Reading Eagle survey: Kingery ranked as top Phillies prospect

Scott Kingery, image- Jay Floyd

Recently Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle conducted a survey of media members that cover and broadcast the Phillies minor league teams , designed to rank the top talents in the organization's developmental system.

The participating individuals were asked to rank their personal top 30, which were tabulated on a points system based on each ranking to determine the paper's published list of top prospects.

Participating individuals included Lehigh Valley beat reporter Tom Housenick, Tony Graham of the Lakewood BlueClaws, Mike Ventola of the Reading Fightins, Williamsport beat writer Mitch Rupert, Matt Winkleman of Crashburn Alley and several others including me.

Second baseman Scott Kingery, who represented the Phillies in the MLB All-Star Futures Game this summer and has been raking all year in a split season between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, tallied the most overall points. Ranked best overall by the group, the 23-year-old was the Phils' second round draft selection in 2015.

In 124 games thus far this season, Kingery has tallied a .305 batting average with 25 home runs, 64 RBI and 28 stolen bases.

First baseman/outfielder Rhys Hoskins landed in the 2nd spot on the Reading Eagle's list. The 24-year-old is off to an historic starts to his major league career since his promotion to the Phillies earlier this month. In 18 games, Hoskins, who was the Phils' 5th round draft choice in 2014, sports a .297 average and has driven in 24 runs. His pace in reaching 11 home runs in his big league career is the swiftest ever.

Shortstop J.P. Crawford, widely ranked as the Phillies' top prospect in recent years, since he was their 1st round pick in 2013, fell back to fourth with surging pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez coming in at third on the Reading Eagle's list.

The full top 30 is listed below.

2017 Phillies prospect list

(with position, current club)

1. Scott Kingery, 2B, Lehigh Valley 519

2. Rhys Hoskins, 1B, Philadelphia 479

3. Sixto Sanchez, P, Clearwater 470

4. J.P. Crawford, SS, Lehigh Valley 441

5. Cornelius Randolph, OF, Clearwater 385

6. Adam Haseley, OF, Williamsport 384

7. Mickey Moniak, OF, Lakewood 379

8. Franklyn Kilome, P, Reading 371

9. Jorge Alfaro, C, Lehigh Valley 357

10. Adonis Medina, P, Lakewood 326

11. Jhailyn Ortiz, OF, Williamsport 301

12. Thomas Eshelman, P, Lehigh Valley 294

13. JoJoRomero, P, Lakewood 267

14. Carlos Tocci, OF, Lehigh Valley 244

15. Ranger Suarez, P, Lakewood 229

16. Roman Quinn, OF, Lehigh Valley 228

17. Drew Anderson, P, Lehigh Valley 218

18. Dylan Cozens, OF, Lehigh Valley 203

19. Jessen Therrien, P, Philadelphia 164

20. Seranthony Dominquez, P, Gulf Coast 146

21. Daniel Brito, 2B, Lakewood 144

22. Ben Lively, P, Philadelphia 137

23. Elniery Garcia, P, Reading 127

24. Cole Irvin, P, Reading 109

25. Ricardo Pinto, P, Philadelphia 108

26. Kevin Gowdy, P, (injured) 88

27. Spencer Howard, P, Williamsport 69

28. Andrew Pullin, OF, Lehigh Valley 61

29. Jonathan Guzman, SS, Gulf Coast 56

30. Yacksel Rios, P, Philadelphia 53
Players not considered based on service time in the big leagues included Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, Mark Leiter Jr. and Nick Pivetta.

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog