Matt Imhof: Prospect Profile for Philadelphia Phillies 2nd-Round Pick

Player: Matt Imhof

Drafted by: Philadelphia Phillies

Position: LHP

DOB: 10/26/1993 (Age: 20)

Height/Weight: 6’5″, 220 pounds 

Bats/Throws: L/L

School: Cal Poly

Previously Drafted: Never drafted

 

Background

If you want to know what the college experience can do for a player, Matt Imhof is the perfect example. The tall left-hander has grown into his frame the last three years after going undrafted in 2011, looking every bit the part of a workhorse starting pitcher. 

Even more encouraging is that he actually has room to fill out his body and add another mile or two to an above-average fastball. He’s taken to the role of Cal Poly’s Friday night starter—in college circles, the equivalent of a Game 1 starter—including a 3-1 ratio of strikeouts to walks this season. 

There’s always the concern that a pop-up prospect, which Imhof certainly is, without a long track record of success at the college level will fall on his face against professional hitters. But left-handers with his size and stuff don’t come along very often. 

 

Full Scouting Report

Note: Numerical scores are on the conventional 80-point scouting scale, with the current score first and projected score second.

Body/Mechanics

Imhof’s mechanics are unorthodox, which causes him problems with command and consistency with the secondary stuff; his right (lead) leg comes up, goes down and then moves forward as he comes to the plate, making it difficult to find the same release point from pitch to pitch; arm action is also a little long in the back, further hindering command. 

The good news is Imhof’s size allows him to pitch on a steep downhill plane with the fastball, making it difficult for hitters to get good elevation even when they make solid contact; has a great pitcher’s body and can at least log innings in a starting rotation. 

 

Fastball: 55/60

There are advantages to being left-handed, which Imhof capitalizes; fastball sits in the low 90s, touches 95 mph and moves in on left-handed hitters, giving it the illusion of being a cutter; gets excellent plane on the pitch and throws it for strikes with regularity; more velocity in the body coming, which leads to a plus projection for the heater. 

 

Slider: 45/55

Imhof’s breaking ball flashes above average at times, showing hard tilt down in the zone; can be the swing-and-miss pitch he needs to be a mid-rotation starter, though there are times when he will short arm the pitch, causing it to break with less tilt and staying in the zone long enough to find a barrel; good velocity, often in the high 70s, and the shape often suggests an MLB-quality pitch. 

 

Changeup: 45/50

A pitcher with Imhof’s size, natural fastball movement and quality slider doesn’t leave a lot of room for a third pitch; has some feel for the changeup, but throwing it for strikes is still a problem; needs to keep it around the zone for hitters to respect it; arm speed is solid with good velocity separation from the fastball. 

 

Control: 45/55

Imhof has no problems throwing the fastball for strikes; knows how to sequence well, working primarily off the heater while continuing to develop the secondary stuff; feel for the slider and changeup are still coming along; long arm action can lead to erratic moments, but he usually finds himself quickly. 

 

Command: 40/50

Best thing that can be said about Imhof is that he knows how to use the fastball; young pitchers can get lost while trying to pile up their stats that throwing off-speed stuff in fastball counts, which leads to speeding up the bats of a player who wouldn’t be able to catch the heater; needs better placement of all his pitches in the zone, especially the off-speed stuff; as long as fastball is around the zone, he will be solid.

 

MLB Player Comparison: Mike Minor

Atlanta drafted Mike Minor out of Vanderbilt in 2009 when he had average pitches and a good command profile. The tall left-hander added some extra giddyup on the fastball and refined his off-speed stuff, notably the slider and changeup, to become a very good starter in a deep rotation. 

Imhof has that kind of ceiling, though he will need more development time in the minors than Minor did. 

 

Projection: No. 3 starter on a first-division team

 

MLB ETA: 2017

 

Chances of Signing: 85 percent

Imhof is going to get a lot of money from this draft, if for no other reason than he’s a 6’5″ left-handed starter who can touch 95 mph with flashes of two average-or-better off-speed pitches. Every system in baseball wants one of those arms, but so few of them are able to get it. There’s always the chance he could take the Mark Appel route and bet on himself to jump into the top 10 next year, especially since he’s a young college junior, though it would be a huge gamble that could just as easily result in disaster. 

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Aaron Nola: Prospect Profile for Philadelphia Phillies’ 1st-Round Pick

Player: Aaron Nola

Drafted by: Philadelphia Phillies

Position: RHP

DOB: 06/04/1993 (Age: 20)

Height/Weight: 6’2”, 196 lbs.

Bats/Throws: R/R

School: Louisiana State

Previously Drafted: 22nd round, 2011 (Toronto)

 

Background

Aaron Nola was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 22^nd round of the 2011 draft out of high school, but he instead decided to honor his commitment to Louisiana State. Now, three years later, the right-hander is expected to be one of the first pitchers to come off the board on June 5.

Nola made an immediate impact for the Tigers as a freshman, as he posted a 3.61 ERA and stellar 89/7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 89.2 innings while making 17 starts. The right-hander quietly emerged as one of the top pitchers in the nation the following year—and after Kevin Gausman’s fourth overall selection in the 2012 draft—as went 12-1 with five complete games, lowered his ERA to 1.57, held opposing hitters to a .188 batting average and posted a ridiculous 122/18 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 126 innings. Furthermore, right-hander averaged at least seven innings over his 17 starts. 

This season it’s been more of the same for Nola, who will celebrate his 21^st birthday the day before the draft, as he’ll enter the NCAA tournament boasting a 10-1 record, 1.49 ERA, .173 opponents batting average and 127/26 strikeout-to-walk. Nola was also named in early May to the 30-man watch list for the 2014 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award.

While there certainly are other pitchers in this year’s class with better stuff and a higher ceiling, none come close to matching Nola’s track record of success against top-flight SEC hitters over the past three seasons.

 

Full Scouting Report

Note: Numerical scores are on the conventional 80-point scouting scale, with the current score first and projected score second.

Body/Mechanics

Nola has good strength and athleticism to his 6’2”, 196-pound frame; some room for physical projection; delivery is clean and efficient; works from incredibly deceptive three-quarters arm slot; ability to repeat release point is both advanced and impressive; very durable despite wiry frame and arm angle.

 

Fastball: 55/65

Fastball velocity has steadily improved during career at LSU; works consistently in 90-93 mph range and has scraped 94-95 this season more regularly; velocity plays up thanks to deceptive slot and jumps on opposing hitters; generates impressive arm-side run; 65-grade projection is fueled by his plus-plus command of pitch rather than velocity.

 

Curveball: 50/60

Breaking ball is average with the potential to gain a full grade; shows good feel for the pitch, throwing it in the 78-82 mph range with depth and tight rotation; could be a bat-misser and out pitch with refinement in the minor leagues; throws pitch in a variety of counts and locates it to both sides of the plate.

 

Changeup: 45/55

Better feel for changeup than most pitchers in the class; arm angle and release point aids his effectiveness of the offering, as does his ability to set it up with well-located fastballs; registers in 82-84 mph range with good arm-side fade; already demonstrates advanced command of pitch.

 

Control: 60/70

Consistently around the plate with entire arsenal; leaves the zone by design; present feel for locating pitches to all four quadrants will only improve; feel for pitching is unparalleled among peers.

 

Command: 55/65

Command is and will always be Nola’s bread and butter; dude is polished; consistently throws three big league quality pitches for strikes and masks everything with big-time deception; outstanding feel for his craft; has shown capacity to make swift adjustments.

 

MLB Player Comparison: Jake Peavy

Nola has long received comparisons to Jake Peavy for his low three-quarters angle and plus-plus command of three potentially above-average-or-better pitches.

 

Projection: No. 3 starter

 

Major Leagues ETA: Mid-2015

 

Chances of Signing: 99 percent

Nola doesn’t have a ceiling like some of the other promising arms in this year’s class, but his outstanding command of three legitimate offerings and overall feel for pitching could make him the first in the group to reach the major leagues. It’s nearly impossible to envision a scenario in which the 21-year-old doesn’t sign after coming off the board early in the first round.

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Philadelphia Phillies 2014 Draft Picks: Scouting Profiles and Analysis

There has been very little for Philadelphia Phillies fans to look forward to so far in 2014. Currently entrenched in a five-game losing streak and sitting dead last in the NL East at 24-33, the Phillies have hit rock bottom if there ever was a time for them to do so.

However, there is a bright spot in this time of darkness.

The MLB draft begins June 5 at 7 p.m. ET. The Phillies hold the seventh overall selection in this year’s draft, their highest since 2001, when they selected Gavin Floyd with the fourth overall pick.

The only upside to losing is the higher draft pick that comes with it the following season, and the Phillies have needed this pick in the worst way. Their farm system is barren of any blue-chip prospect talent. Not only does that inhibit them from making trade acquisitions in the offseason, but it also means that little to no impact help is available in the minors for this sluggish team.

In years past, the Phillies have taken risks, generally selecting high school talent in the early rounds with high upside.

However, after the failure of recent top picks Joe Savery, Zach Collier, Anthony Hewitt and Larry Greene, the Phillies may be taking a different approach this year, per CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury. Due to the plethora of top college arms who would take less time to develop into big league pitchers, the Phillies may opt to choose a top-flight college starter at No. 7.

From the time the clock strikes 7 p.m. on Thursday through the evening of Saturday, June 7, check back here for live updates on the Phillies’ draft picks as they come in. Until the first pick is announced, though, proceed to the next slide to see who the experts believe is most likely to go to the Phillies in the 2014 MLB draft. 

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Stock Up, Stock Down for the Phillies’ Top 10 Prospects for Week 9

It has been a tough week down on the farm for the Philadelphia Phillies. The previous week was great, but almost every top player took a step back this week. Obviously it is a long season, and there are peaks and valleys all along the way. However, it is kind of interesting that these seem to happen in waves.

Regardless, here is how Week 9 went down for the top 10 prospects in the Philadelphia Phillies’ farm system.

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