2022 Discussion in Preparation for the Amateur Draft – May 23, 2022

2022 Draft

This is the Phuture Phillies forum for the discussion of prospects eligible for the amateur draft that is scheduled to be held July 17-19, 2022.  You can place videos, scouting reports, or just comments here.  These discussions will be added to the pull-down menu above.

Feel free to discuss the 2022 international signing period, too.  It began on January 15th.

This space is for the discussion of prospects in the upcoming draft and international signing period.  This is NOT a place for you to complain about past picks/signings or the organization’s past/current draft and international philosophies.

31 thoughts on “2022 Discussion in Preparation for the Amateur Draft – May 23, 2022”

  1. Holy smokes, in 273 plate appearances, Kevin Parada has 26 strikeouts and 26 walks and . . . 26 home runs. Incredible to have as many homers as strikeouts.

    1. My son and I went to a Georgia Tech game about 2 weeks ago. Parada turned on an inside fastball that was clocked at 95 (if I recall), and fouled it into the 3rd base dugout. I turned to my son and said something like “gotta be patient with those 95 MPH pitches, keep the weight back”.

      He has one of the more interesting approaches, but it certainly seems to be working for him.

      The Hurricanes (whom GT was playing) had a sophomore that really looked like a player – Yohandy Morales. In BP, he hit a few no doubters to the opposite field. It was fun to watch. And, from the game that we watched, he hit the ball hard in the games as well..

  2. Hinkie’s Phillies Only Mock 2.0

    ROUND 1️⃣ Cam Collier … is one of the youngest kids up for grabs this yeart. The 6’2″/210 LHH 3Bman won’t turn 18 until Thanksgiving week. He’s taking the Bryce Harper route to the draft. The Georgia native was originally a prospect for the 2023 event, but he left HS a year early (got his GED), and enrolled in JUCO for the 2022 season. There’s a good chance Collier won’t make it to pick 1-17, but that’s not a lock. According to a recent BA report, “Collier has emerged as a divisive prospect among high-level decision-makers. Proponents are impressed with Collier’s performance as a 17-year-old excelling against junior college competition and see the potential for him to be a power-hitting third baseman with a plus-plus arm. Detractors are skeptical his swing will work against better competition and question his pitch recognition.”
    Young Cam has good bloodlines. His dad Lou played for the Phillies 18 years ago. Cam ended his JUCO campaign slashing .333/.419/.537. If he makes it thru the first 16 selections, he’s got the kind of ceiling Brian Barber and Dave Dombrowski hunt in the draft.

    ROUND 2️⃣ Nick Castellanos … was hit with the QO by the Reds which means DD forfeited the Phillies second pick when he signed the DH/COFer to that 5 year/100M contract. He’ll almost certainly give the Phils more than any 2nd round pick in this draft would.

    ROUND 3️⃣ Nazier Mule … is a very athletic two-way prep performer. The 6’3″/205 prospect from North Jersey plays SS and moonlights as a RHP. It’s his work on the mound that is going to get the kid picked early. The Miami commit throws in the upper 90s (with lots of life). He also features a big time SL. In the field, Mule is a solid defender at SS, and has a plus-plus arm from across the diamond. With the bat, Mule has plenty of power, but currently has way too much swing-and-miss in his game. The icing on his prospect cake is his age. Mule won’t turn 18 until the middle of October. Young guy. Super high ceiling. Like Cam Collier, Mule sounds a lot like a Brian Barber type of target.

    1. ROUND 4️⃣ Trey Faltine … is a great glove – faulty bat prospect. The 6’2″/200 SS @ Univ of Texas is one of the premier defenders on the dirt in college baseball. He’s very athletic, and has a strong arm. Offensively, the RHH has plenty of pull side power. The problem is he sells out for it, and he K’s way too much (29% K-rate in college). This season, he’s put up a .269/.392/.560 line. He’s launched 14 bombs, but he’s K’d 85 times (one of the most in the nation). Faltine was a standout prepster, and day three pick (BoSox) in 2019. He’d be a high risk/high reward science project for Preston Mattingly and the Phillies’ reconfigured development team.

      1. ROUND 5️⃣ Zach Maxwell … is an XL human being. The Georgia Tech RHP tips the scales at 6’6″/280. He’s got a little Griff McGarry (in college) to his profile: overpowering “stuff”, Ks a ton of batters, but also BBs a ton of batters. Like McGarry, Maxwell has been used as both a starter and reliever. The Yellow Jacket hurler packs two plus pitches. His FB usually sits upper 90s and has touched triple digits. When he finds the top of the zone, hitters usually are unable to get to it. The SL is a high spinning (~3000 RPM) late breaker. During three seasons at Georgia Tech, Maxwell has averaged 14.6 K/9, but has averaged 9.3 BB/9 (although he’s at 7.2 BB/9 this year). Brian Barber knows the hulking prospect well. He scouted him in HS before the NYYs used a 30th round pick on Maxwell in 2019.

        ROUND 6️⃣ Quinn Mathews … is a loose, athletic, and projectable LHP @ Stanford. The 6’4″/192 prospect features a 3 pitch mix: low 90s FB (T 94), SL & CH All three pitches are avg to a little abv, but they tunnel well. There’s also probably more to come as he fills out and gets stronger. Mathews has been good this season, posting 75.2 IP, 57 H, 24 BB, 91 K.

        1. ROUND 7️⃣ Jared Karros … is a 6’7″/205 RHP @ UCLA. He’s Eric’s son, and has been out with a back injury since the end of March 2021. When healthy, the 21 YO pitcher throws strikes (10.5 K/9 vs 1.5 BB/9 in college). He has a three pitch mix that he delivers from an over the top delivery: FB w/good downhill plane, CH, CB. He’s not the hardest thrower (89-91), but (like Quinn Mathews)there’s more to come as he fills out his extra tall frame.

          ROUND 8️⃣ Justin Janas … is a 6’3″/210 LHH 1Bman @ Illinois. The 21 YO owns a short, level swing that doesn’t produce a whole lot of power, but he owns extraordinary bat-to-ball skills, and is a wizard at reaching base (gets on nearly half the time he makes a plate appearance). Janas has been one of the BIG 10’s top hitters during his three seasons at Illinois. He owns a .360/.496/.497 career slash line. During that span, he has BB’d (41) more times than he’s K’d (40). He’s also got a knack for getting HBP (41 times since 2020, 23 times so far this year). To cap off his resume, Janas won last summer’s batting title in the Northwoods League with a .402 avg using a wood bat.

  3. ROUND 9️⃣ Brandon Neeck … is a former highly touted HS LHP from NY who has pitched well for the University of Virginia when he’s been healthy. The 6’1″/190 hurler dealt with some shoulder issues early in his career. He’s been more healthy lately. Neeck throws a low 90s FB (T 95), a sweeping SL, and an occasional CH. During the 2021 & 2022 seasons, he’s totaled 61.2 IP, 48 H, 27 BB, 91 K while working as both a starter and reliever. Watch him (beginning at the 1:40 mark) below in relief of former teammate (and current Phillie prospect) Griff McGarry in a postseason contest last year. During that game, Neeck tossed 5.2 innings, and recorded 16 Ks.

    ROUND 🔟 Johnathan Thomas … is a fun little 22 YO spark plug playing his first season for Texas Southern after three seasons at the Univ of Houston (where he barely got any PT). The 5’7″/175 RHH CFer has plus speed and surprising pop. He’s slashing .359/.446/.641. He’s hit 9 dingers, and leads the nation in SB’s (54 in 45 games). Last summer, the former HS football star was good with the wood when he registered a .320/.406/.467 line in the Prospect League. Thomas would be a solid, bonus saving, senior sign.

    1. BTW … anyone think Quinn Mathews looks a helluva lot like Cole Hamels on the mound? He does for me.

  4. Hinkie, you projected Cam Collier and I don’t have a problem with that. What I would like to know is what’s the difference from Cam and say, Cornelius Randolph? What does Cam have so that he won’t follow the path of Cornelius? They’re both Georgia prospects and Cornelius supposedly had the hit tool.

    1. Guru … it’s funny you asked that question because, for me, I see a whole lot of Cornelius Randolph in Termarr Johnson. Those two are similar in size, position (not great at any one), and home state.
      Collier is bigger and IMO, has his glove to fall back on. I also (fair or not) give kids a little more prospect stature when they come from a baseball family (or even have parents who played other sports professionally or collegiately … for instance Kumar Rocker’s dad Tracy played in the NFL).

      1. Also … when you look at Collier’s swing, he’s got more pull side power. Randolph had a swing more geared to go the other way.

        1. Hinkie…..Connor Prielipp.
          Not sure what scouts the Phillies had there, but he threw a BP session yesterday at a local high school in Tuscaloosa. FB sat in low 90s.
          If he is still sitting there at the Phillies selection…i would nab him.

          1. Romus … agreed. When I do these Phillies Only Mocks, I try not to repeat picks from earlier mocks. I’m probably saving Prielipp @ 1-17 for my final Phillies mock. I’ve mentioned before that Prielipp makes a whole lot of sense for the Phils. He’d be an excellent compliment to Abel & Painter. Love the fact that he’s LH and about the same age as the other two. He’d probably start 2023 with Painter at Jersey Shore, and get promoted to Reading with Abel later in the summer.

            I saw he was throwing more low 90s in his BP session yesterday. IMO, the Mets (with two 1st round picks) and the Padres (AJ Preller took Cal Quantrill coming off TJ & not having thrown in 2016) are the two teams most likely to select Prielipp ahead of the Phillies.

            .

            The Phillies look to most likely be positioned right in the middle of the arms section of round one. Could take any of Prielipp, Lesko, Porter, Snelling, Ferris, or Berreria. I saw Berreria on MLB TV today. I was impressed with the way he handled himself/what he had to say.

            1. Hinkie…I just cannot see Dave D going HS pitcher three years running. Though there does seem to be more HS pitchers with more upside than college guys in this draft

            2. My first two preferences would be.
              1. Connor Prielipp…if there, if not.
              2. Zags Gabriel Hughes

    1. Yeah, Romus. prep arms (between projection & injury rate) are the riskiest demographic in the draft. Only twice since the turn of this century has a club used it’s only first round pick on a HS pitcher three years in a row: Royals 2000-2002 and Dodgers 2006-2008.
      That said, apparently Dombrowski, Barber (and his scouting staff) seem to be at least contemplating drafting another prep arm. As a matter of fact, Jonathan Mayo said the Phillies “like” Brandon Barriera. Dylan Lesko (like Connor Prielipp) could have gone top 5 overall if not for TJ. The Phillies, under this FO, don’t seem to be too risk averse so I’m not ruling anything out.

      1. I’d certainly be on board with a HS arm….if it produces a Kershaw and/or Greinke.

    1. Really a bit quirky this year…only one pitcher in the top ten….and at number 10.
      I will like to see the latest on how KLaw, Fangraphs, along with BA come out.
      I always find KLaw’s with a few surprises.

    1. Shoulder soreness can be a caution flag.
      I am sure the new medical work-ups and data released to the teams,
      will be to his advantage come draft time.

      1. I watched him pitch some tonight. He’s good, but not 1-17 good IMO. The FB was real. The control not so much. I can think of (at least) a half dozen other pitchers I’d rather see Brian Barber take.

  8. Someone flying under the radar of this year’s draft is Jack Brannigan of Notre Dame. Long story short, scouts like him as a 3B prospect but love him as a pitching prospect. He has not pitched much this year, occasionally as a reliever, hence the relatively lower ranking to this point. I see him going somewhere in the 3rd-4th round of the draft, maybe higher if he’s willing to give up playing 3B immediately.

    His Phillies organization comp would be Griff McGarry and several scouts see Brannigan as a potential starter instead of reliever. The last time I saw him live he was consistently hitting 99 mph on the park’s radar, although I can’t vouch for the radar’s accuracy. But to lend some perspective to a prospect listed above, Tidwell has a 60 grade fastball and slider, while Brannigan has a 70 grade fastball and 60 grade slider (via MLB Pipeline).

    As a 3B, he’s the antithesis of Bohm – great glove but questionable bat projection. Link Jarrett (ND coach) claims he’s the best athlete on campus but I think a number of football players would dispute that. Regardless, he’s a very good athlete that can cover a lot of ground quickly. Per the link below, he’s stolen home three times at ND with this one being a little unconventional.

    He recently had an injury scare but an MRI was negative, so he’s currently playing in the ACC Tournament. Obviously, a successful NCAA Tournament and/or CWS appearance would only raise his profile. It will be interesting to see where he lands. Great kid.

    1. He would be an ideal pick for the Phillies in the 5th, if he is still on the board….they have had success in that round.
      But read he prefers third base and playing the field…….so, making consistent contact could be an obstacle, he will need to tighten that up.
      As a pitcher, however, he may get to the majors faster and remain there.
      https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/224773/

    2. Howard … That’s good stuff. He’s intriguing for sure. Looks like a real live arm. Love the arm slot & ASR on the FB. Seems like he’ll need some time to work on control and a third pitch if he’s to become a starter. Maybe as a full time pitcher, he’ll get that done. If not, he still has a shot as a back end reliever. Either way, I’d be excited for that arm talent.

      1. Scouts believe his changeup in time will be on par with his slider, he just hasn’t used it much to date. That’s why with a three-pitch mix he likely be given an opportunity to be a starter first. As a pitcher, he’s a raw piece of clay that clubs love because he’s not been overcoached and has a relatively fresh arm. Whomever drafts him won’t have to spend time deprogramming him of bad habits.

        It will require a healthy dose of patience and coaching him up because he’s been a 3B for such a long time but the talent is there. I don’t think he’s stubborn about playing 3B on the pro level. If the club that drafts him makes him understand the fastest path to the majors is by pitching then that’s what he’ll become.

        The reason I bring him to everyone’s attention is because he currently projects as a 3rd-4th rounder and fits the Phillies high ceiling profile. Had he pitched more at Notre Dame and was successful doing so then we would be having a much different conversation about which round he projects in.

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