2021 Phillies top 10 prospects list shows promise for future
By Matt Rappa
7. Yhoswar Garcia, OF
Venezuela native outfielder Yhoswar Garcia has yet to play professionally in the Phillies organization due to the COVID-19 crisis canceling the 2020 minor-league season. The international amateur prospect was supposed to sign in July 2019; however, he was ruled ineligible “because of an age issue,” MLB Pipeline writes.
Instead, Garcia and the Phillies came to terms the following March; now 19, he is described as being “very toolsy,” with speed being his most intriguing attribute so far — running 6.3 seconds in the 60-yard dash.
At the plate, Garcia is said to have a decent approach, with “more of a line-drive, gap-to-gap bat right now, but there’s more power to come as he matures.”
While there are not any statistics yet to analyze Garcia, if these descriptions hold true, the Phillies appear to have a young, promising prospect to look forward to.
6. Luis Garcia, INF
The 20-year-old, switch-hitting infielder Luis Garcia struggled in 2019 with the Lakewood BlueClaws, slashing only .186/.261/.255; however, he did produce 14 doubles, three triples, four home runs, and 36 RBI across 127 games. The year prior, with the GCL Phillies West, the Dominican Republic native won the Gulf Coast League batting title — slashing .369/.433/.488 with 11 doubles, three triples, one home run, and 32 RBI spanning just 43 games.
It appears Baseball America is treating the 2019 season more like a fluke, and believes Garcia will be able to return to his 2018 numbers come the 2021 minor-league season. MLB Pipeline is doing the same. “It might be OK to give the teenager a mulligan for last season as he still has the raw tools that made him such a premium talent on the international market and plenty of time to figure it out,” they write. “The switch-hitter didn’t produce much at the plate in 2019, though he was better from the right side, mostly because of his inability to recognize breaking stuff.
The Phillies inked Garcia during the 2017-18 international signing period, the same class that featured Shohei Ohtani and Wander Franco. So far, Garcia has fielded second base and shortstop, committing a combined 11 errors through 198 chances for a .944 fielding percentage.