Philadelphia Phillies: Top Prospects by Position
After many years of substandard production, the Phillies farm system has served the team very well during the past decade. It provided the core to the 2008 World Series squad and has since been tapped time and time again in trades to improve the big club.
Despite those trades, the system remains in a good position and is by no means barren, as some naysayers have suggested.
Recently, draft guru John Sickels and Baseball America each released their prospect rankings for the Philadelphia minor league system. It is very interesting that after the initial three prospects, they had a very difficult time agreeing on the top ten prospects.
In my opinion, this is very indicative of the current state of the farm. There is a lot of talent, but most of it is in the low minors and needs more time before we can get a clearer picture of what exactly the Phillies have there.
So rather than doing a traditional top ten prospects ranking, I have decided to change things up a bit. Instead, here is a list of the top prospect at each position—plus a few other names to watch.
Players who have spent enough time in the MLB to qualify as a rookie will be excluded from this overview, even if they spent significant time in the minors this season. This means players like Domonic Brown, Michael Stutes, John Mayberry Jr. and Scott Mathieson are not eligible for inclusion here.
Philadelphia Phillies: Citizens Bank Park’s Top 5 Moments of the Last 5 Years
With the Philadelphia Phillies having now clinched a historic fifth consecutive National League East title it is an appropriate time to put that in perspective.
This current Phillies run is now the third longest run of consecutive division titles behind only the 1991-2005 Atlanta Braves and 1998-2006 New York Yankees. Regardless of what happens going forward this is a great achievement that deserves recognition.
As part of such recognition, it is time to take a look at the Top 5 moments at Citizens Bank Park from this current Phillies run.
Enjoy.
Philadelphia Phillies: Pennant Fever Stretches Down to the Farm
Since 2007, the Philadelphia Phillies have been one of the elite organizations in baseball. They have a laundry list of team and personal accomplishments in the span that goes unmatched by any other franchise in baseball.
The success was built upon by a homegrown core supplemented by trades to acquire additional star power and occasional free agents.
However, this will to win does not exist solely on the major league level. During these past five years the minor league system has seen a lot of success, too.
The minors are generally seen as a place where you try to develop your talent, which sometimes comes at the expense of winning. Any winning you can do is seen as a bonus.
For a team like the Phils, winning in the minors functions as an opportunity to get the prospects more acquainted with the high leverage situations you will find with the big club late in the season.
Fortunately for the Phillies, they have had a strong farm that has seen a lot of team success. Here is an overview showing where each affiliate currently stands.
Philadelphia Phillies: Top Outfielders Selected in the 2011 MLB Draft
This is the third and final article covering the Phillies 2011 draft. Previously, the infield and pitching selections have been recapped. Now it is time to cover the outfield.
Typically speaking, the Phillies emerge from the draft each year with a glut of ultra-athletic, toolsy but raw outfield prospects. Sometimes these players hit it big and skyrocket through the system like Domonic Brown. Other times, these players are duds and stall in A-ball for three years and counting like Anthony Hewitt.
But it has been an approach the Phillies have had a lot of success with. They have flipped many of these toolsy outfielders (Michael Taylor, Anthony Gose, Greg Golson, Domingo Santana) for players such as Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, John Mayberry Jr. and Hunter Pence.
As previously covered, this year showed a shift in draft emphasis. There were less toolsy outfielders and much more of a focus on infielders. Given that the system is well stocked with young outfielders and mostly barren of legitimate infield prospects, that may have been a wise decision.
As a result, the Phils actually only drafted and signed a total of five outfield prospects from this year’s draft. So this is a ranking of those five.
Philadelphia Phillies Add to Pitching Stable in 2011 MLB Draft
In just two short years the Philadelphia Phillies went from being a team known for their intimidating offense, to a team defined by their historic starting rotation.
Even on the minor league level, the Phillies had a quartet of “baby aces” in Jared Cosart, Brody Colvin, Trevor May and Jesse Biddle. Cosart has been dealt now, but not before Biddle and possibly May had surpassed him on the organizational depth chart.
In addition to the “baby aces” the Phillie farm system has done a great job of producing talented relievers. Phillies fans are already familiar with the successes of Antonio Bastardo and Michael Stutes, while they will soon be getting to know Michael Schwimer, Phillippe Aumont and Justin De Fratus as well.
With the signing deadline for the 2011 draftees having passed, the Phillies draft has been regarded as a success. Many people are suggesting this is the best draft the team has had since 2008.
As has been previously covered, the Phillies made a strong effort to target infield prospects in this year’s draft. Given the previous lack of infield depth in the farm system, that is a large part of why this draft is considered so successful.
Additionally though, the Phils did a good job supplementing their already pitching rich system. This is a ranking of the top five pitchers entering the farm system from the 2011 draft.
Are the Philadelphia Phillies Really the Yankees of the National League?
Just a few years ago, comparing the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees would have been unfathomable to most fans. For one the Yanks had a payroll that was perennially over $200 million while the Phillies routinely maintained one half that.
Furthermore, from a historical perspective the Yankees were baseball’s most successful franchise while the Phillies were baseball’s least successful.
But here in 2011, the comparison not only makes sense but is thrown around often. After all the Phils have been baseball’s most successful franchise the last four going on five years. Nobody has won more divisions, pennants or World Series in that span.
In fact, should the Phils hold on to win their fifth consecutive division crown, only the 1998-2006 Yankees and 1991-2005 Atlanta Braves will have had longer streaks than this current Phillies run.
The Phils are a destination team now much like the Yankees. When veterans want to win, they seek out the opportunity to play for the Phillies. Roy Halladay orchestrated a trade specifically to Philadelphia. Cliff Lee took less guaranteed money to be a Phillie. Roy Oswalt waived his no trade clause to come to Philadelphia.
A decade ago the Phillies could not even keep their own stars in town; now stars are tripping over themselves to get here.
However, when people say the Phillies are the Yankees of the National League, they are not referring just to those similarities. Instead, the connotation is clear—
The Phillies are trying to buy a championship.
Not hard to see how one would come up with that though. All you have to do is take a look at their star studded roster, a payroll which is over $170 million, see big free agent signings like Cliff Lee and you can easily draw that conclusion.
But is that really an accurate representation of the franchise? Continue reading to find out.
Philadelphia Phillies Bolster Infield Prospects in 2011 MLB Draft
For many years, the Philadelphia Phillies have employed the same tactic when it comes to the MLB draft. That tactic is to draft “slot” players early and target the best athlete available regardless of position. After the first few rounds they continue to target athletes but will go “overslot” to sign a few.
For those unfamiliar with the term “slot,” the Commissioner’s Office makes a recommendation to each team about how much money they should spend at each slot in the draft. That recommendation is known as “slot.” Signing anyone for more than that amount is known as going “overslot.”
That tactic has resulted in the Phillies drafting a lot of players, usually outfielders, with a very high ceiling but who are also very raw. Sometimes this works out, like when the Phillies drafted an extremely raw Domonic Brown in 20th round of the 2006 draft, as Brown was “Baseball America’s” top prospect of 2010.
Sometimes it doesn’t work out, like when the Phillies took Anthony Hewitt with their first round pick in the 2008 draft. It’s now his fourth year in the system and Hewitt is still toiling in A-Ball hitting just .227.
This year marked a change in their draft philosophy. The Philadelphia Phillies’ farm system has been for the most part devoid of serious infield talent since Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard made it to the bigs. In addition, they just dealt their best infield prospect, first baseman Jon Singleton, to the Houston Astros.
In an apparent attempt to remedy that shortcoming, the Phillies selected infielders early and often in this year’s draft. With the August 15th signing deadline having come and gone, we now know which of these players have made it into the Phillies’ farm system.
Philadelphia Phillies: Putting Domonic Brown’s Rookie Season into Perspective
Opinions in Philadelphia on Domonic Brown seem to be mixed at the moment. There are those who see him as a bust, as a top prospect unable to live up to the billing and think he should be dealt while his value is still high.
They see a player who struggled horribly last season, had to leave winter ball early because of continued struggles and then had a terrible spring training before getting injured. Then even after being called up this season he never lived up to his hype with the bat while providing sub-par defense.
Then there are others who think Brown has shown promise and at 23 years old just needs time to play every day before he flourishes. They see that he led the team in pitches seen per at bat, had great plate discipline, led the team in walk rate and was showing flashes of his ability.
But Brown is not the first rookie to struggle. In fact, Brown actually turned in a league average performance with the bat this year. While you may want more than average from your top prospect, it is not a bad start for a young rookie.
Many rookies go on to have long, stellar careers after having rookie seasons even worse than Brown’s. Here is a sample of some of them:
| Player | AVG | OBP | OPS | OPS+ |
| Alex Rodriguez | .232 | .264 | .672 | 71 |
| Reggie Jackson | .178 | .269 | .574 | 72 |
| Chase Utley | .239 | .322 | .696 | 87 |
| Mike Schmidt | .196 | .324 | .697 | 92 |
| Domonic Brown | .246 | .335 | .728 | 101 |
| Barry Bonds | .223 | .330 | .746 | 103 |
| Hank Aaron | .280 | .322 | .769 | 104 |
| Dave Winfield | .277 | .331 | .714 | 106 |
| Ken Griffey Jr. | .264 | .329 | .748 |
108 |
Notice how Brown fits in snugly right in the middle of them. There are other all-time great players like Mel Ott, Roberto Clemente and Rickey Henderson that have had rookie seasons worse than Brown as well.
Don’t get the wrong message from this either. This is not an attempt to suggest that Brown is a future Hall of Famer although I am sure the Phillies would love nothing more than for that to happen.
Rather, all this table does is show that many superstars all “struggled” as rookies. Many much worse than Brown. Yet a lot of them went on to be some of the greatest players ever to play their position.
Brown is not perfect and no one will argue that. His defense leaves much to be desired. However, with strong defenders in outfield such as Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence, the Phillies will have the opportunity to let him have growing pains as he develops into a better defender.
It has been suggested that the Phillies are not the type of team that can wait for a player like Brown to develop on the major league level. That being a title contender means they do not have the luxury of patience.
But maybe that is not the case. Brown showed signs that the more he played this year, the better he was performing. He ended July with a a .303 batting average for the month.
Maybe a team with such strong pitching, and excellent supporting cast can afford next year to run out a league average bat in left field. That the upside of Brown’s potential is too tantalizing to overlook.
It is just too soon to write off Brown. Too many players had far worse seasons as a rookie before going on to become all-time greats. In this era of instant access to communication, information and resources patience has become fleeting. But in the case of Brown, patience just might end up being the Phillies best friend.
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Has the Philadelphia Phillies’ Chase Utley Regained His All-Star Form?
There have been few years where Phillies fans were as excited for Spring Training as they were for it this year. The Phils had just recently come out of nowhere to give their fans an early Christmas present in the form of Cliff Lee.
There were talks of an historic rotation. A team for the ages people would say. Then the news struck about Chase Utley. At first his injury was downplayed. Eventually the severity came out. His career was in jeopardy.
The Phils jumped out to great start this season despite the absence of their All-Star second baseman. They were able to overcome an anemic offense and have, for the most part, had the best record in baseball since late April.
After rumors that Utley would not be back until the All-Star break at the earliest, the hard-nosed infielder made his return on May 23rd. Since that point the Phils offense improved a run per game and has been the second-best offense in the National League.
As happy as people were for Utley’s return, people soon began to grumble that he just was not the same player he used to be. The knee condition had seemed to sap his power. He was still a good ballplayer, just not the Chase Utley of old. Or so the narrative went.
But is this really the case? Is Utley truly not the same player he was from 2005-2009 when he was hands down the best second baseman in baseball? Looking at his numbers from last season and this season in comparison to his average year during that span would would seem to indicate that is the case.
| Year | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2005-2009 | .301 | .388 | .535 | .922 |
| 2010 | .275 | .387 | .445 | .832 |
| 2011 | .289 | .383 | .491 | .874 |
A quick look at the numbers would seem to confirm the hypothesis. While Utley still manages to get on-base at a similar rate, he is just not hitting for the same power he used to.
However, there is more to the story than just those numbers. Utley did miss all of July with a broken thumb. He rushed back early from the injury and clearly was not healthy, as he had a horrible August before rebounding for an improved September. If you factor that in then his season looks much better.
That does not account for this year though. To explain that, there is a saying Charlie Manuel likes to repeat every year in spring training. He says that for a batter to be truly ready for the season, they need to get at least 70 or 80 at-bats.
Chase Utley missed spring training this year, so he had to collect those at-bats in the minors. But he never fully reached that plateau in the minors. It took 11 games in the major leagues before he achieved enough at-bats. Here is a look at his numbers broken down by that threshold.
| Split | AB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Minor Leagues | 32 | .281 | .361 | .438 | .799 |
| First 11 Games | 41 | .195 | .298 | .293 | .591 |
| Rest of Season | 187 | .310 | .401 | .535 | .936 |
It would appear that reports of Chase Utley’s decline may be a bit premature. He may not be a 30 HR player any more, but he certainly appears to pack a lot of pop in that bat still. Once Utley got his Charlie Manuel endorsed 70 at-bats, he kicked it into overdrive.
Funny thing is it literally happened the game after he hit the plateau. Going into Game 11 he only had two extra-base hits and one multi-hit game. Game 12 he had a three-hit day. Soon thereafter he started hitting for extra bases.
All that is left is for Utley to manage his knee properly. To make sure he rests it occasionally to prevent future flareups. The real test will be next season. Can he play a full season? He has proven his bat is still as strong as it has ever been. Now he needs to prove he can stay on the field to use it.
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Philadelphia Phillies Unlikely to Make Any Waiver Wire Deals
When the 4 PM deadline passed on July 31st, fans of the Philadelphia Phillies were still busy rejoicing in their acquisition of All-Star right fielder Hunter Pence.
What went nearly unnoticed at the time was that Phillies GM Ruben Amaro had been pursuing a second deal to help bolster a battle-worn bullpen. Unfortunately, those pursuits turned out to be unfruitful, as he could not seal the deal for a reliever.
As the Pence euphoria wore off in Philadelphia, people began to wonder if the Phils would attempt to acquire a bullpen arm via a waiver wire deal. After all, a deal of that nature for Scott Eyre in 2008 helped put the Phillies over the top down the stretch.
According to baseball insider Ken Rosenthal, the answer to that question is “No.”
Rosenthal says that the Phillies approach to the bullpen will be to wait for the team to get healthy rather than to pursue a trade. He cites that Roy Oswalt’s return to the rotation will push Kyle Kendrick back into the bullpen.
He also suggests that, given how well Vance Worley has performed, when October rolls around the Phillies go to a four man rotation and Worley could find himself on the playoff roster in the bullpen.
Furthermore, the Phillies are still awaiting the return of April closer Jose Contreras. Contreras was lights out for the first month of the season before succumbing to an arm injury. After an ill-fated early return from the injury, Contreras soon found himself right back on the disabled list.
Getting Contreras back would be a huge boost to an already strong bullpen. With Brad Lidge’s return from injury and Antonio Bastardo and Michael Stutes emerging as legitimate bullpen arms, the Phils could find themselves with a slew of arms to throw at people in the playoffs.
In addition, manager Charlie Manuel has suggested that he has his eye on a couple of the minor league relievers, specifically Michael Schwimer and Phillippe Aumont.
Schwimer has spent the entire year in Triple-A, where he has been downright nasty. For the season he has a 11.6 K/9 IP, 2.8 BB/9 IP, 1.043 WHIP and a 1.76 ERA. At 25 years old, he has nothing left to prove in the minors and appears ready for the big time.
Aumont started the season in Double-A, where he was nearly as dominant as Schwimer. Aumont posted an 11.9 K/9 IP, 3.2 BB/9 IP, 1.097 WHIP and 2.32 ERA. After getting promoted to Triple-A, he had some early struggles but has settled in nicely with a 2.45 ERA so far in just 11 innings.
Expect Schwimer and Aumont to be September call-up candidates. Should Contreras be unable to return or should another injury occur, do not be surprised if one of them challenges for a spot on the postseason roster. However, barring any major injuries, do not expect the Phils to make any deals for a reliver.
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