Skip to main content

2017 Phillies Prospect Countdown: #19 OF Jose Pujols

By
Jose Pujols, image- Jay Floyd
Thanks to a powerful offensive display last season, outfielder Jose Pujols has become a prospect worth knowing in the Phillies’ organization.

The Dominican native was signed by the Phillies in 2012 at the age of 16.

Opening his professional playing  career as a member of the rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2013, Pujols sported a .188 batting average with six home runs and 18 RBI in 45 contests.

The following year, Pujols split time between the GCL and short-season Class A Williamsport. In 57 combined games, the righty batter posted a .226/.273/.377 slash line.

In 2015, Pujols continued to show improvement with a .241 average, four homers and 30 RBI in 66 games with Williamsport.

He followed up that campaign by breaking out and setting the single-season home run record for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws with 24. Additionally, Pujols would post a .241 average with 21 doubles, three triples and 82 RBI in 128 games.

As Pujols gained more experience in the talented South Atlantic League last year, he took strides to display improvements. His on-base percentage in the second half saw a 53 point jump following the SAL All-Star break in 2016 and his contact at the plate seemed to take steps in the right direction additionally, as his strike out rate decreased and he proved to his coaches that he could lay off pitches out of the strike zone.

His manager with Lakewood last year, Shawn Williams, who will likely be followed by Pujols up a level to Class A Advanced Clearwater following a promotion for the skipper this off-season, cited Pujols as the most improved prospects he has seen during his four years working in the Phillies organization.

Strictly a right fielder, Pujols gets solid reads and can track down fly balls at a better than average rate, displaying the range of a typical center fielder.   He has a strong arm and is an asset to his team on defense.

Pujols will be 21 years old for the entirety of the 2017 season.  With a thin six-foot-three 175-pound frame, the youngster has plenty of room to add muscle and further develop on the physical side.  So, it's certainly possible that there is plenty more to come on the power front with this blossoming talent.




You can follow along with this year’s Phillies prospects countdown by clicking this link.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2019 Phillies Prospects Countdown: #7 LHP JoJo Romero

By
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
Post a Comment
Read more

McGwire Stays Phony, Despite Admitting Drug Use

By
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'
1 comment
Read more

Diekman a Late Addition to Mesa AFL Roster

By
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
Post a Comment
Read more