PHILLIES MINOR LEAGUE CUPBOARD FAR FROM BARE
Baseball America has the Phillies minor league system ranked #12 when it comes to prospects. If you're talking about pitching prospects, and let's be honest that's what everyone wants and needs, the Phillies are loaded. Tonight in Reading, Johan Flande will make his AA debut. The 23-year old Dominica was 7-1 in Clearwater with a 2.52 ERA and will pitch in the MLB Futures Game at next month's All Star Game in St. Louis.
Flande comes to Reading less than a month after Kyle Drabek made the jump to AA. Drabek, the Phillies 2006 first round draft pick, is also throwing in the futures game. Since coming to Baseballtown is 4 and 0 and has looked every bit like a staff ace. The fact is, Drabek doesn't need to be an ace in Reading because Joe Savery has already taken care of that. Savery was the Phils' first round selection in the 2007 draft. Over his last eight starts with the R-Phils, Savery is 7-0 with a 2.15 ERA. Mike Stutes and Vance Worley round out the current Reading staff and they are both young and improving. Reading has never before had so many young arms in the rotation at the same time.
Not only is Reading loaded with pitching, but the R-Phils have already seen multiple pitchers who were on the roster opening day move up to Lehigh Valley and the Phillies. Antonio Bastardo and Sergio Escalona have both helped out the Major League Club this season. Lehigh Valley also boasts Andrew Carpenter and the team's #1 prospect Carlos Carrasco. Yes, Carrasco's development has been slower that the organization would have hoped, but he still has electric stuff and is only 22 years old. If Carrasco can develop mentally he still could be a front of the rotation starter in the majors.
So next time someone tells you the Phillies aren't developing young talent, don't buy it. The arms are there on the farm. Now it's the team's job to figure out who to keep and how to deal. There's not enough room for all of these arms in Philadelphia.
Tim McMaster