First-round draft miscues a reason for Phillies bleak future

By PATRICK GORDON | Managing Editor
July 2 2014, 9:30AM EDT.
@Philabaseball

The Phillies have selected 12 players over the last decade in the first-round of baseball's amateur draft, yet none have made a significant impact for the club at the major league level.

As of Tuesday morning, the Phillies farm system had the worst winning percentage (.395) in baseball.

With a team on pace to lose 90 games and a farm system void of significant big league talent, the Phillies are in difficult spot to rebuild.

This isn't a story, but rather an observation.

Today we'll look at hitters the Phillies selected in the first round since 2004 and what they've accomplished. We'll look at the pitchers next week.

Here's a list of the Phillies offensive selections over the last 10 years:

• 2004 | Greg Golson | OF
• 2006 | Adrian Cardenas | SS
• 2007 | Travis d'Arnaud | C
• 2008 | Anthony Hewitt | SS
• 2008 | Zach Collier | OF
• 2011 | Larry Greene | OF
• 2013 | J.P. Crawford | OF

Golson, Cardenas and d'Arnaud are no longer with the organization but all three have reached the majors. Their major league stat lines, however, are dismal. Combined, the three have played in 162 games and are batting .200 over 355 at bats with a .295 on-base percentage and slugging just .287.

Considering these three are no longer with the organization let us focus on the four that remain.

The numbers are worrisome. Crawford is the only one with a career minor league average (.293) above .240. Hewitt has a 8.3 K/BB ratio over nearly 600 games while Greene and Collier both are toiling with OBP's below .330. 

Combined, if you calculated the minor league career numbers for Crawford, Greene, Collier and Hewitt and average them out over a 162 game season, you have a  .237 hitter with a .303 OBP, .359 SLG and .662 OPS. Add in 10 home runs, 65 RBIs and 25 stolen bases and you have the profile of the Phillies first-round offensive selections since 2008.

Not your prototypical offensive output from a top draft pick, for sure.  

Together, if you look at the combined major league contributions of Golson, Cardenas and d'Arnaud (.200/.295/.287/5 HR/22 RBI) and the average minor league statistics of Collier, Hewitt, Greene and Crawford (.237/.303/.359/ 10 HR/ 65 RBIs), it becomes evident why the Phillies farm system is ranked as one of the worst in baseball.

Draft miscues, in tandem with an aging underachieving core, is why the Phillies find themselves in the unenviable spot of figuring out what to do next.

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