When you pick for the boom, sometimes you get the bust – Clearwater announced on Twitter that Phillies 2008 First Round Draft Choice Anthony Hewitt has been released. Hewitt was old for his class, when at 19 years old he was taken with the 24th overall pick in out of Salisbury Prep (CT). He received a $1.38 million signing bonus at the time.
Over 2300+ PAs of professional ball, Hewitt triple slashed 223/264/370, with 82 doubles, 24 triples, 63 home runs and 94 stolen bases, and 763 Ks to just 91 BBs.
Matt’s profile of Hewitt’s career is here, last updated in the fall of 2012, before he had what I guess you would call a resurgence in 2013. Last year, the right-handed hitting Hewitt OPSed above .700 for the first time in his career, and added a couple points to his walk rate, while feasting on left-handed pitching, prompting some to wonder at the time if he’d make a short big league career for himself as a platoon/bench option if he could play decent defense and steal some more bases. 2014 has been a train wreck, however, as he OPSed .317 over two levels, having been demoted from AA Reading to A+ Clearwater a few weeks ago.
By many accounts, Hewitt was one of the hardest working guys on every team on which he appeared, and it’s a shame to see a guy like that never figure it out. Sometimes that’s just not enough to force a good ballplayer out of a good athlete.