Several Young Phils Plucked in Rule 5 Draft

The 2011 Baseball Winter Meetings are underway in Dallas and while the greatest amount of buzz has surrounded some major free agents like Albert Pujols and Jimmy Rollins, there's a minor portion of the annual event that has drawn some interest as well. The Rule 5 draft took place on Thursday and resulted in relocation for a group of selected prospects.

Players are eligible for selection in the Rule 5 draft when they are not on their major league organization's 40 man roster and 1) were signed to a contract at age 19 or older and have been in that organization for 4 yrs, OR 2) were signed at age 18 or younger and have been in that organization for 5 years.

Rumors out of the meetings on Wednesday night had Phillies minor league outfielder Jiwan James (pictured) on multiple teams' lists of talented young players who fit that bill.

James, a 22-year-old Florida native, is a converted pitcher who was ranked as the Phillies' tenth best prospect in a survey of a dozen minor league experts conducted by The Reading Eagle this year. He was originally drafted by Philadelphia in the 22nd round of the 2007 amateur draft.

This past season, with the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers, James sported a .268 batting average with 4 homeruns, 38 RBI, 76 runs and 31 stolen bases in 130 games. James hits quite a bit better from his natural side, the left side, than he does on the other side of the plate (.279/.340/.382 hitting lefty, .240/.293/.315 hitting righty).

However, it was not the man that Phillies fans call “The Real King James” who was on the move. Instead, it was right-handed pitcher Lendy Castillo, a 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic, who pitched with Class A Lakewood in 2011. With the BlueClaws, Castillo made 21 appearances, 19 as a reliever, posting a 4-2 record with a 2.54 ERA, a .220 batting average against and 46 strike outs in 46 innings pitched.

In his Class A debut in June, Castillo’s fastball velocity ranged from 91-92 MPH, but by mid-August, after working closely with Lakewood pitching coach Steve Schrenk, Castillo’s fastball steadily reached 94-95 MPH.

The 6’1” 170-pounder certainly has some solid upside, but he’s not the sort of fast track prospect who will be ready for the big leagues within the next year. Castillo was signed by the Phillies in December 2006 at age 17.

In the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft, third baseman Travis “Moose” Mattair was taken by Cincinnati. Mattair is a former 2nd round draft pick by the Phillies in 2007 that regular readers of PhoulBallz.com and PhilliesNation.com will be familiar with due to his regular player diary series titled Moose Tracks. The Washington state native, who will turn 23-years-old later this month, split time in 2011 between Class A Lakewood and Class A Advanced Clearwater, after taking 2010 off in order to dabble in college basketball.

In addition, the Pirates selected Venezuelan catcher Francisco Diaz, who played for the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters in 2011 and lefty pitcher Andy Loomis was taken by the Orioles, in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. Loomis posted a 1.14 ERA in 28 games with Class A Advanced Clearwater.

Individuals selected in the big league portion of the Rule 5 draft must be on the 25-man Major League roster of the team that selects them throughout the entire next season, or be offered back to the team they came from.

The Phillies were inactive and made no selections in all portions of this year’s Rule 5 draft.
_______________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE

2019 Phillies Prospects Countdown: #7 LHP JoJo Romero

JoJo Romero, image- Jay Floyd With a growing crop of very talented pitching prospects in the Phillies organization, left-hander JoJo Romero is certainly among the standouts. The five-foot-11 200-pounder was the Phils’ 4th round draft selection in 2016. That year he helped Yavapai College, the same school that the Phillies drafted Kenny Giles from in 2011, clinch the JuCo World Series, leading the way with an 11-5 record, a 3.64 ERA and a 10.2 K/9 mark. He also tossed a complete game gem to earn the win in their title game. After signing with the Phillies, Romero made his professional debut as a member of the short-season Class A Williamsport Crosscutters. There, he notched a 2-2 record with a 2.56 ERA while striking out 31 and walking 11 in 45 2/3 innings. In 2017, he got off to a terrific start with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. In 13 starts, Romero tallied a 5-1 record with a 2.11 ERA and a 9.3 K/9 mark and was honored as a South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star. R

McGwire Stays Phony, Despite Admitting Drug Use

Mark McGwire made an effort to publicly come clean today, admitting to the world that he took performance enhancing drugs during his playing career. Steroids and human growth hormones were among the drugs that McGwire admitted to using. MLB Network featured a one on one interview with Bob Costas and McGwire on Monday evening. The broadcast was virtually garbage, thanks to McGwire. Ahead is a list of quotes from McGwire's interview. McGwire repeatedly stated his point of view that there were no dishonorable intentions involved when taking steroids, and that he was merely using them as a means to recover from varying ailments. When asked if he felt like he cheated... "As I look back now...I can see how people would say that. As far as the talent goes and the hand-eye coordination, the ability, the genetics I was given...I don't see it." "I did not take this for any strength purposes." Denial. Read on for similar B.S. He whined about the abuse he'

Diekman a Late Addition to Mesa AFL Roster

On Wednesday, Phillies lefty pitching prospect Jacob Diekman made his Arizona Fall League debut. Diekman, who was drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft, was assigned to Mesa late, in order to increase his 2010 innings total, according to Mesa hitting coach Mark Parent, who managed Diekman in Lakewood this past season. Diekman, 23, posted a 2-0 record with 1.90 ERA in 21 games with Class A Lakewood before being promoted to High-A Clearwater on June 24th. In 24 games with the Threshers, Diekman went 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Combined, Diekman tossed 55 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .187 batting average against at two levels in 2010. However, after not pitching in an official game since he threw a shutout inning to wrap up the Clearwater season on September 5th, Diekman was unable to record an out as all seven batters he faced reached base, six with hits, one on an error. Diekman was charged with 5 earned runs in the outing. Diekman had spent time at instructional ball f

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog