Phillies Prospect Report: Moniak finally swinging the bat
By Josh Starr
Trending Up: Mickey Moniak, OF, Clearwater
The former No. 1 Overall Pick has turned it on of late down in Clearwater. He had a rough start to the season, but over the last few weeks he’s been what the Phillies expected.
Moniak is hitting .358 in his last 10 games as of June 14th, bringing his season average from .230 up to .254 in that span. He’s missed time with wisdom teeth surgery, but he’s finally back in the lineup after over a week off.
On the season, he has 11 doubles, 1 home run and 26 RBI. He still has low walk numbers, which is a bit concerning. He’s only walked 5 times in 54 games this year which is keeping his OBP below .300 at .272.
He needs to get on base more often, but his recent surge has been a sight for sore eyes for the Phillies.
Trending Down: McKenzie Mills, LHP, Clearwater
Mills has been back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen this year, starting 8 games and making 4 relief appearances. He hasn’t been awful, but he hasn’t been great either.
His worst start of the year came on May 9th against Lakeland when he lasted just 1 inning, giving up 6 runs on 6 hits and walking 4.
After 42.1 innings pitched, he is 0-2 with a 4.46 ERA. The ERA and record are not too concerning, but the bigger red flag is his opponents’ .292 batting average against him. His inability to miss bats and the 52 hits he’s allowed leads to more pitches and shorter outings, even if he doesn’t give up many runs.
He’ll need to start pitching deeper into the games that he starts. 4 inning starts like his last outing on June 18th won’t cut it going forward.