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Phillies: 5 UDFA signees make Baseball America’s top 20 list

By Matt Rappa |
A general view of Philadelphia Phillies baseball hats (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
A general view of Philadelphia Phillies baseball hats (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
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Half of the Phillies’ 10 UDFA signings made Baseball America’s Top 20 list

This year’s shortened Major League Baseball amateur draft provided teams with what Baseball America calls an “unprecedented opportunity.” And, it appears the Philadelphia Phillies made the most of said opportunity.

Given the draft was cut from 40 rounds to just five, teams are allowed to sign an unlimited amount of undrafted free-agents (UDFAs) for just $20,000. Hence, players who could have been selected as high as round six in a normal year’s draft are available to any team at a low cost.

RELATED | Phillies 2020 MLB Draft grades: What the experts think

Within a week, nearly 150 UDFAs were signed throughout MLB. The Phillies have announced the signings of 10, all of whom are pitchers. Half were recently named to Baseball America’s Top 20 list of undrafted free-agent amateur player signings, through the first five days of the eligible signing period: RHP Noah Skirrow (No. 3), RHP Billy Sullivan (No. 8), RHP Blake Brown (No. 11), LHP Jake McKenna (No. 14), and RHP Chase Antle (No. 20).

Here is how Baseball America described them:

  • Skirrow (BA 500 rank: 249)  “swing-and-miss stuff.”
  • Sullivan (326), now fully recovered from Tommy John, touched 98 and 99 miles per hour on the radar gun while at the University of Delaware.
  • Brown (375) has “extreme wildness” but with a “quality three-pitch mix.”
  • McKenna (434) was “one of few high schoolers to sign and has room to add velocity.”
  • Antle (not ranked) touched 99 miles per hour this spring as a closer.

The other five Phillies UDFAs not mentioned on the list include RHPs Buddy Hayward, Jonathan Hughes, and Sam Jacobsak, along with LHPs Jordan Fowler and J.P. Woodward.

Click through to the next slide for insight on the Phillies’ UDFAa signings from general manager Matt Klentak, who says signing only pitchers makes sense given current circumstances.

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Matt Klentak says signing only UDFA pitchers “made sense”

Matt Klentak, Philadelphia Phillies (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Matt Klentak, Philadelphia Phillies (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Philadelphia Phillies general manager Matt Klentak recently joined former infielder and current broadcaster Kevin Frandsen on his “Pine Tar for Breakfast” podcast. And, among the topics discussed was Klentak’s thoughts on the team’s UDFA signings, complementing their draft picks of RHP Mick Abel (round 1), infielder Casey Martin (round 3), RHP Carson Ragsdale (round 4), and outfielder Baron Radcliff (round 5).

Klentak says the team definitely has placed more of a focus on signing pitchers rather than position players during this unprecedented signing period of undrafted amateur free-agents. He says a part of that thinking just has to do with where the team has roster spots in the minor leagues.

RELATED | Phillies officially sign undrafted free-agent pitchers

Klentak expressed the Phillies’ concern that they do not sign so many players that they have to release those from last year’s, or the year before, before they really get a chance to perform.

“We’re mindful that there’s an entire group of minor league players in the Phillies organization that has not had a chance to play this year and may not,” Klentak says. “We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to salvage some type of player development out of this summer and fall, but we don’t know that.”

Klentak mentioned there is a balance, and that the Phillies feel like “taking a shot on some pitching,” adding: “We felt like that made more sense for us, given the dynamics this year.”

“We may have another few that signed, we may not. We’re not 100 percent sure, but the fact that it was more pitching heavy, that was in fact by design.”

This year, the Phillies entered the draft under new amateur scouting director Brian Barber, formerly of the New York Yankees organization. Barber has already been praised for a job well done for his four draft picks, and the recognition continues with half of the team’s 10 undrafted free-agent signings making Baseball America’s top 20 list.

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