Phillies: Recapping a decade of terrible MLB Drafts
Here are the first five picks made by the Phillies in the 2018 and 2019 MLB Draft.
2018
- First round – Alec Bohm
- Fourth round – Colton Eastman
- Fifth round – Matt Vierling
- Sixth round – Kendall Simmons
- Seventh round – Gabriel Cotto
In 2018 the Phillies lost their second and third round draft picks for signing Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta. They did land their top prospect and (hopefully) their franchise third baseman in Alec Bohm.
Another college product, Bohm has moved quickly through the farm system, hitting 21 home runs with a .305 batting average last year. He is expected to break the big league roster by the summer depending on injuries and how certain players shake out.
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Eastman was a very successful pitcher for California State University Fullerton and has a 3.62 ERA in his first 32 professional appearances.
Coming out of Notre Dame Vierling hit very well in Williamsport and Lakewood (hitting a combined .321) but his bat didn’t carry over in Clearwater last year with a .232 average.
The Phillies got a lot of praise for drafting Kendall Simmons in the sixth round out of Tattnall Square Academy in Macon, Georgia. While he hit 12 home runs last year his batting average is below .240 through 83 games.
Nineteen-year-old Gabriel Cotto has a long way to go after being taken out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. He’s got a lot of development left to go and spent his first two seasons in the Gulf Coast rookie league with an 8.57 ERA.
2019
- First round – Bryson Stott
- Third round – Jamari Baylor
- Fourth round – Erik Miller
- Fifth round – Gunner Mayer
- Sixth round – Andrew Schultz
The Phillies lost their second round pick in 2019 for signing Bryce Harper, but I don’t there will be many complaints about that.
Stott was another college bat with a high hitting pedigree who could be the next big league shortstop once Gregorius and Segura are gone. The Phillies dream would be to have Stott, Bohm, Kingery, and Hoskins be the next great Phillies infield, but we’re years away from potentially seeing that.
The 2019 class has played a limited number of games, but the steal of the class could be Miller, whose 2.25 ERA in 11 games helped land him on the team’s prospect rankings.
Next. Phillies All-Decade Starting Pitching Staff. dark
If the three most recent classes made by the new front office can pan out the Phillies could finally turn their farm system around, but for now it remains one of the worst in baseball thanks to years of poor drafts.