3 prospects to know in the Philadelphia Phillies system

The Philadelphia Phillies have one of the best farm systems in baseball. Though the pitching prospects have left a little to be desired, the offense has been pretty exciting.

All is not lost, however. There are quite a few young arms creeping up the Phillies’ ladder. Here are three you need to know.

Franklyn Kilome, RHP

Kilome continues to impress at every stop up the ladder. The tall and lanky 22-year-old with the big fastball made it to Double-A by season’s end.

Kilome was the ace of the Lakewood Blue Claws staff that made it to the South Atlantic League championship series last year. He pitched one of his best games of the season in a Game 1 duel with the Rome Braves Mike Soroka. There, he overpowered the Rome offense with his plus-curveball, keeping his mid-90s fastball fresh and full of velocity into the seventh inning.

His two problems are command and the development of a third pitch. The curveball improved this season, and he even added some velo to the fastball, but the change is still behind. Tall pitcher’s often have control issues, but this season they were a little worse than last year. Though he walked nearly four-per-nine last season, he countered it with a 10-per-nine strikeout rate. This season, his walk rate came down a hair (3.69-per-nine) but the K-rate came way down (7.20).

Still, there is too much not to like Kilome’s continued progress up the ladder. He was promoted to Lehigh Valley for the Triple-A playoffs and is scheduled to pitch Game 4. He has the ceiling of a No. 3 starter, with the floor of a long-man in the bullpen behind two electric pitches.

Jo Jo Romero, LHP

Romero was the Phillies fourth-round draft pick last season out of Yavapai College. He is the opposite of Kilome, standing at just six feet, but he has been stellar since becoming a pro.

The southpaw showed that his New York-Penn League half-season debut was for real. He was sharp with Lakewood in his full-season debut and barely skipped a beat when promoted to the Florida State League. Overall, Romero finished the season 10-3 with a 2.16 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. He struck out 128 and walked just 36 in 129 innings.

The 21-year-old is arguably the highest-rising pitcher in the Phillies’ system. He is armed with a fastball that he can throw two different ways (both a two and four-seamer). Although most of his pitches grade out as average, he adds three more to his arsenal, all of which he throws for strikes.

Though he doesn’t have the best stuff in the system, there is a lot to like. He is an extreme ground ball pitcher and with the Phillies better defense, it limits opposing hitters to BABIPs often under .300. His ability to control the strike zone makes up for not having overpowering stuff. He may wind up a bullpen arm, but he has certainly put himself on the radar for 2018.

Adonis Medina, RHP

Medina is 20 years old. The righty had a nice season in the SAL, showing big strikeout potential.

Medina was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2014 and has been pretty consistent on his rise up the minors. He was solid in Rookie ball behind a strong Dominican Summer League debut. This season he made his full-season debut, and posted some of the better numbers of his career.

He posted a 3.01 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Medina was a strikeout machine, fueled by a mid-90s, moving fastball. Medina struck out a career-best 10-per-nine, while walking less than 3-per-nine. He has to work on developing his secondary stuff still a bit, but he too is an extreme ground ball pitcher.

2017 was Medina’s first season breaking 100 innings and making over 20 starts. A strong July and an impressive August showed he was more than ready to handle it. 2018 will show a lot in the development of his whole arsenal against more advanced hitting, but he could prove to be an exciting prospect.