2020 Phillies Prospects Countdown: #23 OF Jhailyn Ortiz

Jhailyn Ortiz with Lakewood in 2018, image- Jay Floyd

The Phillies signed outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz, who was the top ranked international free agent, at the age of 16 in 2015 for a reported $4 million. Teams don't make that sort of investment or shell out the largest signing bonus for an international player in organization history without a boat load of high hopes. With four years in professional baseball down, Ortiz still has a very long way to go.

The powerful Dominican Republic native made his regular season pro debut as a member of the Rookie level Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2016. In 47 games there, Ortiz batted .231 with eight home runs, 27 RBI and eight stolen bases.

In 2017 Ortiz was with the short-season Class A Williamsport Crosscutters. He sported a .302 batting average with 15 doubles, a triple, eight homers and 30 RBI in 47 contests en route to an All-Star nod. His .961 OPS would have been good enough to lead the league if he has notched enough plate appearances to qualify.

In 2018 with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, as a 19-year-old, Ortiz notched a .225 batting average with 18 doubles, two triples, 13 homers and 47 RBI in 110 games.

In Ortiz’s first taste of a full-season league, a sluggish second half sandbagged his overall stats, as he would post a .258/.320/.399 slash line in the 1st half and a .202/.283/.360 slash line in the 2nd half.

Coaches have expressed that the right-handed batting Ortiz is a special talent with a very bright future. Hitting coach Tyler Henson told me after watching Ortiz play for more than five months in the South Atlantic League in 2018 that, “For me, he's got more ability than anybody in this league.”

Last season in 115 games with the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers, Ortiz posted a .200 batting average with 15 doubles, three triples, 19 home runs and 65 RBI.

Working on plate discipline will be key for Ortiz, as he’ll need to reduce his strike outs. At roughly a 30% strike out rate while drawing walks about 8% of the time in the minors, he has a lot of work ahead.

The Phillies expect Ortiz to develop a better understanding of how the opposition is trying to pitch to him and improve his ability to interpret the strike zone. Should that happen, then watch out! Ortiz reportedly underwent laser eye surgery over the 2018/2019 off-season, so the thinking was that improved vision would be evident at the plate, but his offensive numbers did not see any sort of jump start last season.

At roughly six-feet-three and 258 pounds, Ortiz is a hulking, strapping, young man that has power for days, but he'll need to take serious strides at this dish and avoid further regression in order to avoid having the "bust" label attached to him.

The energetic Ortiz, who will be 21 years old for the entirety of the 2020 season, is a quality defender with a very strong arm. Defensively, he played some center and left last year with the Threshers after having only played right field entering the 2019 campaign.

As a base runner, Ortiz will not be a regular stolen base threat, but he is quick-footed enough that he won't be a detriment to his club.

For me, he has not graduated out of the Florida State League, as far as development and maturity go, but I could see the Phillies pushing him to the Double-A level this season.

You can keep tabs on this year's top 25 Phillies prospect countdown by clicking this link.

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