Phillies Prospect Report: Adam Haseley continues to deliver
Which Phillies prospects have taken a step forward over the last week?
With the Phillies being ahead of schedule at the Major League level, there has been less attention on the Minor Leagues this year than in the past few seasons. The focus is rightfully all on the big club right now, but there are still prospects that need to be talked about.
Trending Up: Will Stewart, LHP, Lakewood
Stewart is one of those prospects that has been consistently good the entire season. He’s been the best pitcher on a Lakewood staff that has been dominating the South Atlantic League.
This year, he is 8-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 18 starts. He’s thrown two complete-game shutouts, including a three-hit and ten strikeout performance on May 30th against Greensboro.
Until recently, Stewart had been pitching deep into almost every start. He hasn’t thrown more than five innings since a seven-inning start on June 13. Although, he hasn’t been throwing that many innings, it hasn’t been because of subpar performances.
Besides his lone bad start of the season on July 27th, he hasn’t thrown more than 80 pitches since that June 13 outing.
Lakewood is just trying to prevent a burnout down the stretch. Fewer innings now will lead to full season of a locked-in Will Stewart.
This is something the Phillies might start doing with their rotation as well to keep the rotation rested during the stretch-run to the playoffs. Lakewood is 3.5 games up in the South Atlantic League North division after clinching the first-half title.
Adam Haseley, OF, Reading
Since being promoted to Reading on July 10th, the Phillies number four prospect has been on fire. In 29 games, he is hitting .330 with a .410 OBP and three home runs. That on-base percentage is supported by having only three more strikeouts than walks, showing his advanced patience at the plate developed at the University of Virginia.
Between Clearwater and Reading, Haseley is hitting .306 and has eight home runs and 49 RBI. He hasn’t fully developed in the power department, but he most likely won’t be a huge power threat. What he will be able to do is set the table towards the top of the lineup.
More from Phillies Prospects
- Prospect Andrew Baker could help Phillies bullpen in 2023
- Phillies manager suggests Andrew Painter could make Opening Day roster
- Phillies No. 1-ranked prospect Andrew Painter receives national accolade
- Phillies top prospect Andrew Painter continues to dominate
- Philadelphia Phillies prospects thriving is a positive sign for the future
He’ll get on base and score runs. He won’t steal thirty bases, but he can be a threat to swipe a bag with seven steals this year and 13 in 166 minor league games. Defensively he’s been strong with only five errors and six outfield assists this year, while adding two double plays.
He probably won’t be a candidate for a September call-up, but he is one of the best players in the Phillies’ system. The 40-man roster rules will likely keep him off the major league roster for at least another year as he moves through the system.
Within a couple years, he’ll be a contributor to the Phillies. For now, he has to work his way up to Lehigh Valley and stay as consistent as he’s been this year.
Trending Down: Damon Jones, LHP, Lakewood
Jones started off the season matching the great performances of the rest of the Lakewood staff. He didn’t give up more than three earned runs in any of his first fifteen starts of the season.
On June 23 his ERA was a cool 1.86, but it’s more than doubled over his last seven games.
Philadelphia Phillies
In his last four starts, he has given up no fewer than four runs. During his start on July 20, he only lasted one inning and gave up those eight runs, walking four and giving up five hits.
In his 19 starts, he is 7-6 with a 3.82 ERA. He’s been decent through the mid-point of the season and has completely fallen off during his last four starts.
His home/road splits are something else to watch with almost a four-point difference this year. In eight starts at home he carries a 1.84 ERA, but on the road in 11 starts it’s at 5.54 with 22 more earned runs.
Another note is that he’s working as a starter for the first time in his professional career. Last year in Williamsport he solely worked out of the bullpen, going 26 innings over 13 games. This year he’s pitched in nearly four times as many innings.
It’s his first full season as a starter, so he may be suffering from some arm fatigue and will need to get stronger in the offseason. If he can rediscover his success from earlier in the season, he’ll be just fine.
Kevin Markham, OF, Clearwater
Markham was promoted from Lakewood to Clearwater on July 10 after hitting .282 with 11 extra-base hits as a member of the BlueClaws.
More from That Balls Outta Here
- Philadelphia Phillies: Most impactful transactions in 2022
- How will Rob Thomson manage the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen in 2023?
- How Phillies’ Ranger Suárez is set to build on 2022 postseason dominance
- What can Philadelphia Phillies expect from Bryson Stott in 2023?
- 3 Reasons to get excited for Phillies’ Craig Kimbrel signing
That success carried over in his first 10 games with the Threshers, going .327 in his first ten games in Clearwater. Unfortunately, he has cooled off ever since the early weeks of his promotion.
His average has dropped from .328 on July 31 to .275, hitting just .182 in the month of August with one extra-base hit. He’s struck out just five times this month while working just a single walk.
His season average between Lakewood and Clearwater is still an impressive .280, but it’s hard to tell whether he is just going through an extended slump right now or if he is struggling to adjust to the higher level of competition.
Teams clearly got a book on him after that first week against heightened competition, so now it’s time for Markham to make the necessary adjustments.
Next. Ranking Every Player for the 2008 World Series. dark
We’ll have to keep an eye on him, but it won’t be the end of the world if Markham, a 24th round pick last year, doesn’t pan out.
The Phillies’ system is chocked full of outfield prospects including top prospects and first-round picks Adam Haseley, Cornelius Randolph and Mickey Moniak.