Philadelphia Phillies Top 20 Prospects for 2017: Mid-Season Review

We continue our mid-season organization reviews with a look at the Philadelphia Phillies Top 20 Prospects from the beginning of 2017. The index for other team reviews can be found here.

Please remember, THIS IS NOT A NEW LIST

THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE PRE-SEASON LIST

THESE ARE NOT NEW GRADES

This list was originally published December 27th, 2016.

1) J.P. Crawford, SS, Grade B+: Age 22, hitting .214/.328/.338 in 290 Triple-A at-bats, 50 walks, 57 strikeouts; his OPS is actually up slightly compared to last year (.666 compared to .647) but it is hard to regard this season as anything but disappointing; he’s still young of course and has been much better over the last two weeks, hitting .273/.373/.682 in July.

2) Mickey Moniak, OF, Grade B+: Age 19, first round pick in 2016, first-overall, from high school in Carlsbad, California; hitting .267/.318/.387 in 318 at-bats in Low-A, 21 walks, 69 strikeouts, nine steals; not a bad year but not the dominant turn you’d expect from his draft position either.

3) Jorge Alfaro, C, Grade B/B+: Age 24, hitting .249/.302/.365 in 285 at-bats in Triple-A, continues to have issues with patience/contact, 16 walks, 96 strikeouts; has retained defensive polish but hasn’t made much progress lately with the bat.

4) Roman Quinn, OF, Grade B: Age 24, second round pick in 2011 from high school in Florida; was hitting .274/.344/.389 with 10 steals in 175 at-bats in Triple-A before going on the disabled list in late May, this time an elbow problem. He’s always on the DL with something, which is too bad because his speed and OBP skills are quite intriguing.

5) Franklyn Kilome, RHP, Grade B-/B: Age 22, signed out of Dominican Republic in 2013; 2.59 ERA in 80 innings in High-A with 68/32 K/BB; given mid-90s velocity I’d like to see him miss more bats but overall he’s having a fine campaign.

6) Rhys Hoskins, 1B, Grade B-/B: Age 24, fifth round pick in 2014 from Sacramento State; hitting .285/.378/.563 with 20 homers in Triple-A, cooling off a bit after a blistering hot start but by any standard he’s had an excellent season and is ready for an MLB trial.

7) Sixto Sanchez, RHP, Grade B-: Age 18, signed out of Dominican Republic in 2015 for just $35,000; outstanding command with a 54/6 K/BB in 56 innings in Low-A, 2.88 ERA; velocity is up to 101 MPH and easy heat; check out more here at The Good Phight. Clearly an elite prospect at this point.

8) Nick Williams, OF, Grade B-: Age 23, acquired from Rangers in Cole Hamels deal; hit .280/.328/.511 with 15 homers, 16 walks, 90 strikeouts in 282 at-bats in Triple-A, leading to major league promotion; .256/.302/.385 so far in 12 games with the Phillies; strengths and weaknesses seem pretty clear to me.

Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images

9) Scott Kingery, 2B, Grade B-: Age 23, second round pick in 2015 from University of Arizona; monster power breakout, hitting .311/.369/.595 between Double-A and Triple-A with 22 homers and 23 steals and has maintained the power surge at the higher levels; stock obviously much higher now.

10) Dylan Cozens, OF, Grade B-: Age 23, second round pick in 2012, hitting .239/.316/.480 with 21 homers, 36 walks, 117 strikeouts in 327 at-bats in Triple-A, hit just .136 in April but production has picked up since then, contact still the main concern going forward.

11) Ben Lively, RHP, Grade B-: Age 24, fourth round pick by Reds in 2013 from Central Florida, acquired in trade for Marlon Byrd; excellent in Triple-A (2.17 ERA, 53/9 K/BB in 62 innings) and held his own in major league trial (3.80, 17/13 K/BB in 43 innings); not overpowering but deserves more chances; I took big heat from Phillies fans for ranking him this highly and I find myself rooting for him to do well for purely personal reasons.

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

12) Nick Pivetta, RHP, Grade B-: Age 24, fourth round pick in 2013 by Nationals from New Mexico Junior College, traded to Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon in ’15; 5.63 ERA in the majors in 64 innings over 12 starts, 67/31 K/BB; interesting that Lively was sent down to Triple-A at the All Star Break but Pivetta (who has better long-term physical potential) stayed with the team.

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

13) Cornelius Randolph, OF, Grade B-: Age 20, first round pick in 2015 from high school in Georgia; .257/.355/.408 in High-A, which is actually quite solid by Florida State League standards; good eye for the zone and isolated power is picking up.

14) Kevin Gowdy, RHP, Grade B-: Age 19, second round pick in 2016 from high school in California; hasn’t pitched yet, assigned to Williamsport in the New York-Penn League.

15) Carlos Tocci, OF, Grade C+/B-: Still just 21 years old, hitting .299/.363/.398 in Double-A, best skills remain on defense, still lacks power but has hit decently overall in the Eastern League. Fourth outfielder?

16) Cole Stobbe, 3B, Grade C+/B-: Age 19, third round pick in 2016 from high school in Nebraska; just getting started in the New York-Penn League hitting .189/.286/.432 with five homers, eight walks, 28 strikeouts in 74 at-bats; good pop but contact issues so far;

17) Joely Rodriguez, LHP, Grade C+: Age 25, traded to Texas Rangers in June, 6.33 ERA in 27 major league innings, 18/15 K/BB, 37 hits; capable of better, as a lefty with a pulse he should be around for years even if he never quite breaks through.

18) Victor Arano, RHP, Grade C+: Age 22, from Mexico, opened season on disabled list but activated in late May and has performed well in Double-A bullpen, 1.93 ERA in 19 innings with 16/3 K/BB, likely capable of helping in relief role sooner than expected.

19) Jesmuel Valentin, INF, Grade C+: Age 23, hit just .229/.282/.292 in 96 at-bats in Triple-A until going on disabled list with shoulder injury; will miss rest of season following surgery.

20) Jose Taveras, RHP, Grade C+: Age 23, signed out of Dominican Republic in 2013; continues to dominate A-ball despite mediocre scouting reports, 2.37 ERA in 95 innings in High-A, 86/23 K/BB, 80 hits; deserves to move up to Double-A and see if he can keep this going.

Let’s discuss the Phillies system. Ask about anyone I didn’t write up pre-season or 2017 draftees and I’ll give you my view.