Baseball Prospectus' list of top Phillies prospects was released this morning as the publication updates their list of the top prospects in each system.
Surprising nobody, J.P. Crawford takes the number one slot as one of the most promising prospects in the game. "The glove and approach should make him a good regular for the next decade", the staff writes of the 20 year old shortstop who believe even greater things come if he offensively hits his ceiling. They predict he'll debut in 2017 but it's not far fetched to think we may see him sometime in the coming season should the need arise or he plays himself to the next level.
Jake Thompson is the top pitcher in the system in their view and it's hard to argue with that. After being dealt to the Phillies from the Rangers in the Cole Hamels trade, Thompson dominated in seven starts for Reading going 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA. Prospectus projects him as a mid-rotation starter but with command, he could find himself in the next tier.
The complete top ten is as follows:
1. SS J.P. Crawford
2. OF Nick Williams
3. RHP Jake Thompson
4. RHP Franklyn Kilome
5. OF Roman Quinn
6. OF Cornelius Randolph
7. RHP Mark Appel
8. C Jorge Alfaro
9. C Andrew Knapp
10. RHP Ben Lively
The most important thing that stands out is how loaded the Phillies became with prospects over the course of the past year. Take a look at Prospectus' top 10 from last November. This is before the Jimmy Rollins trade which landed Zach Eflin and Tom Windle. They were both instantly on many top ten lists and while they argue that Lively and Eflin are basically tied for tenth further down in the article, Eflin missed the cut here. Nearly half this list wasn't here in July so it speaks very highly of the front office that they landed the pieces they did.
This is the first of many. Fangraphs, Baseball America, Keith Law, etc…will release their lists as spring grows nearer and we'll soon see where these prospects are in the big picture of baseball as a whole. It's an exciting time for the Phillies because they have a list that is loaded with promise and as the next season or two plays out we should hopefully get to see a bunch of these players graduate off this list and into the major leagues.
