Phillies Nation

Powerful Dominican third baseman Maikel Franco has shown great progress during his time as a pro.  A highly touted player, Franco is an individual that Phils fans should be getting excited about as he climbs the developmental ladder.

Signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies in 2010 at the age of 17, Franco would make his professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Phillies that same year.  He posted respectable numbers for his age, with a line of.222/.292/.330 in 51 games.

A year later, the righty hitting Franco began the season in extended spring training and later competed with the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters.  Franco looked great against New York-Penn League competition, posting two home runs, 28 RBI and a .274/.339/.389 line in 42 games before earning a promotion to Class A Lakewood.

In the South Atlantic League, at the age of 18, the baby-faced Franco struggled quite a bit. In 17 contests for the BlueClaws, Franco went 8-for-67 (.123 avg) and racked up an awful .349 OPS. The Phillies realized Franco was over-matched and that he was growing discouraged, so he was re-assigned back to Williamsport, where he finished the season by batting .333 with seven extra-base hits and 10 RBI over his final 13 games with the Crosscutters. Continue reading Prospect Nation 2013: #4 3B Maikel Franco

From the “Lost Tapes” files, I bring you a never-before-released interview with 2012 Phillies draft pick Zach Cooper.  The righty hurler was in the midst of an excellent campaign during his first season in the pro ranks, after the Phils selected him in the 15th round out of Central Michigan University, when I spoke with him in August.

Cooper, who turned 23-years-old this off-season, is aggressive on the mound, as he attacks the strike zone and goes after opposing batters.

As a senior last year with the Chippewas, the 5-foot-10-inch 185-pound Cooper went 7-5 with a 2.82 ERA and was honored with an all-conference nod.

After debuting as a pro, combined at two levels, with the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters and the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, Cooper posted a 2-3 record with six saves and a 1.30 ERA while holding batters to a .183 batting average in 23 appearances.

Read ahead to check out my full interview with Zach, as he talks about transitioning from college ball to the minors, being selected by the Phillies and plenty more.

- Zach you’re off to a hot start to your pro career.  I just wanted to get some thoughts from you on your early success here.

You know, it’s been something that I kind of just turned in from college.  Just tried to get into a groove and I’ve been able to.  And I’ve had some outstanding plays behind me and stuff like that and great games called by the catcher, so it’s kind of been me, but a team thing too. Continue reading PN Interview: 2012 Draft Pick Cooper Talks Pro Transition

Keith Law must have been really, really busy over the last few days.

Law released his Top 10s by organization today. The Phillies list produced mostly familiar names but there were a few surprises for the organization he ranked 27th in MLB. More surprisingly, while Law has a poor outlook for the Phillies in 2013, he believes the Phillies could rocket into the Top 20 very easily with big years from any of their high potential players.

Valuing Future v. Current Value

Other lists like Baseball America and Minor League Ball‘s placed seemed to more evenly distribute future value versus immediate value. Other than Adam Morgan, who Law believes can contribute to the Phillies in 2013 and ranks number one, and Jonathan Pettibone, ranks seventh, Law’s list features of a lot of the Phillies lottery-ticket type players in low levels who have high potential.

Shortstop Roman Quinn, 19, who Law identifies as a big-time sleeper, is found at number three, while third baseman Maikel Franco, 20, is ranked fourth. Law believes the Phillies system can move fast, well into the top 20 should Quinn, Franco, and pitchers Kenny Giles, 22, ranked ninth, and Shane Watson, 19, a narrow miss, make large jumps in 2013.

Law gives a very positive outlook for 2015+ in terms of bringing talent to the Major Leagues but does note that the missing prospect links leave 2013 and 2014 sparse with MLB-ready talent.

Position Player Concerns

Law notes that other than third baseman Cody Asche, 22, who he has at eighth with an MLB ETA of 2015, the Phillies are rather top-heavy with pitching. He says Darin Ruf, unranked, can be a useful bench bat but does not feel translates into an every day player.

Greene = Found

Law was the only prospector to rank Larry Greene in his top 10. Greene, ranked exactly tenth, does not have text related to him in the list.

Widely recognized as the Phillies’ top prospect, lefty hurler Jesse Biddle can’t wait to get his 2013 season going.

In attendance for the Phillies winter charity banquet at Lakewood’s Woodlake Country Club last week, Biddle looked forward to the event for weeks, as he feels rubbing elbows with Phils brass like assistant general manager Benny Looper, director of player development Joe Jordan, and manager Charlie Manuel, as well as seeing the fans, kicks things into baseball mode after a lengthy stretch of winter weather all throughout his home region in western Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

“I love coming back for events like this,” Biddle said with a smile. “This is my Lakewood family. Being around the whole environment here, everybody is just so excited to be talking baseball again right now. It’s January, so there’s not a lot of baseball stories right now and to be able to come to something like this, it just gets me ready for the season.”

Following a strong campaign with Class A Advanced Clearwater in which Biddle sported a 10-6 record, a 3.22 ERA and a 9.53 K/9 mark, the 21-year-old is expected to take a step upward and pitch for Double-A Reading in 2013. Biddle made sure to increase the intensity of his routine this off-season, as he is aware the competition will only get tougher as he ascends up the developmental ladder. Continue reading Top Prospect Biddle Looking Forward to Season with Reading

Kelly Dugan was the Phillies’ top draft pick (2nd round, 75th overall) back in 2009.  Since then, it’s been a bit of a slow progression in the pro ranks, but after a solid season with Class A Lakewood in 2012, the California native has shown that he is ready to make an impact in the organization.

Much hype surrounded Kelly upon being drafted to the Phillies, as an image of him on the set of his director father Dennis Dugan’s film Grown Ups, with many of Hollywood’s comedy elite, made the rounds.  Through his career, though, Dugan has dealt with a collection of injury concerns that have prevented the 6-foot-3-inch 195-pounder from fully establishing himself as a potential rising star.

After signing his first professional contract, Dugan, who was working on being a switch-hitter at the time, debuted with the Gulf Coast League Phillies, posting a .233 average with eight doubles, a triple and eight RBI in 45 games.   The following year, with the GCL team and short-season Class A Williamsport, Dugan batted .366 with a homer and eight RBI in 28 combined games.  He missed roughly two months of action that year after he was hit in the leg with a batted ball during batting practice in June and later developed a staph infection that required draining.

Dugan returned to Williamsport in 2011 and represented the club in the New York-Penn League All-Star Game.  With the Crosscutters, in 47 games, he sported a .284 batting average along with two home runs and 21 RBI.

Last season with Lakewood, Dugan displayed improved power and steady production, as he notched a .300 batting average, 12 homers and 60 RBI in 117 games.  Additionally, his OPS, at .857, was
.127 points higher than his mark from the previous season.
Continue reading Prospect Nation 2013: #21 OF Kelly Dugan

This week, at the Phillies’ winter charity banquet in Lakewood, NJ, I had the opportunity to speak with Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan about many matters related to the Phillies developmental system. Included in the topics of discussion were the depth at the catcher position, the team’s plans for some of their youngest prospects and two former top draft picks among other things.

Prior to joining the Phils last off-season, the former pro catcher held the position of director of scouting with the Baltimore Orioles.  The University of Oklahoma product also previously worked in scouting with the Expos and Marlins.

Read ahead for that full interview.

- Looking back on last year, it seems the system underwent a bit of a refined approach since you were hired, with several players from the 2012 draft class quickly made their debuts with Class A full season Lakewood.  In previous seasons that was rather rare.  Can you speak on that a bit?

Well, I don’t know, as far as the change of approach.  But, the thing that I really tried to do last year, when I came over, was I tried to involve as many people as I could in our decision making process.  I did not make those decisions by myself.  I really leaned on Benny Looper, our assistant GM, who has done my job before and he is my boss.  But, I also leaned heavily on the managers and the rovers that see the players, really, more than I do, that knew the players.  And I think there were some instances where maybe we were being more aggressive, maybe, than the past.  But really, it was a group decision and most of them I think were good decisions.  I think a couple of them maybe the player wasn’t quite as ready as we thought, but, you know, I don’t really believe in pushing guys, but I believe in keeping them challenged and that’s what we tried to do.

- The Phillies currently have considerable catching depth in their developmental ranks.  Is that a nice luxury to have?

It is and it’s very unusual and we’re very fortunate, as an organization.  It’s a hard, hard position to find and we feel good.  We really feel good.  Obviously, we have a fine catcher in the Major Leagues, an All-Star catcher.  But, you know, when you look at Double-A and Triple-A, behind that, we’ve got Steven Lerud, who did a good job for our Major League team, when he went up last year.  And he’s a very good defensive catcher, but prospect wise, when you look at (Sebastian) Valle and (Cameron) Rupp and Tommy Joseph, obviously, you know, those guys have gotten a lot of attention and it’s warranted, because they’re, I think…they have talent, but it’s a competitive situation and that’s gonna help all of them, because they’re gonna have to come to camp ready to go and ready to perform.  We like that, down low we’ve got some guys that we like as well.
Continue reading PN Interview: Joe Jordan Talks Young Prospects, Catching Depth & More

Less than two years after he was drafted by the Phillies in the 4th round, infielder Adam Buschini was stunned to learn that the team he had hoped to grow with and help win games for had given up on him. Buschini played through a serious injury during his junior season in college and into his pro career, hoping his own toughness would result in success for his teams, but sometimes such fortitude can prove thankless and it did for this heard-nosed ballplayer.

As the California Polytech State University baseball team reached the Tempe Regional tournament for the first time in 2009, Buschini, who starred as the Mustangs’ offensive leader, refused to succumb to a broken hand suffered on a hit by pitch. That year, he led the Mustangs in batting average (.422), home runs (11), RBI (61) and several other categories. With high hopes of leading his team to post-season glory, Buschini stuck it out, but Cal Poly fell to Kent State and Buschini’s college career was complete.

Quickly, the gritty competitor’s career went from a collegiate calamity to minor league motive, as the righty hitter signed his first professional contract and debuted with the short-season Class A Williamsport Crosscutters. A rough initial stretch in the pro ranks saw Buschini post a .228 batting average with two homers and 15 RBI through 52 games for the ‘Cutters.  Buschini would participate in the Florida Instructional League that year as well.

The following year, the 6-foot-2-inch 210-pounder was a key contributor for the Class A BlueClaws in the early going, but his hand injury worsened. Over time, Buschini lost cartilage in the injured area, making it painfully difficult to throw, lift weights and especially to hit a pitched ball with authority. Again, though, Buschini found himself on a club that was in the hunt for a post-season berth and felt responsibility to play through the discomfort in order to help his teammates.

“Our Lakewood team of 2010 was in the hunt for first place in the first half. Our manager Mark Parent…wanted me to stick it out and play because we didn’t have any other third baseman,” Buschini explained during a recent interview. Continue reading Buschini Building Success After Phils Failed Him

We’re just under a month until pitchers and catcher are due to report to Clearwater for spring training. That means it’s time to kick off our annual countdown of the top 25 prospects in the Phillies organization. Gradually, in the coming weeks, leading to the kickoff of the 2013 regular season, I will be unveiling player reviews for each of the top developmental talent that you, as Phillies fans, should be familiar with.

Taken into consideration when reviewing these young talents will be age, minor league performance relative to levels played, value to the organization as well as future potential.

These rankings will not include players over 25-years-old or individuals that have spents lengthy and multiple stretches in the big leagues. Thus, players such as Austin Hyatt, Darin Ruf, Justin De Fratus, Phillippe Aumont and Jake Diekman will not appear on this year’s list.

Some very talented youngsters did not make the cut simply because other individuals ranked higher. Included in the group that fell short of making this year’s top 25 list are outfielders Leandro Castro and Jiwan James as well as righty pitchers Colby Shreve, David Buchanan and Gabriel Arias.

Additionally, 2012 draft picks Mitch Gueller and Dylan Cozens weren’t far off the list either and, with their exceptional talents that earned them each a considerable signing bonus from the Phillies, could very well find themselves on this list next year. Continue reading Prospect Nation 2013: The Prelude

Franco's placement at two by BP is a little surprising but well deserved. Photo by: Jay Floyd

Baseball Prospectus released their Top 10 Phillies prospects list today. Like Baseball America and Minor League Ball before them, which we covered here and here, BP named lefty Jesse Biddle the Phillies Top Prospect for 2013. BP says Biddle is a legitimate Top 100 prospect in baseball. After Biddle, however, there are quite a few surprises.

Strong Placing for Franco

Maikel Franco, eighth on BA’s list and ninth on Minor LB’s list, ranks in at an aggressive second on BP’s list. Franco enters his age 20 season coming off of a .280/.336/.439 year with 14 HRs for Lakewood and projects to start the year in Clearwater. A hot start could have Franco manning the hot corner for Reading. Franco’s positioning is surprising considering he is five places above the presumed 2014 starter at third base, Cody Asche.

You’ll Not’ve Seen Nothing Like the Mighty Quinn

Pardon my Bob Dylan/Manfred Mann reference, but Roman Quinn is developing quite the reputation. Quinn ranks fourth by BP after second and third place finishes in the other projections.

Morgan and Martin Ranked High Again

Adam Morgan continues to gain attention after his age 22 season that saw surprising success in Reading. Morgan will compete for the IronPigs’ rotation and probably is not that far away from reaching the Phillies. BP liked him just about as much as the other prospectors, placing him at #3 compared to #2 and #5 finishes on the other lists. His possible future rotation-mate Ethan Martin comes in sixth on BP’s list, compared to third and eighth place finishes on the other lists.

Continue reading Baseball Prospectus Offers Unique Phillies Top 10

Last season the Phillies selected catcher Josh Ludy as a senior out of Baylor University in the 8th round of the MLB amateur draft.  The 22-year-old righty hitter had a solid debut as a pro.  Serving mainly as a backup, the Indiana native sported a .271 batting average along with 11 doubles, one triple, a homer and 12 RBI in 32 games for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. Following the regular season, Ludy was among a group of prospects selected to spend an extra month in the Florida Instructional League.

This week, I spoke with Josh to get his thoughts on his transition from college to the pro’s, time spent at instructs, his off-season training regimen and plenty more.  Read ahead to check out the full interview.

- You performed well last season with Lakewood after signing your first professional contract.  How would you assess your first go of it in the professional ranks and was the adjustment from college to the minors what you expected?

I feel the first year for me went well. Obviously, there are a lot of things I would have liked to have improved on, but it’s all part of the process. I think one of the biggest adjustments for me was having to get familiar with an entirely different staff of pitchers. Coming from college, where you spend four years with some guys, or, at the least, have a full year to get to know guys, to maybe catching someone one time and they move on, or having a new guy come in towards the end of the season. It took a little while to get comfortable in learning everyone, but towards the end of the year I felt pretty good about it. As far as hitting, it was definitely an adjustment moving to the wood bat again. Where the weight is in the bats, and the smaller sweet spot took some getting used to, but the more time spent with it, the more natural it felt.

- What was the experience of playing in the instructional league like and how is it beneficial to players?  Also, is it a big plus to be able to play there and make an impression on more coaches and front office folks from the organization?

I had a great time at instructs. Getting to do individual work with the coordinators on a daily basis was a great experience. We have a great group of coaches and instructors that are there to make us better and have a lot of insight and wisdom to pass down. Every day was an opportunity to be able to show the organization what you can do. Continue reading Off-season Q&A: Ludy Has Sights Set on Sophomore Success