On July 2, 2012 the Phillies spend just over a million combined on a pair of Dominican 16 year olds. They were both consensus Top 20 J2 prospects and the latest in a line of increased Latin American budget for signings. The Phillies brought both stateside in 2012 for the Florida Instructional League before they started their professional careers in the GCL for 2013. Both have had struggles at times but the arrow is point upwards for both of them.
Hit: Pujols’s previous swing was not conducive to contact but he now is starting show a more linear swing that allows his strength and bat speed to come through. It shouldn’t have a ton of holes to it. His pitch recognition skills and overall aggressiveness are still under development and will really help it to play up long term. Grullon on the other hand has shown much more bat to ball skills. His swing makes solid contact without much miss to it.
Power: Power is Pujols’s calling card, there is strength and projection but also an extremely quick bat. He has 5 HRs so far in 145 PAs and has shown huge batting practice power. Grullon on the other hand shows more gap to gap power and will likely never get above below average power and may top out around 10 HRs a year but should provide a good amount of doubles and extra bases.
Arm: Pujols has plenty of arm for RF but it is not a big time weapon. At the time he was signed Pujols had a hitch in his throwing motion that extended his release time. Grullon’s arm is a big weapon, it is a clean release with plus to plus plus arm strength. Additionally, the accuracy is good and he can throw to all three bases. Grullon’s main weakness is that his instincts are a bit aggressive and he has a tendency to make high risk throws that he will eventually learn to control.
Glove: Pujols is really raw in the field, the routes could use a ton of work. He should have the range to be out there but he is not going add much defensive value. Grullon’s defense matches his arm as a carrying tool, he still needs a lot of work to polish his receiving but there are all the tools there to be a plus defensive player.
Speed: Neither Grullon or Pujols project to add anything with their legs.
Physical Projection: Pujols is fairly skinny, but with a frame that can add muscle. As he adds muscle he should more consistent power. The worry is that he gets stiffer as he ages and that he keeps his bat speed. Grullon does not have a ton of physical projection left, it is a stocky build that is mostly filled out already. As a catcher you are less worried about the speed, but you are worried about potential strain on the knees. This means even though he is 17 there is not a lot of hidden power potential for Grullon.
Overall there is a lot to like and a lot of risk. If you want to dream on the talent you have a middle of the order masher and an elite defender behind the plate. There is still a lot ahead of them, and given Pujols’s approach and reducing strain on Grullon, it is likely that both go to Williamsport in 2014.
Phuture Phillies 
As of right now I probably have Grullon above Pujols slightly. I understand that Pujols has big time power but there seems to be legit concerns about whether his hit tool will be good enough for the power to play. Grullon looks to have good contact skills and a good approach along with his good defense at the catcher position. Still way early on both but if I had to bet which one would have a major league career it’d probably be Grullon.
LikeLike
If memory serves, the concern about Grullon was his bat. Would he ever hit more than Logan Moore. Grullon’s splits are very southpaw-centric. He hits lefties hard with a .474 BA while righties are handling him to a .179 BA. A plus stat for him is the 18 Ks and 10 BBs so he has a clue what he’s doing. He’s still a baby so progression will be slow and steady.
LikeLike
I recall seeing clips of Grullon hitting last year, before he signed. He didn’t look good at all, and had a pronounced toe tap that looked sloppy. That, combined with the reports that he was a defense 1st catcher, made me believe he would struggle this year with the bat. He has pleasantly surprised.
LikeLike
Funny that I just navigated to the site while watching Grullon and Pujols play. Both are 0-1 so far with Jose getting baffled by three straight curveballs
LikeLike
that really low power projection for Grullon. If it turns out to be (max 10HR year) he is second level prospect.
LikeLike
Not really, he may not be a superstar but were either of these guys bad players when they weren’t hitting bombs http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/molinya01.shtml and http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruizca01.shtml
LikeLike
I’m happy with a high average for a catcher if he has plus defense. Being a contact hitter who gets on best and can actually get a groundball when someone is on third is a lost art. Especially on the Phillies. How many infield flyouts do we need to see with a runner on and less than 2 outs?
LikeLike
Ruiz only hit 10 home runs once in his career, and he’s been a pretty valuable player for us. If Grullon could be a similar player one day, we should all be very happy.
LikeLike
Grullon’s dad died in a motorcycle accident last summer (http://dplbaseball.com/dpl-news/the-tragic-passing-of-simeon-grullon-father-of-deivi-grullon/). The culture shock these guys have to deal with is a lot, and combined with his dad passing away, if nothing else, it’s a good sign for his make-up that he’s come back this year and performed as he has.
LikeLike
There’s really not much separation between Grullon and Tocci as prospects, right? Both project to be plus defenders at premium defensive positions. Grullon is 6 months older than Tocci was last year in the GCL, but he’s been better at the plate than Tocci was last year. It’s not very hard to see Grullon outperforming Tocci’s SALLY performance next year. You can make a pretty strong case he’s at least on par with Tocci right now.
LikeLike
Tocci has plus plus speed and better baseball instincts than Grullon. Additionally Tocci has more hit tool projection
LikeLike
Respectfully Matt, Tocci didn’t really show his plus speed on the basepaths this year. And Grullon’s projection as a plus defender at a crucial defensive position mean his instincts have to be on par with Tocci. I can’t figure out why Tocci wasn’t more successful stealing bases given his obvious speed, but he was almost a non-factor as a baserunner this year. I also see your point about Tocci having a better hit tool projection, but he was pretty awful this year as a hitter (other than the encouraging K rate).
I had Tocci as our #5 prospect going into this year so I was very high on him going into the season, but objectively he didn’t really help his stock with his performance did he? We are banking on him getting stronger, which is almost certain to happen, but he’s probably a 20 on the strength scale right now (if prospects were graded on that). What we seem to have right now is an almost guaranteed plus defender with good contact skills who does almost nothing else well.
Grullon seems to have a slightly lower ceiling as a defender, but has at least the same contact skills with some power potential. Grullon seems like a much better bet to develop gap to gap power. I honestly don’t know if Tocci has that in him.
LikeLike
You just summed up my feelings on tocci perfectly. Great potential but sort of wake me up when he gets bigger/stronger
LikeLike
Wait until Tocci gets on base more. Speed should show. I still dont think he is “plus-plus” speed though
LikeLike
I think the reason for the difference in performance mainly has to do with Grullon being more physically mature.
LikeLike
Besides what Matt and Christopher said, I doubt we’ll see Grullon in the Sally next year. I imagine Lino will probably be the starter there, which leaves Williamsport for Grullon.
LikeLike
If Grullon is as advance defensively as advertised, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the starting catcher for Lakewood. We seem to be aggressive with position players who have a questionable hit tool but are ready to be moved up defensively.
LikeLike
Physically Grullon might have ability to catch at LWD.
I’d be concerned with his ability to call a game and handle a pitching staff. The mental aspect of catching (especially at the Major League Level) is a crtical component in my opinion.
LikeLike