-independent pitching also indicates he may be suffering from an abnormally high home run rate.
Still, with other prospects in the league taking a step up this year, it’s no surprise Romero fell from his No. 100 spot.
Philadelphia’s top position prospects, Adam Haseley, Jhailyn Ortiz, and Mickey Moniak, have not done well enough this year to warrant cracking the top 100. The team’s first-round pick this year, Alec Bohm, may have a case as he was one of the best hitting prospects in this year’s draft.
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If the club is only going to have one Top 100 prospect, Sanchez is a pretty darn good one to have. He has drawn comparisons to Pedro Martinez and Jose Fernandez with his combination of stuff and command. He has two plus pitches in his fastball and changeup along with an above-average slider. The fact that he can throw them all for strikes is the cherry on top and makes him the fifth-best pitching prospect in the league.
Sanchez has improved this year at Clearwater compared to his time there last season. He has a 2.15 ERA, 4.09 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 1.07 WHIP. He got a late start to the season but should be in Double-A Reading by the end of the year.
It’s not impossible that we see him in the majors at the end of 2019 and certainly likely he is there in the 2020 season.
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Hopefully, between now and the end of the season, Bohm and/or other prospects in the system can do enough to establish themselves as Top 100 prospects.