I am coming to the opinion that the scouts aren't the problem, the player development people are, especially with regard to the hitters. When the Phillies drafted or signed these guys, it didn't raise eyebrows. And, they all seemed to do fine in rookie ball. However, when they move up to Lakewood or higher when the development people really begin to work with them, they all head dramatically South. Perhaps the development people are tinkering with their swings too much or altering their approaches at the plate which have taken them completely out of their comfort zones. Regardless, there is a clear trend of our supposedly top position player prospects hitting a wall in low A ball .
With regard to Ortiz, his shoulder injury could have something to do with his woes.
One possible "blame the scouts" could be Haseley who frankly didn't have a long body of work before his junior year. Guys who come along out of nowhere should be a red flag, in my opinion.
But, getting good back to my "blame the development people" theory, the ultimate test of this could come when Randolph, Moniak and Hasely (and Ortiz?) all leave the organization after being failed Phillies prospects. It would be interesting to see if they put it together with their new organizations.
