A central theme is developing here; top prospect list, three Phillies will be named. This time its the Eastern League, and the Phillies are represented by Kyle Drabek (3rd overall, 2nd pitcher), Domonic Brown (6th, top OF), and Michael Taylor (9th, 2nd highest OF). So, the second best pitching prospect and the top two OF prospects. Not a bad haul. For those of you who ask for snippets from the scouting reports. Drabek = 3 above average pitches, needs to work on command. Brown = great all around profile, only question is eventual power production, and needs to work on route running, his arm is good. Taylor = good all around athlete, might be limited to LF, needs to continue to rake.
Three Phillies in the FSL Top 20
October 8, 2009 — phuturephilliesYesterday BA put their Top 20 in the Florida State League up, and the Phillies are again well represented. Domonic Brown (3rd), Kyle Drabek (5th) and Freddy Galvis (19th) all made the top 20. In a 12 team league, having 3 guys is pretty solid. Brown was the 2nd outfielder behind Mike Stanton (Marlins), Drabek was the top pitching prospect, and Galvis was one of only 2 shortstops on the list of 20. As I said before, please do not post the full scouting reports.
Kyle Drabek’s role in 2010
September 25, 2009 — phuturephilliesI’m going to write more about Drabek when I do my Top 30, but thats not for a while, and I was thinking about what should happen with Drabek next year, so I wanted to throw this out there. Everyone knows at this point that an elite starter is worth more than an elite reliever when you’re talking about value. And I think its pretty much a given that Drabek’s long term future is as a starting pitcher. But for 2010, I think it makes a world of sense to use Drabek in the ML pen from Day 1. Check below for my reasoning…
Two tidbits
July 2, 2009 — phuturephilliesKevin Goldstein published a column today at BP featuring positive comments from scouts on various prospects. He quotes a scout on Drabek;
One scout who recently saw him there walked away impressed, observing, “He’s significantly smoother now, and I really like him; he’s going 95-96 mph in the first inning, and that curveball is a big-time hammer with a great arm stroke.” Drabek’s smallish frame and injury history contribute to the trouble many have figuring out exactly which direction his path will take him, but the scout saw him succeeding in a variety of roles. “He really could be anything,” the scout surmised, “I could see him starting, I could see him relieving… he could have a lot of different careers, but they’re all good ones.”
Also, as noted in the comments of the draft picks discussion, Aroldis Chapman, the best prospect in Cuba, has defected. Its a million to one shot that the Phillies would sign him, but he’d be worth every penny.
Also, I guess you can use this space to post all of your random comments that don’t belong in other places.
Drabek and Flande selected to the Futures Game
June 25, 2009 — phuturephilliesBA has the full rosters.
No surprise on Drabek, but Flande is a bit of a surprise. He wasn’t really on the radar entering this year, but has been great in the FSL, despite being old for the level. His stuff is fringy, but he apparently has solid control and command, so he could be a back end type.
Drabek Throws 8 Shutout Innings
June 19, 2009 — greggKyle Drabek (3-0)threw eight shutout innings, giving up just four hits in the 4-0 Reading victory Friday night. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five, lowering his AA ERA to 2.08.
On another topic, see below the fold for some comments by Steve Shrenk, Reading Pitching Coach on the recent performance of a few Reading pitchers: (Source: Reading Phillies.com Interview with Anthony Opperman)
Drabek’s AA Debut
June 4, 2009 — codyrhoadsRuben Amaro and Dallas Green were among those in attendance as Kyle Drabek took the hill at First Energy Stadium for his first Eastern League start. The weather kept many people at home, but those who witnessed this performance did not come away disappointed.
Kyle Drabek Gets Complete Game Shutout!
May 29, 2009 — Jeff Crupper| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| Stone Crabs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |
| Threshers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | - | 4 | 9 | 0 |
KYLE DRABEK IS KING TONIGHT!
After picking up three wins in his first three starts Kyle Drabek had to wait until his 10th appearance to get another, but it was a gem. He threw a complete game shutout of the Stone Crabs scattering just five hits over nine innings. He struck out seven and walked just one in the game. Read the rest of this entry »
Nice article on Drabek and Savery
March 13, 2009 — phuturephilliesRead it here. Talks about the Phillies changing Drabek’s mechanics, among other things. Next week we’ll start tackling who will be assigned where.
Jim Callis quick hits
December 4, 2008 — phuturephilliesFrom today’s chat at ESPN
dan ( philly): Big Mike Taylor or Dom Brown?
SportsNation Jim Callis: Brown.
///
Dave (Philly): Carrasco or Drabek in 5 years?
SportsNation Jim Callis: Drabek.
Update, 12/4: Keith Law did a chat today
Phil (PA): Who are your top 3 Phillies prospects, relative to age and level?
SportsNation Keith Law: (2:28 PM ET ) Did I answer this above? Donald, Brown, Carrasco, probably Taylor next. I’m a little down on Marson, whose swing is going to generate a ton of groundballs.
Brown, Drabek and Taylor make the Hawaii Top 20
December 1, 2008 — phuturephilliesBaseball America has its Top 20 up for Hawaii Winter Baseball, with Brown coming in at #4, Drabek coming in at #5 and Taylor coming in at #9.
Lithe and athletic, Brown flashed all five tools, including a plus arm. Scouts are divided over how much power he’ll have in the long run, which will determine his ultimate ceiling. One called his high-elbow setup at the plate “funky”, and he’s a long-strider, which could lead to timing issues. But his buggy-whip swing produces the bat speed to produce power when married to his excellent pitch recognition.
His stuff remains plus-plus, with a fastball sitting at 93-95 mph and a hammer breaking ball, a hard-breaking power curve with late movement. Drabek also is making progress with a changeup and competed well in Hawaii. Maturity has been an issue, and Drabek took his lone defeat—he gave up a game-winning homer to Marquez Smith in the season’s final game—hard. But managers and scouts said he comported himself as a professional in Hawaii.
….scouts agree he was better than his numbers in Hawaii. He showed off his light-tower power with a homer off an actual light tower at Les Murakami Stadium, controlled the strike zone and made hard contact all fall.
You can read the full blurbs on all three guys here.
Kyle Drabek returns
July 30, 2008 — phuturephilliesIf you missed it, Kyle Drabek has returned to the mound after Tommy John surgery.
3 IP – 1 H – 0 ER – 0 BB – 0 K – 9:0 GB/FB
Welcome back Kyle.
The maturation of Kyle Drabek
February 19, 2008 — phuturephilliesI remember when Drabek was drafted, lots of people weren’t happy, thinking the Phillies had wasted a draft pick on a kid with a lot of baggage who was never going to pan out. After his rough debut in the GCL, those people started to trumpet their message even louder. But now it appears that they might have been wrong, as Drabek is 1.5 years removed from being drafted, is 7 months into the post-Tommy John surgery part of his baseball career, and he seems to be saying all the right things.
As the Phillies were going through an early spring workout, Kyle Drabek cut between two practice fields on his way to a minor-league clubhouse.
“I’d like to be out there with everyone, but spring training is a lot of hard work,” the 20-year-old pitching prospect joked.
Seven months into his recovery from Tommy John surgery, the Phils’ 2006 No. 1 draft pick knows he has plenty of rehab work ahead of him.
This time a year ago, Drabek was in spring training with the Phillies less a year out of high school. This year, he received no big-league spring invitation, just a locker at the minor-league complex.
The Texas native has been in Clearwater since October working with Phillies trainers and now is throwing at 90 feet.
He has no idea when he’ll get back on the mound and predicts he’ll miss the entire 2008 season and not pitch again until next fall in the Florida Instructional League.
“My arm feels good,” said Drabek, who has lost five pounds and some of his baby fat while rehabbing.
This coming after the report from Kevin Goldstein in his Phillies Top 11 that Drabek has had zero problems in the last year in terms of attitude or off the field trouble. The arm is special, we’ve all known that, it was just a matter of him wanting to mature and become a pitcher, not just a kid with an attitude that throws hard. Sure, this is just a minor detail with two throwaway quotes, but to me, based on everything that’s been written about Drabek over the last year, it’s just one more step closer to him realizing his talent and making the Phillies gamble on him look pretty smart.
Mathieson and Drabek updates
January 29, 2008 — phuturephilliesFrom the new organizational report at BA, courtesy of Jim Salisbury
Mathieson, who was picked in the 17th round of the 2002 draft and made eight starts in the majors in 2006, had ulnar nerve transposition surgery in September. The operation was a less serious follow-up to the Tommy John surgery that he had a year earlier.
Mathieson, who turns 24 on Feb. 27, will take part in the full pitching program in spring training but likely will open the season in the minors as he eases into competition. Though he has worked as a starter throughout his career, organization leaders have long believed his power arm could work well in relief. He pitched for Canada at the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and could be a sleeper to contribute out of the bullpen in 2008.
Drabek, a first-rounder in 2006 who was considered by some to have the best arm in that draft, was 5-1, 4.33 at low Class A Lakewood when he began having elbow trouble last May. He had Tommy John surgery in July, and according to farm director Steve Noworyta, “is coming along real well. He’s on schedule, if not a little ahead.”
Drabek is expected to spend most of the season rehabbing in Florida. The Phils would like to see him get on the mound for Rookie-level Gulf Coast League games in August, then be ready to go for instructional league following the 2008 season.
“Even though he’s losing a year, we think he’ll make up that time,” Noworyta said of the 20-year-old Drabek. “Sometimes guys don’t realize what they had until it’s taken away from them. His work ethic has been outstanding. We expect him to come back better than ever.”
Definitely good news on all fronts, though I still think Mathieson has starter potential, it’s a good idea to settle him into the majors as a reliever.
Bill Conlin is a bitter, angry old man
July 24, 2007 — phuturephilliesIn case you haven’t read Bill1Chair’s latest nugget of goodness, you can find it here. As Bill often tends to do, he exaggerates and sensationalizes things to try and sound like a voice of authority, when in reality, he really provides very few facts and even less context. Here is the money excerpt from his latest piece, where he basically says taking Kyle Drabek was a mistake;
Drabek became the latest first-round draft pick to join an ill-starred list of can’t-miss righthanders who became damaged goods early in their Phillies careers and never amounted to much.
The list includes Roy Thomas (1971, No. 6 pick overall), Brad Brink (1986, No. 7 overall), Tyler Green (1991, No. 10 overall) and, now, Drabek (2006, No. 18 overall.) It turned out Thomas and Brink were injured before their signings. Green had been shut down in both high school and college. I am tempted to add Brett Myers (1999, No. 12 overall) to the list, but this was the first arm injury of his career and the jury is still out on the long-term implications of history’s longest-running shoulder “strain.” Lefthander Cole Hamels (2002, No. 17 overall) had back issues in the minors, but does a rigorous daily program that has kept him healthy as a major leaguer.
Bill attempts to paint the Phillies as incompetent because we’ve drafted 3 (4 if you count Drabek) guys who had major arm trouble in the low minors, over a 35 year time period. That’s right….4 guys in 35 years, considering the position and the unstable nature of amateur talent, and Bill is convinced the Phillies do no leg work on their draft picks. He somehow tries to sneak Brett Myers into the conversation, even though Myers hasn’t been hurt at all up until this year. Also, if you notice, he’s including Drabek in the same sentence that concludes with “never amounted to much”…do you think he knows that the recovery rate from TJ is high? Wanna see an organization that can’t draft pitching? Check out Pittsburgh over the last 10 years. Jon Van Benschoten, Sean Burnett, Brad Lincoln and Bryan Bullington were all first round picks who would up with major arm problems requiring surgery, and all were picked within a 4-5 year span.
This type of irresponsible journalism isn’t new, especially from Conlin. Every once in a while he spins a good yarn about the incompetence of the Phillies ownership group, but many times, like this instance, he’s way off base. I’d recommend sending him an e-mail, his address is right at the bottom of the article above. Just a warning, you may get a snappy return that does or does not mention his timeshare in the Dominican Republic.
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