On to the vote for the #23 prospect in the organization. There are 34 players listed in the poll below.
I added one final player to the poll, William Bergolla, Jr. He is the Phillies big international free agent signing. The sixteen-year-old may or may not deserve consideration. I’ll leave that up to you. I’m not going to run a poll that tries to find a higher place for him. And, I’m not going to continue to type the Jr. after his name. I don’t think we’ll ever confuse him with his father. Much as I never thought anyone confused any discussion about John Mayberry as being about his father.
The number twenty-two spot went to Christian McGowan. I had to wait almost eight hours for the deciding vote to be cast. McGowan received sixteen votes. Erubiel Armenta finished second with fifteen votes. Micah Ottenbreit finished third with eleven. Ottenbreit is an interesting choice at this point who may deserve some investigation. He’s a high school pitcher who threw 6.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA, a blown save, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 1.50 WHIP, and .273 average against.
In all, 20 players received 89 votes.
- Alexeis Azuaje received six votes,
- Rickardo Perez, Casey Martin, and Jamari Baylor got five each,
- Ethan Lindow and Kyle Dohy got four apiece,
- Billy Sullivan and Andrew Schultz got three each,
- Nicolas Torres, Dominic Pipkin, and Christian Hernandez got two each,
- Jared Carr, Andrew Baker, Christopher Sanchez, Freylin Minyety, Ben Brown, and Gunner Mayer received one vote each.
Features of this poll include –
- This is not a popularity contest. It is a poll to determine the ranking of prospects within the organization by the Phuture Phillies community.
- To be eligible for a prospect list, a player must still have rookie eligibility.
- The names will be in alphabetical order.
- The Other option will be OFF.
- You can choose ONE prospect.
- Repeat voting is blocked.
- Results will be hidden and revealed after the poll is closed.
- I reserve the right to set aside any outcome if I think anything irregular occurred.
The Top 30, so far:
- Bryson Stott
- Mick Abel
- Andrew Painter
- Logan O’Hoppe
- Johan Rojas
- Luis Garcia
- Matt Vierling
- Hans Crouse
- Yhoswar Garcia
- Erik Miller
- Ethan Wilson
- Griff McGarry
- Jhailyn Ortiz
- Simon Muzziotti
- Francisco Morales
- Mickey Moniak
- Jordan Viars
- Damon Jones
- James McArthur
- Lee Hao Yu
- Kendall Simmons
- Christian McGowan
https://www.philliesnation.com/2021/01/phillies-land-highly-touted-catching-prospect-among-numerous-international-signings/
Catcher factory
Perez is not a new signing. He was signed from last year’s international class and played in the DSL last summer and has been on the pole for some time now.
Thanks for the reply, Jim! Yes, sorry, I know he is not a brand new prospect in that he does already have a tiny record, and I know you had included him early on, but thought perhaps an article with a summation of his potential might suggest he get more immediate attention for this listing
Alexeis Azuaje for me. He’s a lot like Hao Yu Lee: nearly the same age, same size, both players are selective hitters (so far in their young careers), and each has some pop. Both J2 guys signed for similar bonuses. Azuaje also has plus speed.
I voted for Azuaje as well. Also considering Lindow (a bit underrated here), Billy Sullivan and Rikardo Perez.
Hinkie,
Not quite the same size. Azuaje is lean like most LA middle infielders at 5’10, 155. Lee Hao Yu almost looks chubby at 5’10, 190.
That’s not to say he’s fat or out of shape, but his different physique than other middle infielders was noticeable at the Complex.
Jim … I’ll defer to you on the players’ weight/physique. I know you have had first hand looks at each kid.
I’ve seen Azuaje’s listed weight (155 lbs), but from what I could determine through watching him on tape, I believed that number was ancient. In fact, the video I posted above was from when Azuaje was either 15 or 16 YO, and to me, he looks at least 10-15 pounds heavier even at that age. I guess it’s true when they, “the camera adds weight”.
Here’s more video of Alexeis Azuaje as a 16 YO. This is what I saw that made me think he looked much heavier than 155 lbs (even three years ago).
I voted for Bergolla because at this point it’s slim pickings. Also I know he was removed (rightly so) from a previous poll but I’m getting to a point where I’d like to vote for Jared Carr.
Carr was added back a couple days ago.
I added Carr back in Poll #22 without any fanfare.
Whoops missed his name there. Don’t think he would have been my choice this round either way.
Does Jean Cabrera , our minor league pitcher of the year, belong in the top 30?
That is for you readers to decide.
Prospects1500 posted their 50 top Phillies prospects yesterday. They annually break them down into tiers, 1 thru 5, Tier 1 being the elite talent of which the system is currently without.
Beginning with Tier 2, they have Johan Rojas as the organization’s #1 prospect, followed by (2) Mick Abel, (3) Bryson Stott and (4) Andrew Painter.
Tier 3 begins with (5) Logan O’Hoppe, followed by (6) Francisco Morales (!!), (7) Hans Crouse, (8) Jhailyn Ortiz, (9) Ethan Wilson, (10) Luis Garcia, (11) Matt Vierling, (12) Rafael Marchan (who legitimately should NOT be included in any prospect rankings at this stage of his development), (13) Bailey Falter and (14) Yhoswar Garcia.
Tiers 4 and 5 run from 15 on, with the hodge podge of familiar names to Phuture Phillies pholks.
Rojas #1, hmm interesting. That is surprising, but not totally. His ceiling would be that high or Tier 1.
Rojas had an interesting season, really exploding in a fairly SSS in high A ball and doing way better there than he had in low A earlier in the year – suggesting that, perhaps, he was breaking out. Also, I saw him in ST last year (TV game) and was blown away. It’s not typical for a super young player to shine as a potential star in a ST game, but he did. The talent is truly electric. It doesn’t take long to see he has tremendous physical tools.
In terms of raw tools, the players that remind me most of Rojas are Eric Davis and Alfonso Soriano. Skinny guys with incredibly speed and lightning fast bats. I’m not saying Rojas has that kind of potential, but he’s that style of player.
On Francisco Morales @ 6…. “very inconsistent…. stretches where he looked like an ace then other times he looked like he should be out of baseball. … ranked this high due to the tantalizing tools he possesses – a high-90’s fastball, a great slider, and solid change-up……. If he can get the walks under control, he can be a top-of-the-rotation starter…..needs to get the walks under control?
IMO….he could be the break out pitcher this season that could make his MLB debut in the 2nd half.
Mark,
I would say that Falter should NOT be included either.
Agree. Vierling doesn’t even seem right in that mix either.
Prospects1500 bills itself as “Your comprehensive dynasty fantasy baseball resource” so they may have different considerations for ranking than for real life baseball projections.
Yeah, seems like they accentuate the highest ceiling players, ie Rojas, Morales and Ortiz.
Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin ranked the Phillies top 41 prospects for Fangraphs last week: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/philadelphia-phillies-top-41-prospects-2022/.
Ottenbreit and Hao Yu Lee are in their top 15.
I think they underestimate a number of our players. If their FV score of 50 equates to an average Major Leaguer, they are underestimating what I believe the future holds for Stott, Abel, Painter and Rojas. I haven’t gone through all of their rankings, that was enough for me to form my own opinion that they are short on what we have for the future. I am not suggesting we have the best Farm in the league by any means, but I do think we have future Top 2 SPs and above average every day players in our system.
Yes, with rare exceptions, Fangraphs underplays guys. And, at a certain level, I get it. Most guys won’t come close to their ceiling, but they sometimes really undershoot a player’s ceiling resulting in some evaluations that look silly in retrospect (like the one for Juan Soto – 30 hit tool with a 55 ceiling, yeah, I don’t think so).
Fangraphs list of 41 includes just 2 Catchers.
Logan O’Hoppe and Donny Sands. Sands will be 26 in May and was part of a mostly minor league exchange with Yankees in November.
He does have Rik Perez in a “Honorable Mention” section and has a couple sentence write up on him
Ah, good point. Didn’t notice those notes at the bottom.