The outcome for the Best Third Baseman Poll was a surprise. Keudy Bocio received the most votes. He easily outdrew Cole Stobbe who finished second, well ahead of Mitch Walding.
Bocio began spring training listed as an outfielder however he continued to play the third base position that he had been shifted to during 2016 Instructs. His .849 fielding percentage was lowest of all GCL third basemen. But, during the Phillies stretch run, Bocio seemed to be a part of all their rallies on the way to their division championship. He finished the season with a .274/374/.438/.722, 18 RBI, and 7 SB in 8 attempts. He also finished the season in center field after Simon Muzziotti went down with an injury. He played the position without an error and may well transition to CF where his bat will profile better than at a corner infield position.
| Player | Votes | Pct. |
| Keudy Bocio (GCL) | 101 | 26% |
| Cole Stobbe (WPT) | 79 | 20% |
| Mitch Walding (REA) | 59 | 15% |
| Damek Tomscha (REA, CLW) | 49 | 13% |
| Jake Scheiner (WPT) | 30 | 8% |
| Lucas Williams (LAK) | 18 | 5% |
| Zach Green (CLW) | 14 | 4% |
| Angelo Mora (LHV, REA) | 8 | 2% |
| Drew Stankiewicz (CLW) | 7 | 2% |
| Pedro Florimon (LHV) | 6 | 2% |
| Jan Hernandez (CLW) | 3 | 1% |
| Raul Rivas (LAK) | 3 | 1% |
| Jesus Henriquez (GCL) | 3 | 1% |
| Jack Zoellner (GCL) | 3 | 1% |
| D.J. Stewart (GCL) | 3 | 1% |
| Emmanuel Marrero (CLW) | 2 | 1% |
| Hector Gomez (LHV) | 1 | 0% |
| Derek Campbell (CLW) | 1 | 0% |
Cole Stobbe posted a .913 fielding percentage in Williamsport. He started the season with 4 HR in his first 12 games, and finished tied with a team high 8 HR. But, he limped to the finish with a .203/.280/.376/.656 slash and 67 strike outs in 218 plate appearances (30.7%).
Mitch Walding led Reading with 25 HR. He was tied for second on the team with 62 RBI. But he slashed .236/.327/.516/.842 and struck out 127 times in 401 plate appearances (31.7%). Walding posted a .943 fielding percentage, the best on the team among players who spent any appreciable amount of time at the position.
Damek Tomscha spent time in Clearwater and Reading. He split his time on the field between third and first. He put up a respectable .942 fielding percentage in Reading but plays better defense at first base. Offensively, Tomscha hit over .300 for both teams and posted a combined .307/.386/.439/.825 with 11 HR and 52 RBI. He struck out a total of 57 times in 424 plate appearances (13.4%) and walked 38 times (8.96%).
Among the others: I didn’t see Jake Schiener, Pedro Florimon, Raul Rivas, or Hector Gomez play. Zach Green returned after a long rehab and played both corners before his promotion to Reading. Angelo Mora, Drew Stankiewicz, and Derek Campbell look like utility types who can play multiple positions. (Mora also hits a little.) Luke Williams is being played all over the place during Instructs. Jan Hernandez was moved to the outfield in Clearwater. Jesus Henriquez has a good glove, but will probably be a utility guy while in the organization. D.J. Stewart is a boy in a man’s body. We look at him and see future projection. He’s a BIG kid. And, Emmanuel Marrero played primarily at shortstop until Jose Gomez was acquired.
Now, about this poll’s results. I closed the poll when I saw the winner jump to such a big lead from well back in the pack. On that day, we had a much heavier response from his home country than we normally get. Much heavier. This is similar to a result that many of you questioned during the Top 30 Poll. In this case, however, I know his family reads the site and follows on Twitter. I never considered invalidating the result, I’ve seen the kid play and he’s as reasonable a selection as any other. What I didn’t want to do was encourage a repeat of that type of support in any subsequent polls. So, I delayed posting results until the polling process was almost completed. It would have been completed if I hadn’t erred on the release date of the catcher’s poll. That’s the back story.
Phuture Phillies 
If you told me that you just came back from the future and one of these guys was the 3rd baseman for the Phils and asked which one I thought it was, I would probably get out a dart board to make my guess. Bocio would not have been a bad choice for my dart.
Yes. This is a case where the Phillies “top” third baseman is already wearing pin stripes, … and their next third baseman is playing out the final year of his contract on another team (if you all get your wish).
Just to clarify my comment on Luke Williams above … I saw him playing both middle infield positions during infield drills, running through first base drills with Danny Mayer and Quincy Nieporte, entering a game as a left fielder on Saturday, and starting games at first base a couple games this week.
I was wondering if they would move Williams off of 3B where his skills never matched the needs of the position. Walding will be at LHV next year with Green and Tomscha st Reading. Bocio was only playing 3B because of need, he’s not staying there. I expect the college guys from this draft to cover 3B at Cwater and Lwood next year. Not much future hope…
Williams appears to have the speed/athleticism to play MIF. Of course, OPS-ing in the .500s, like he has the last couple years, is only acceptable if he’s a pitcher.
It’s emblematic of the 3B situation that the winner of the poll will be, in all probability, a center fielder. Unless some of these very young players develop, the Phillies have pretty thin gruel at that position. Crawford played it brilliantly during his call up. But can he hit and will Franco’s bat ever wake up. If not, the Phillies must go into the FA market. I guess that’s obvious
Zach Green already out to a fast start in the Arizona Fall League. He hit a long home run in his first game and had two hit in his last game. team leading 3 rbi’s so far.