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Phillies: Recapping a decade of terrible MLB Drafts

09 JUN 2016: The 2016 Draft Board with Mickey Moniak the first overall pick to the Philadelphia Phillies and Nick Senzel the second overall pick to the Cincinnati Reds during Round 1 of the 2016 MLB First Year Player Draft. The draft is held at Studio 42 of MLB Network in Secaucus NJ.(Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
09 JUN 2016: The 2016 Draft Board with Mickey Moniak the first overall pick to the Philadelphia Phillies and Nick Senzel the second overall pick to the Cincinnati Reds during Round 1 of the 2016 MLB First Year Player Draft. The draft is held at Studio 42 of MLB Network in Secaucus NJ.(Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 19: Philadelphia Phillies Infield J.P. Crawford (2) makes a throw to first during the MLB game between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies on September 19, 2018, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 19: Philadelphia Phillies Infield J.P. Crawford (2) makes a throw to first during the MLB game between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies on September 19, 2018, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Here’s a look at the players drafted by Philadelphia in 2013 who reached the big leagues.

2013

The prize of the Phillies 2013 draft was believed to be J.P. Crawford, the heir apparent to Jimmy Rollins at shortstop. Selected 16th overall out of Lakewood High School, the same school that produced the Phillies 2007 first round pick Travis d’Arnaud, Crawford rose through the minor leagues fairly quickly for prospect drafted out of high school. By 2015 he was in Double-A and ranked as the second-best prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline.

Once Crawford reached Triple-A, his bat completely cooled off and never materialized into what many projected to be a quality top of the lineup bat. He went from being one of the best prospects in baseball to being unranked across the industry.

When Crawford got his shot as the opening day shortstop in 2018 he was plagued by injuries and a cold bat, hitting just .214 in 49 games. After the season Philadelphia would trade Crawford, arguably the biggest bust in recent franchise history, to Seattle in the Jean Segura deal.

Knapp, a college catcher from California, has materialized into nothing more than a backup catcher for the big league team. A career .223 hitter with little pop, Knapp brings energy to the team, but not much offensively.

CLEARWATER, FL – MARCH 05: Mark Leiter Jr. #31 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches during the Spring Training game against the Minnesota Twins at Spectrum Field on March 05, 2018 in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
CLEARWATER, FL – MARCH 05: Mark Leiter Jr. #31 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches during the Spring Training game against the Minnesota Twins at Spectrum Field on March 05, 2018 in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images) /

Leiter Jr., the son of former Phillies reliever Mark Leiter Sr., came up in 2017 primarily as a reliever, although he did get some starts as a rookie. He finished the season with a 4.96 ERA but showed some promise with some of his pitchers.

He’d start the 2018 season on the disabled list and never got back to what the Phillies needed in the bullpen, leading to him being placed on waivers and being picked up by Toronto. Since then he’s undergone Tommy John surgery and was released by the Blue Jays.

Cavan Biggio would have been a steal if the Phillies had been able to lure him away from the University of Notre Dame, but the son of the Hall of Fame second baseman made a great decision and was drafted by Toronto in the fifth round three years later.

Biggio hit 16 home runs in 100 games for the Blue Jays last season and finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting. His 2.8 WAR would have been the fifth-best on the Phillies last year.

Musgrave was drafted in the 33rd round out of the University of West Virginia, but the Mountaineers southpaw returned for one more year and was picked in the eighth round by Colorado. In 45 relief appearances with the Rockies over two seasons Musgrave has a 4.45 ERA.

One player who was a disappointment was third round pick Cord Sandberg, who quit baseball after six seasons to play quarterback for Auburn.

Notable 1st round picks drafted after Crawford: Tim Anderson, Aaron Judge, Sean Manaea, Michael Lorenzen, Corey Knebel

Notable draft picks missed: Cody Bellinger, Jeff McNeil, Ander Benintendi, A.J. Puk

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