The VSL season ended up a couple of weeks ago.  This post will summarize the season and provide a very speculative list of the top prospects.  The 2008 VSL Phillies finished the season 32-33, in 4th place 12.5 games behind the Pirates.  The Phillies took a small step back in Venezuela compared to the past couple of years as they did not add any high profile signings and did not feature a large number of younger players.  The situation is a little better in the Dominican as the team’s two highest profile signings as well as several additional young players all made their debuts there.

Age is perhaps the most important variable to consider when analyzing how good the DSL and VSL teams are, especially when few real scouting reports are available stateside.  The Phillies VSL team was slightly older than the league average in 2008.  This is indicative of the apparent lack of prospect quality.  The hitters average age was 18.5, slightly older than the league average of 18.4 (see Baseball Reference minor league site for league average age stats).  The pitching staff was considerably older than the league average, clocking in at age 19.3 compared to an 18.6 league average.

While the hitters were roughly league average in age, there were few standouts.  Cesar Hernandez put up the team’s lone 800+ OPS in the middle infield.  21-year-old OF Levi Rossi led the team in HR with 3 while 20-year-old Jorge Guerra hit .283 with 2 HR and a team leading 41 RBI.  The youngest players generally struggled at the plate, exemplified by 17-year-old SS Edgar Duran hitting .228 with a .523 OPS.

The pitching staff was led by 21-year-old Juan Colmenarez who went 6-4 with a 2.12 ERA.  Four of the five top starters were at least 20 years old with the lone exception being 19-year-old Jesus Pirela.  The youngest arms generally performed poorly, so it is difficult to figure out who are potential prospects.  With all that being said, here is a quick take on a top 10 prospect list for the team:

1. Cesar Hernandez (age 18-2B).  Hernandez improved on his 2007 season, hitting .315 with 6 3B and decent patience (33 BB, only 22 K) while playing a middle infield.  The biggest downside for Hernandez’ prospect status is that he was moved from SS to 2B to clear the way for Edgar Duran to get playing time.  Hernandez had the leading OPS on the team at .838 and should see a promotion to the GCL team next year.

2. Francisco Diaz (age 18-C).  Diaz might get lost in the shuffle of Phillies’ catching prospects, but he is definitely a name to watch.  Diaz is decent at the plate, hitting .289 with a .738 OPS.  22 BB led to a .369 OBP.  More important was his defense.  He threw out 28 of 51 runners on the bases, a 55% rate.  The team’s other catchers threw out 36% of runners.  That discrepency is an impressive indicator of Diaz’ arm strength behind the plate.

3. Winder Torres (age 17-CF).  Torres is high on this list as a matter of faith.  He burst on the scene last year as the team’s 16-year-old CF and sometime leadoff hitter, hitting .292 with a healthy .790 OPS.  He was hurt towards the end of last year, however, and missed much of this season due to injury.  In 63 AB he hit only .238 (.631 OPS) so it is difficult to get a feel for his progress.  He showed no power this year also after hitting 2 HR last year and his patience took a hit.

4. Jesus Pirela (age 19-RHP).  Pirela is a relatively small right hander (6’0″, 152) though he was the most impressive of the team’s younger pitchers.  Pirela went 1-4 with a 3.88 ERA (51 IP, 45 H, 22 BB, 35 K), showing great improvement from 2007 when he had a 5.62 ERA.  The better prospects generally get innings, and Pirela’s spot in the rotation is a sign the team thinks he is a prospect.

5. Vernal Bogle (age 18-RF).  Bogle is a new signee from Panama and had a decent year at the plate, hitting .278 with 2 HR and a .769 OPS.  Bogle showed decent speed as well with 10 SB.  At this point the least gets fairly speculative, as most of the younger players did not put up great stats but are most likely the better prospects.

6. Juan Colmenarez (age 21-LHP).  21 is really too old to be a prospect, but Colmenarez at least got a look at Florida Spring Training this year and was the team’s top pitcher.  Colmenarez went 6-4 with a 2.12 ERA, improving from 2.51 last year.  He has great control, though he really needs to miss more bats to be a LOOGY prospect (72 IP, 70 H, 8 BB, 48 K).  His greatest asset as a prospect might be his left-handedness.

7. Edgar Duran (age 17-SS).  The team’s shortstop was new signee Edgar Duran.  Duran struggled at the plate, hitting .228 with little power (only 5 extra base hits) and patience (only 7 BB).  Duran is probably the starting shortstop because of his defense, but he will have to pick up his offense to have a shot at a promotion to GCL.

8. Luis Martinez (age 18-OF/1B).  Martinez is a big 6’5″ kid who now has put in 3 seasons in the VSL.  This season he hit .269 with 1 HR and 24 RBI, virtually the same season he put up a year ago.  Martinez will need to show more power to advance.

9. Luis Leon (age 18-RHP).  Leon is a new signee who pitched decently in limited innings.  Leon went 0-0 with a save and a 2.42 ERA (22.1 IP, 19 H, 12 BB, 17 K).  He is 6’2″ and 166 pounds, so there is room for some projection as he fills out.

10. Jorge Guzman (age 16-RHP).  The last spot on this giant guess of a list goes to the youngest player on the squad.  Guzman did not pitch very well at age 16, but did get enough exposure to suggest the team thinks highly of him.  He went 0-1 with a 5.48 ERA (21.1 IP, 27 H, 13 BB, 13 K).  He is almost certain to repeat next year.

Other players considered for the list include Panamanian IF Edourds Tolo, 3B Carlos Perdomo, LHP Orlando Garces, LHP Ely Izurriaga (we are rooting for him simply because of his name), and LHP Kirlian Campo.  The top 2 prospects on the list are likely to get GCL promotions next year along with Colmenarez.  After that it is difficult to know how many prospects we have here.  As we will see in the next report on the DSL, there are many more younger players on that team showing promise.