A Look at the Phillies' Options with Their Number One Pick
UPDATE: We’ll be seeing Mickey real soon.
Andy MacPhail and Matt Klentak have been a Sam Hinkie level of tight-lipped about tonight’s MLB draft. The Phillies have the first overall pick for only the second time in team history (1998, Pat Burrell) and the new brain trust doesn’t want to screw this up. Most people have no idea what the Phillies are going to do around 7PM tonight, but that hasn’t kept draft experts from chiming in with who they think they’ll pick. It could be anybody, but the following six prospects’ names have come up the most. Here’s what you need to know about the Phillies’ potential top pick tonight:
Jason Groome, LHP, Barnegat HS (New Jersey)
Nationally, not many outlets have Groome listed as a potential top pick for the Phillies. Sports Illustrated has the “top prep pitching prospect in this class by a large margin” going to the Braves at number three. Baseball America has him falling all the way to #14, though they acknowledge any team above that could snatch him up. Both Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com have him going number eight to the Padres. He’s MLBPipeline’s top-rated prospect. Local media has been all over him for months because of the local angle, but why could he fall so low?
He had transfer issues after leaving NJ for Florida and then returning. He threw a 19-strikeout no-hitter that was vacated after he was handed a 30-day suspension for the transfer violation. And he recently switched his college commitment from Vanderbilt, where he’d be locked in if he decided to go to college instead of sign with his team, to Chipola College, a junior college baseball factory he could attend for one year and then re-enter the draft. Even with all of this, he’s still seen as a top prospect in the draft, with a 6’6″ frame and an above average fastball, curve, and changeup. Plus he’s young as hell. MLB.com mistakenly lists his birthday as mine, which would make him 27. In reality, I’m exactly ten years older than him. I hate that.
His MLB comp is some dude named Madison Bumgarner.
Mickey Moniak, OF, La Costa Canyon High (California)
Joel Sherman of the NY Post and MLB Network says he’s hearing that the Phils will go with Moniak, described by Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com as a “plus runner and outstanding defender in center field… flashing more power to go along with his advanced feel to hit.”
Moniak is mocked to the Phillies by Baseball America, Callis and Mayo from MLB.com, and Keith Law. Law cites saving money as the driving force here, saying “if the Phillies can save $1 million by taking the No. 2 player on their board and then apply that money to sign pick 42 to an overslot deal, they’ll do so. And they should — it’s exactly what the current CBA encourages teams to do.” Baseball America seconds that idea:
Scouts report club executive Pat Gillick was on hand for Moniank’s best game, a 5-for-5, eight-RBI, hit-for-the-cycle game among the several Moniak games he attended. Gillick, former manager Charlie Manuel and other Phils officials were at one of La Costa Canyon High’s practices as recently as last week. Now the question may be what it will take for Moniak to sign and what the Phillies can do with their other picks, as there has been talk they’ll try to float Rutherford to their second pick and sign him for essentially the same bonus as Moniak.
Callis says Moniak has a high ceiling, but more importantly a “higher floor as a surefire center fielder with as much pure hitting ability as anyone in this Draft.”
A.J. Puk, LHP, University of Florida
Puk (pictured) is finding himself mocked to the Phillies at number one more and more. Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports, and Bleacher Report are on the Puk Truck, and for good reason. The 6’7″ lefty has fastball that touches 96-97 MPH. He’s had issues with inconsistency and back problems, but he’s shown flashes of brilliance. In 14 starts through the SEC Tournament, Puk threw 90 Ks in 65 2/3 innings with opponents batting .188. Jonathan Mayo said Puk’s “stuff is undeniable, but the results have been head-scratchingly inconsistent.” A scout told ESPN he has a safe floor with a high ceiling, so he might be the sure-thing pick.
Kyle Lewis, OF, Mercer
Though MLB.com’s pair don’t mock him until the 6th pick, Lewis is projected as one of the top-two college outfielders in the draft. With a pro comp of Jason Heyward, Lewis has the potential to be a “serious home run threat,” likely as a corner outfielder. There’s a question about the quality of pitching he’s faced in a smaller conference, but those ever-popular anonymous scouts say he has the potential to be an All-Star, with a “higher ceiling than Moniak does, but there’s more risk there.” He’ll be 21 next month, so he’s one of the older prospects the Phillies are considering.
Corey Ray, OF, Lousiville
22 in September, Ray is definitely on the older side. He’s seen as a potential center fielder in the majors as a “plus runner with solid-average arm strength… with the ability to hit at the top of an order while playing a premium position.” Though SI’s Christopher Crawford mocks him at #5, he’s the top hitter on Crawford’s board. MLB.com’s Joe Trezza said Ray “would have been an NCAA fantasy star, if such a thing existed. No college player could match his combination of 39 steals and 15 homers entering the NCAA Division I playoffs.” Ray and Lewis are considered the top two college bats in the draft, so if the Phils choose hitting over pitching, either could be their selection.
Blake Rutherford, OF, Chaminade College Prep (California)
Mentioned above as a possible target for the Phillies’ second-pick, #42 overall, MLB.com ranks Rutherford as the #8 overall prospect. At 19, he’s older than most high school prospects, but he’s being praised for his “athleticism and all-fields swing.” MLB.com’s scouting report says Rutherford has the chance to be “an above-average hitter with above-average raw power… Rutherford is a solid defender in the outfield, though most feel he’ll move to right field in the future. The good news is his bat should profile just fine if that move does happen.” His HS coach compared his maturity and level of readiness to Bryce Harper and Mike Trout, someone who could come into the majors at a young age and contribute right away.