The outcome for the Best Second Baseman Poll was predictable. Scott Kingery was the runaway winner. Kingery was the winner of the Paul Owens Award for the top hitter in their minor league system. He also won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for Second Base from among all second basemen in the minor leagues. Kingery split time between Reading and Lehigh Valley and posted a combined .304/.359/.530/.889 with 26 HR and 65 RBI in 603 plate appearances. He struck out 109 times (18.1%) and walked 41 times (6.8%). His numbers were considerably better at AA.
(Don’t forget to submit your top prospect list by e-mailing it to prospectpoll@yahoo.com. To date, I have received about thirty. Please don’t be one of those guys who criticizes the outcome if you don’t participate.)
I think the interesting observation from the poll is who is deemed to be the next second base prospect behind the 23-year old Kingery.
| Player | Votes | Pct. |
| Scott Kingery (LHV, REA) | 264 | 66% |
| Daniel Brito (LAK) | 44 | 11% |
| Jesmuel Valentin (LHV) | 27 | 7% |
| Brayan Gonzalez (GCL) | 26 | 7% |
| Angelo Mora (LHV, REA) | 10 | 3% |
| Drew Stankiewicz (REA, CLW) | 7 | 2% |
| Pedro Florimon (LHV) | 6 | 2% |
| Jake Scheiner (WPT) | 6 | 2% |
| Jose Antequera (CLW) | 3 | 1% |
| Jesus Azuaje (WPT) | 3 | 1% |
| Grenny Cumana (CLW) | 1 | 0% |
| Raul Rivas (LAK, WPT) | 1 | 0% |
| Brian Mims (WPT) | 1 | 0% |
| Derek Campbell (REA, CLW) | 1 | 0% |
| Jesus Henriquez (GCL) | 0 | 0% |
Daniel Brito is a 19-year old out of Venezuela. He completed his third season in the organization at Lakewood. He put up a .239/.298/.318/.615 slash in his first year of full season ball. He committed 10 errors and posted a fielding percentage of .977 at second base. He started 4 games at short and finished two others there.
An injury scuttled Jesse Valentin’s season before he could play thirty games In Lehigh Valley. The 23-year old was impressive in his first major league camp but got off to a slow start in AAA. He slashed .229/.282/.292/.573 in 104 plate appearances.
Seventeen year old Brayan Gonzalez was signed as a 16-year old in 2016. He made his pro debut in the GCL this season. He fared well at the plate although he was usually giving away 2-3 years against older pitchers. He started strong, slumped, and rebounded to a respectable .269/.331/.388/.719 slash in 152 plate appearances. He played a good second base, committing 5 errors and posting a .972 fielding percentage. He and Jonathan Guzman looked pretty good manning the middle of the diamond for the GCL Phillies.
Phuture Phillies 
2nd base looks well manned for the foreseeable future. Between the combo Hernandez/Crawford/Galvis already standing on the base in the Majors. Kingery and Valentin banging on the door and screaming, “Let me in.” And some very nice looking prospects much further down the organization. 2nd base is well manned for a while. Of course, a couple of trades, an injury or two and guys topping out when they move up and it can all go to crap. I don’t see a worse case scenario in the next few years.
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Don’t forget big signee this year, middle infielder Luis Garcia…ranked in the top 10 of LA players fro 2017.
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Kingery will hopefully hold the position for the next 10 years. Brito and Gonzalez both appear to be good prospects who could be traded for other assets at some point in the future.
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Another guy to remember is Eliezer Alvarez; the guy we got back from the Cardinals for Nicasio. He’ll probably be the starting 2B for Reading next year.
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More clear-cut here. Kingery, Brito, Gonzalez. Don’t know about Alvarez yet, and Luis Garcia is supposed to be a SS. But they’re for next season consideration.
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