Staff Blog
Checking in on the Phillies Prospects
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| SI |
The Infield Chatter, a blog dedicated to “the hot stove league to college baseball and everything in between” has a breakdown of the ten best prospects the Hawaii Winter League (HWL) and the Arizona Fall League (AFL). Two Phillies made the list:
5) Kyle Drabek (RHP), 20, Philadelphia Phillies – The son of 1990 N.L. Cy Young winner, Doug Drabek, rebounded nicely after missing most of the 2008 regular season recovering from Tommy John Surgery. His mid 90’s fastball and hammer curve enabled him to whiff 19 hitters in 20.2 innings against just four walks. He’s barely six feet tall so it’ll be interesting to see how his arm holds up as he moves through the minors.
and
10) Michael Taylor (OF), 22, Philadelphia Phillies – Taylor’s .247/.347/.412 performance in Hawaii was disappointing compared to his regular season line of .346/.412/.557; however, the former Stanford Cardinal (sensing a pattern here?) remains a legitimate prospect. At 6′6″ 250 pounds, Taylor is a mountain of a man whose overall game elicits memories of Hall of Famer Dave Winfield. He can hit the ball a country mile, run like a deer and play a vintage right field. If he makes the same progress in 2009 like he made last season he could be at Citizens Bank Park sometime during the second half
It seems like everytime we hear Drabek’s name he’s kicking ass (and not like he was in high school either), if he manages to stay healthy he’s going to be a problem in a couple of years. As for Taylor, you can’t help but like sentances like “He can hit the ball a country mile, run like a deer and play a vintage right field.”
