I think part of what drove trades and FA signings was frustration with player development.Who have they developed as a position player the last decade or so?starters:HoskinsCrawfordBohm?Herrera?
backups:KnappKingeryQuinnVierling
The obvious answer is Hoskins
A couple Phillies in Venezuela:https://twitter.com/Matt_Winkelman/status/1452628313990631426
MLB.com update article on the Arizona prospects:
We found our new hitting coach:
āThat I donāt have to try to do too much,ā Stott said. āI can stay in my zone and my approach and Iām big enough and strong enough now that I donāt really have to force anything and try to yank balls. I can use the whole field and stay within myself a lot more.ā
They didn't develop Herrera, though Velandia gets a little credit for scouting him in winter ball.
And development also continues in the major leagues. Of that list above, the Phillies didn't develop Crawford, jury's out on Bohm, Kingery's a mess. Knapp, sure, for his role. Quinn, never really got enough time. And Vierling is no more "developed" than Maton or Williams.
Point is more the paucity of starting talent the last decade, you'd think throwing darts would land you more players in the draft, and throwing money at LA players highlighted in BA.
Can't really just throw big money at 16-year old players highlighted by BA. Most have verbal commitments to a team, before BA highlights them or they get much press. You have to line the best ones up long before eligible to sign. We just don't seem to have entre into best talent, especially in Dominican Republic, a hunting ground we owned, before Giles fired the key guy way back when.
Phillies representing down in Arizona this afternoon:
Stott 4-4, 2B, 3B, 2 R, 4 RBIO'Hoppe 1-1, 3 BB, 2 R, 1 RBIMuzziotti 1-3McArthur 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Our guys really have performed out there way above my reasonable expectations
If Stott keeps this up, they're gonna take a long look in ST, he may just bypass AAA ball. It's not like he's a youngster, he turned 24 in October, played 3 years in college, lost a season to COVID but was solid at Reading. I'd probably put the AFL between AA and AAA ball, more talent but less experience than AAA ball. What's impressive is his plate discipline and ability to make consistent contact.
I know it's not the same, and it was a short season regardless, but didn't they ultimately bring Stott to the alternate site?
Stott could cause Phils to refocus their UFA search to justLF and CF.
Might depend on whether they think he is a SS or not. The one caveat is that Arizona is a really good offensive league. The Phillies have not done that well there recently, but that might be the quality of prospect we send there (as in not great). The league also plays to Stott's plate discipline strengths. Not to take anything away from him, but there are usually 20 guys who do this every year in that league. Stott is 12 in OPS and O'Hoppe is 19th. League ERA is close to 6.00.
In other news, the Dominican League starts tonight. Should be a bunch of Phillies playing including Jhailyn Ortiz.
They're not going to make any decisions based on the AFL, rather, Stott's performance and his age will mean they'll look at him closely in ST (i.e., give him a lot of starts at SS) and gauge how close he is to being ML ready. They will be monitoring his fielding with regard to prioritizing SS in the off season, if they think he's at least adequate, that allows them to start the season with Didi/Galvis and bring Stott up if he's not ready in April.
O'Hoppe can lead the AFL in OPS, but that won't change his 2022 destination, with JT entrenched and O'Hoppe only 22 years old next year, they'll want him to start in AAA and force a promotion.
I think Stott and O'Hoppe are both at Allentown as next-guy-up injury replacements. They can save some $ by having Marchan as the backup catcher. Unless they are comfortable with Galvis as our starting SS next season, I think they need to add a starting SS over the winter. They can't wait until ST with that major a hole.
I'd still start O'Hoppe at Reading with Marchan at LHV. Both need to play if they are not on the major league roster and there is no hurry for O'Hoppe to debut. He can still be in the mix for an injury replacement if he does well by midseason (Marchan would be first up to get the call).
If O'Hoppe is this good a hitter, given JT as a road block, you might want to have him play other positions (1B, RF) so you don't bury him on the bench when he comes up. And that added flexibility in a backup catcher has real value on the short benches in the major leagues these days.
He isn't. An occasional 1B start is fine. But you don't move a catcher who is only a little bit above average there. You just don't. His offense would be below average at the other positions he can play (even if the Phillies might be below average there too).
How do we know OāHoppe isnāt going to keep improving? He just played 2021 at age 21, doesnāt turn 22 until next year. Heās ahead of and better than J.T. Was at the same age.
That said, heās not close to ready and should play most/all of 2022 at AAA.
