The VSL Phillies are currently 26-23 and in 4th place in the league, 9 games behind the Astro’s team.  This has been somewhat of a transitional year for the Phillies after last year’s championships.  With a much younger roster the Phillies are still playing .500, if not a bit better.  It still is a little early to tell who are the best prospects.  Here is a quick update on the better performers and the younger guys who may be the better prospects.

Offense

Yonderman Rodriguez (age 20) – IF who plays 2B, SS, and 3B is hitting .370 with a .886 OPS.  He is clearly a polished player with more BB than SO.  Unfortunately his age is a red flag on his prospect status.  He does not have enough power or speed to be special in those areas, so his ability to hit for a high average is much of his value.

Winder Torres (age 16) – CF who is probably the top offensive prospect on the team.  He is hitting .292 with a solid walk rate and a little power for a .790 OPS.  He has been missing from the box scores the last couple of weeks, so he may be hurt.

Bruno Doi and Fabio Murakami (both age 19) – The two Brazilian OF have showed flashes at times but mostly struggled.  Each has an OPS in the 600s.  Doi especially has not improved on his promising 2006.

Luis Martinez (age 17) – Big 6’5″ OF who has DH’d most of the year.  Is hitting .313 with some power and a .787 OPS.  He is a name to watch if they can find a defensive position for him.

Other 17 year-olds with a decent season are C Francisco Diaz and SS Cesar Hernandez.  Hernandez had a slow start but not has his OPS up to .724.  Diaz has a little less offense, but is the starting catcher at a very young age, showing the team thinks highly of him.

Pitchers

Freddy Ballestas (age 20) – Ballestas has been the ace of the staff, compiling a 7-2 record with a microscopic 0.85 ERA.  His peripherals are also very good (74 IP, 44 H, 13 BB, 67 K).  His red flag is age, of course, as he did not get promoted last year after a decent season.  He has been so dominant this year that he should at least get a shot at GCL next year.  He has decent size at 6’3″ and 170 pounds, so he may be getting better as he fills in.

Juan Colmenarez (age 20) – Colmenarez has been the 1A in the rotation with Ballestas and has the advantage of being a LHP.  So far he is 4-4 with a 2.35 ERA and 1 combined no-hitter.  Most of the runs came in one bad recent start.  His peripherals are also good (69 IP, 54 H, 8 BB, 69 K).  Like Ballestas, age is the major flag on his prospect status.

Kirlian Campo (age 16) – Campo has been knocked around a little, but is getting regular innings at a young age (1-3, 6.11, 28.1 IP, 23 H, 19 BB, 34 K).  He has had control problems, but is also missing lots of bats.  He will probably repeat the VSL next year, but is someone to watch.

Daniel Lara (age 19) and Raul Romero (age 20) appear to be the other top starters, though they have not had quite the performance level to suggest they are prospects.  Lara has a 2.35 ERA, but a low K rate is troubling.  Victor Diaz (age 18) and Darwin Medina (age 20) are two other pitchers who have decent K rates, though they are not getting the number of innings to suggest they are great prospects.

Next – DSL July update