The Detroit Tigers will attempt to convert former Philadelphia Phillies top-10 prospect, outfielder Anthony Gose, to pitcher, according to Chris McCosky of The Detroit News.
McCosky writes:
Gose, who throws left-handed, was clocked by scouts in high school at 97 mph. Scouts and college recruiters both tried to convince him to pitch. He told them he wanted to play outfield first and use pitching as a fallback. …
Nine years later, and after a season where his strikeout rate jumped over 30 percent and he was demoted twice down to Double-A, he’s going to tests his fallback option.
Gose, 26, was drafted in the second round of the 2008 amateur draft out of Bellflower High School in California. The Phillies received the pick from the San Francisco Giants as compensation for signing free agent Aaron Rowand. Ryan Lawrence described Gose in 2008 as having "an electric fastball in the 95-98 mph range," leaving scouts to believe he could become a Major League pitcher.
From 2008-2010, Gose appeared in 245 games within the Phillies' minor-league system with the Gulf Coast League Phillies, Lakewood BlueClaws and Clearwater Threshers. He combined to hit .261 with 43 doubles, 21 triples, six home runs and 76 RBIs with 115 stolen bases. Gose was the No. 6-ranked Phillies prospect by Baseball America, entering the 2010 season.
Before finishing his third professional season, however, Gose was traded to the Houston Astros on July 29, 2010 at the age of 19, along with LHP J.A. Happ and infielder prospect Jonathan Villar, in exchange for three-time All-Star RHP Roy Oswalt. That same day, Gose was flipped to the Toronto Blue Jays for infielder Brett Wallace. After three seasons with Toronto, Gose was dealt for the third time of his career to the Detroit Tigers on Nov. 13, 2014 for second baseman Devon Travis.
Gose is a .240/.309/.348 career hitter with 78 extra-base hits in 372 games.
