Skip to main content

Phillies take two on night 1 of draft

On the opening day of the 2012 MLB amateur draft, the Phillies had two picks and used them in a familiar manner.  With their selections, the team stuck to their usual style and chose a pair of high school players.  With the 40th overall pick in the draft, the Phillies chose Shane Watson out of Lakewood High School in California.  Additionally, the Phils took Mitch Gueller with the 54th overall selection out of William F. West High School in Washington state.

Watson and Gueller, both right-handed hurlers, are committed to play college ball...Watson at the University of Southern California and Gueller at Washington State University.

Watson's pitch repertoire features a fastball that is steadily clocked at 93 MPH and climbs into the mid-90's at times, a great curveball as well as a cutter and a change up.  Watson stands 6'4" and weighs around 200 pounds.

As a pitcher this season, Gueller posted a 6-0 record with 2 saves and a 0.80 ERA.  Reports also state that Gueller surrendered just 12 hits all season while striking 70 batters. The 6-foot-3-inch 215-pounder is armed with a fastball that generally gets clocked in the low-90's, with a good curveball and change up that offers a variance of 10 MPH or more.

At the plate, Gueller, who also played outfield in high school, drew some attention as well.  He sported a .323 batting average with five home runs and 19 RBI while racking up 29 walks.

In recent years, the Phillies have been notoriously partial to high school players with their earliest picks, taking Larry Greene Jr., Jesse Biddle, Kelly Dugan, Zach Collier and Anthony Hewitt with the organization's initial draft pick in the past four seasons.

Watson isn't the first Lakewood High School product taken by the Phillies in the first round (supplementary).  Catcher Travis d'Arnaud, 37th overall pick in 2007, is a product of the same school.  d'Arnaud was traded to Toronto in the December, 2009 Roy Halladay deal.

____________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Comments

Anonymous said…
where's larry greene?
Jay Floyd said…
Extended spring training.

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Interview: Reading second baseman Jesmuel Valentin

Jesmuel Valentin, image- Jay Floyd Switch-hitting infielder Jesmuel Valentin has been a bit of an underrated contributor with the Double-A Reading Fightins. Heading into action on Friday, Valentin was batting .339 over his last 14 games. Overall this season, the 22-year-old is batting .282 with four home runs and 35 RBI in 64 games. Valentin, who plays mostly second base, but dabbles at shortstop a bit also, is the son of former big leaguer Jose Valentin . The Puerto Rico native was a supplementary round pick (51st overall) of the Dodgers in 2012. He was acquired by the Phils as part of the Roberto Hernandez trade in 2014. Recently, I spoke with Jesmuel about his team's success, growing up around the game and more. Read ahead for that full interview. -The Reading team has been great and you've contributed very nicely to the club's success. What are your thoughts on competition in the Eastern League this year? I just came here with the mindset that...

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

The Second Place New York Mess, Sucking Annually

Well, the Mets are at it again...stinking up New York, the NL East and all of MLB. This time it's not with their miserable September play, it's with their crummy uniform decor. The Metropolitans are accessorizing their home jerseys this year with a comemorative patch to celebrate their new home, CitiField. Allow me to present to the Phillies Phaitful the fresh new uniform addition that the NY Metropolitans will have for 2009. This awful image to the right is really what the Metropolitans intend to have on their jersey sleeve this coming season... Amatuerish? To say the least. How about that world class franchise across town? They are going to have a new ballpark as well. What might their patch look like? Have a glance... It is a shame really. The Mets think their Dominos Pizza logo looking art work is sufficient enough to represent what kind of corporate baseball giant they are presenting the world. They are clueless. It screams out, "We deliver hot and fresh in 30 minut...