It’s been an eventful month or so since the draft. The Phillies have done some nice work in signing their college guys taken early in a rather quick fashion, and they wrapped up their two top prep guys in d’Arnaud and Mattair quickly. They’ve also nabbed Jiwan James, one of their best flier prospects taken after the 20th round. But, we’re now only 6 weeks from the deadline, and a few important guys are yet to sign.
Continue reading Draft pick signings; crunch time approaching
Got a few questions, so here are the answers, as best as I can do..
From Dan
With Adrian Cardenas as our top position prospect at a position where we already have a superstar in Chase Utley, where do you see Cardenas ending up position-wise, if he ever makes it to the big leagues? BaseballAmerica intimated that he could move to Right Field, do you agree?
I think they will keep him at 2B up through AA, at which point they will evaluate what is happening at the big league level. He might not have the arm strength to play 3B or RF, and he won’t have the range for CF, which means LF might be the final stopping point. For now, though, I think he’ll remain at 2B.
From Avery
Do you have any info on crosscutters pitcher drew naylor? Whats his stuff like? What are his pitches? Whats his makeup like? Also, why did he only start 2 of his 12 games last year. Basically what im asking
is: is he a legit prospect for the phils?
and similarly, from tua36564
Just wanted to know your thoughts on Drew Naylor a RHP at Williamsport. Pitched his third game today and has three wins. He also has let up only one ER in 22 innings pitched. He’s averaging almost a strikeout per inning and has walked only three while sporting a 1.14 Ground/Fly ratio. Is he the real deal, or will he come back down to Earth?
Drew Naylor seems to be springing to everyone’s mind with his quick start. Naylor, for those who don’t know, is one of our Australian signings, and made his US debut in 2006. Just turning 21, Naylor has a solid pitcher’s build, at 6’4, 210 lbs, but did not dominate in his first pro action, posting a 4.66 ERA in 36.2 IP, allowing 43 H, 9 BB and only 22 K. Lack of strikeouts is of course a red flag, as is the hittability, though his walk rate was solid. Well, Naylor has gotten off to a much better start this season;
22 IP, 0.41 ERA, 9 H, 3 BB, 21 K
Obviously that’s a huge improvement. The strikeouts are the most encouraging thing, and he’s been much less hittable. Is he a legit prospect? Yeah, because this is only his second season in pro ball, and he moved up a level, he’s not just repeating the GCL. What does he throw? I’ve never seen him pitch in person, and he was not on anyone’s radar, so there isn’t a lot of info there. I think I remember reading somewhere that he throws a typical fastball/changeup/slider combination. From the looks of his numbers, he must have sharpened his secondary pitches, because the strikeouts are way up and the walks are still way down. He’s definitely a guy to keep an eye on, but he needs to keep steadily moving if we’re to consider him a legit prospect.
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