5 Phillies prospects the farm system may have ruined forever

The Philadelphia Phillies farm system may be where top prospects’ careers go to die.

The team’s .500-or-under record every year since 2011 has ensured that they get solid draft picks every year, including the first overall pick in 2016, Mickey Moniak.

Yet their farm continues to be ranked at the bottom of the MLB barrel and they’ve had little fruit to show for their labor. At the trade deadline, former top pitching prospect Spencer Howard was dealt to the Texas Rangers after the Phillies were apparently unable to solve his persistent issues on the mound. He had a 5.72 ERA in 11 big-league games with the Phillies this season and has a 9.17 ERA in seven starts for the Rangers since the trade.

At some point, the common denominator is the franchise, and developing prospects becomes an organizational failure. With Dave Dombrowski cleaning house, it’s clear the franchise has reached that realization.

Here are some of the top prospects the Phillies have failed to develop in recent years:

Did the Phillies ruin Scott Kingery?

Kingery was the Phillies’ second-round pick in 2015, and they signed him to a six-year contract extension before he even made his MLB debut on Opening Day in 2018.

In his first two seasons, Kingery hit .242/.291/.407 with a .698 OPS, 27 home runs, 90 RBI, 57 doubles, and six triples in 273 games. He was one of several MLB players who contracted the coronavirus in 2020, and between that and lingering injuries, he struggled in the shortened season.

This year, he began his season in Triple-A and was not called back up until late April. He played in only 15 games before being designated for assignment and being outrighted to the minors. He only managed one big-league hit in 19 at-bats and struck out 12 times. In late July, the team announced that Kingery required season-ending shoulder surgery.

Part of the problem with Kingery’s development was that the Phillies bounced him around, making it hard for him to find his footing defensively. He’s already played shortstop, second and third base, and every outfield position in only 324 career big-league games. But offensively, his struggles have led to him posted negative WAR in three of four career seasons with the Phillies.

It’s unclear what Kingery’s career will look like when he rehabs from his surgery, but between his playing struggles and the albatross of a contract the Phillies gave him, it makes sense that no other franchise bit when the club offered him up this summer.

Did the Phillies ruin Alec Bohm and Mickey Moniak?

Between Alec Bohm, Scott Kingery, and Mickey Moniak, this season has been an embarrassing one for the Phillies farm.

Bohm was the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2020 but experienced a terrible sophomore slump this season. Eventually, Joe Girardi benched him, and the Phillies sent him back down to Triple-A.

The Phillies selected Bohm third overall in 2018, and despite injuries, he rose quickly through the farm system, even winning organizational honors in 2019 as the top position player prospect. He made his MLB debut in mid-August 2020, and hit .338/.400/.481 with a .881 OPS in 44 games.

However, this season, Bohm struggled both offensively and defensively, making 16 errors in 108 games. By the end of August, after Ronald Torreyes had all but become the everyday third baseman and Bohm had caused a team COVID outbreak, the Phillies sent the struggling young player back to Triple-A, where he hit .271/.353/.407 with a .760 OPS in 15 games.

Meanwhile, Moniak was the first overall pick in the 2016 draft, but the 22-year-old has struggled to be more than mediocre in the farm system.

The grandson of a Red Sox minor-leaguer made his MLB debut on September 16, 2020, and went 3-for-14 in eight games at the big-league level with four walks and six strikeouts. In 21 games with the Phillies throughout this season, he’s hitting .091/.167/.182 with a .348 OPS. He’s managed as many hits this season as he did last year, but in three times as many games, though he did hit his first big-league home run.

The former Gatorade California Baseball Player of the Year is the prime example of a player who probably should have played college ball before entering the draft. He hit over .460 as a sophomore and junior in high school, but that’s small ball compared to where he is now. Players from his draft class such as Nick Senzel and Bo Bichette have already experienced immense success at the big-league level, while Moniak continues to be shuffled around the farm.