The Phillies had a strange Day 3 of the draft, starting it off with 18 straight college players, despite having freed up money on day 2.  They did rebound with a lot of HS guys late, so we will see how it all filters out on signing day.  With 30 picks there is no way to give them all full attention, but here are some highlights.

Drew Stankiewicz – A bloodlines guy.  Drew is a left handed hitting SS who likely moves to 2B in pro-ball.  It is a long road to climb, but second baseman who can hit have a chance to stick around and surprise later.  Solid pick.

Austin Davis – I love this pick, but I have a thing for lefties with changeups.  Davis has been up to 94 with the fastball and the changeup is solid, he also lacks the heavy workload of other college juniors.  Right now he has to find a consistent arm slot and a breaking ball.  This pick my take a bit, but there is upside here. Continue reading Draft Day 3 Recap →

There are 30 picks to be made today, some will be overslot and at slot ($100,000) HS players, some will be guys who will never sign, and then there will be college players picked for their ability to fill a need on an organizational roster.  We will keep it updated when we have a chance.

A quick note from Brad – We have our first signing reported by the player on Twitter – It’s 10th Rounder Matt Shortall. No bonus info yet, but bet on saving a $100K plus on that one. Anyway, I’ll be working to get the draft tracker up after we have all 40 picks.

Also Sam McWilliams has signed – Matt

Round 11 – Drew Stankiewicz, SS, Arizona St (JR)
Round 12 – Austin Davis, LHP, Cal State Bakersfield (JR)
Round 13 – Nathan Thornhill, RHP, Texas (SR)
Round 14 – Chase Harris, OF, New Mexico (SR)
Round 15 – Jared Fisher, RHP, Washington (JR)
Round 16 – Calvin Rayburn, RHP, Barry University (SR)
Round 17 – Damek Tomscha, 3B, Auburn (SR)
Round 18 – Sean McHugh, C, Purdue (SR)
Round 19 – Joey Denato, LHP, Indiana (SR)
Round 20 – Derek Campbell, 2B, California (SR)
Round 21 – Tim Zier, 2B, San Diego State (SR)
Round 22 – Ryan Powers, RHP, Miami (OH) (JR)
Round 23 – Joel Fisher, C, Michigan St. (SR)
Round 24 – Preston Packrall, RHP, University of Tampa (SR)
Round 25 – Bryan Sova, RHP, Creighton (SR)
Round 26 – Jacques De Gruy, RHP, Furman (SR)
Round 27 – Scott Harris, LHP, Buena Vista University (JR)
Round 28 – Tanner Kiest, RHP, Chaffey College (J2)
Round 29 – Al Molina, SS, Red Bank Catholic HS (NJ)
Round 30 – Brandon Murray, RHP, Hubert HS (IN)
Round 31 – Shane Gonzales, RHP, Fullerton (Calif.) JC (CA)
Round 32 – Tom Flacco, OF, Eastern HS, Voorhees Township (NJ)
Round 33 – James Harrington, RHP, Mesquite HS, Gilbert (AZ)
Round 34 – Scott Tomassetti, C, Sierra Vista HS, Las Vegas (NV)
Round 35 – Thomas Gamble, OF, Moorestown HS (NJ)
Round 36 – Blake Wiggins, C, Pulaski Academy, Little Rock (AR)
Round 37 – Heath Rogalla, RHP, Oak Park and River HS (IL)
Round 38 – Kollin Schrenk, RHP, Kell HS, Charlotte (NC)
Round 39 – Keenan Eaton, OF, Chaparrell HS (CO)
Round 40 – Jesse Berardi, SS, Commack HS (NY)

There really isn’t a good time to evaluate a draft class, so I am not going to call this win or a loss for the Phillies, and with 30 more picks to go there still could be some surprises.  With that, I will say I like it because they stuck to a board so far and aren’t being fancy, taking guys who fall without putting their whole draft on one player.  I am not reading too much into the amount of college players, and it is impossible to know whether they targeted college players or it just fell that way without seeing their draft board.

Aaron Brown – The Phillies are sticking him in the OF for now (he could end up a reliever if that fails), and he probably starts in CF, though RF is likely the long term position given his arm strength.  Brown is still pretty raw as a hitter, with an approach that struggles against off speed pitches, but big time power.  The Phillies will likely bring him along slow, but he has more upside than most 3rd round college hitters.

Continue reading Draft Reaction Rounds 3-10 →

The drat kicks off today at 12:35 ET.  The Phillies will have 8 picks, they will likely take a mix of players, and that mix of players will determine where they go underslot, or if they stick to their board.   We will keep this post updated with picks as they come in.

Round 3 – Aaron Brown, OF, Pepperdine University

Round 4 – Chris Oliver, RHP, Arkansas

Round 5 – Rhys Hoskins, 1B, Sacramento State

Round 6 – Brandon Leibrandt, LHP, Florida State

Round 7 – Emmanuel Marrero, SS, Alabama St

Round 8 – Sam Mc Williams, RHP, Beech HS (TN)

Round 9 – Matt Hockenberry, RHP, Temple (Senior)

Round 10 – Matt Shortall, OF, Texas-Arlington (Senior)

After starting their draft with a polished college pitcher, the Phillies continued with another college pitcher with good fastball command in Matt Imhof from Cal Poly.  Imhof leads the NCAA in strikeouts thanks to a low 90s fastball that he can get good movement on.  The secondary stuff needs a lot of work for him to stay in the rotation.  He is young enough with enough size that the stuff FB could tick a bit up.  He is more a #3/#4 starter if it all works out, but likely on the low side without a major jump in stuff.

He is a bit of a reach at #47, but if the Phillies could save a little bit of money here to spend later, he is a good value.

The Phillies didn’t buck the mock drafts and took LSU RHP Aaron Nola with the #7 pick.  I am not a huge fan of the pick, but do not confuse that with Nola being a bad pick.  Most experts thought that #7 was the lowest that Nola would fall, and that he would return value equal to that level of pick.

Nola does not have a prototype  starting pitcher build at 6’1″ 170 lbs and the delivery is very low for a RHP.  Nola’s calling card is plus control and a good feel for pitching.  Don’t confuse this with a lack of stuff, as Nola can get the fastball up to 96, though he is more 92-95.  The changeup is a current plus pitch, and there could be more given his feel for pitching.  The slider is still a work in progress, and given his low slow will likely be a pitch that sees heavy platoon splits. Continue reading The Phillies Select Aaron Nola with the 7th Overall Pick →

The draft is here.  The Phillies pick at #7 and #47 tonight.  The team here will update this post as the night goes on, but let the fun begin.

MLB.com Live Draft Stream

Phillies select LSU RHP Aaron Nola with the #7 overall pick

Phillies select Cal Poly LHP Matt Imhof with the #47 overall pick