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2008 Draft: Second Pick Is Collier

With their second pick â€” in the sandwich round â€” the Phillies selected Zach Collier, a California prep outfielder.

Collier is 6’2″ and 185 pounds. He hits and throws left-handed. According to MiLB.com, Collier is a toolsy outfielder with much better pop and hitting capability than Hewitt. He seems to be about four years from making a Major League impact, but he projects as such and could’ve been a top-15 pick. He isn’t as fast as Hewitt but can develop into a nice baserunner. Good fielding and arm skills make him a projected center fielder.

So the Phils are definitely going the way of the Greg Golsons and Dom Browns. They sure love their high-tool players, athletic specimens with uncertain projectability. Collier was thought to be their first pick, so it’s actually a good pick. Taken in the context of getting Hewitt first, however, the pick isn’t that awesome. They now have two tools-heavy probable outfielders in their first two picks. No sure things, either.

There are plenty of picks left here for the Phils early in the draft. Hopefully they start taking players who aren’t big projects. But as of right now, the draft figures to be somewhere around a C+.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.