Phils take HS shortstop with second pick; Miami third baseman with third pick
This much we know about the Phillies' draft procedure: they do not rely on Baseball America for their picks.
Phils take HS shortstop with second pick; Miami third baseman with third pick
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
This much we know about the Phillies' draft procedure: they do not rely on Baseball America for their picks.
With their first pick Monday night, they took outfielder Larry Greene 39th overall. He was the 75th ranked player by Baseball America.
With their second pick Tuesday, the 66th overall, the Phillies took shortstop Roman Quinn from Port St. Joe High School in Florida. Baseball America had 19 shortstops ranked in its draft edition and none of them were named Roman Quinn.
You could find Quinn ranked among the magazine's top center fielders, however. He was ranked as a fifth or sixth-round pick in that category. Quinn could also become a second baseman, but the Phillies drafted him as a shortstop.
According to the MLB draft guide, Quinn is 5-foot-9, 165 pounds and a switch hitter with a lot of speed. He ran a 6.35 in the 60-yard dash.
The rest of the scouting report from the MLB draft guide: "Quinn is a line-drive hitter with a quick bat. He does have a bit of pop in his bat and should end up getting his share of extra-base hits. Quinn has played second, shortstop and centerfield for Port St. Joe. He has more than enough range for center and his arm is plus as well."
Update
Pat Burrell was the last power-hitting third baseman the Phillies selected from the University of Miami, but they knew even then there was no chance he'd play thrid base in the big leagues. That's not the case with Harold Martinez, whom the Phillies selected with their third pick.
Martinez projects to be a thrid baseman, a position in which the Phillies are thin in their minor-league system. The best current prospect at that position is probably Carlos Rivero, an outstanding defensive third baseman at double-A Reading who has shown improvement as a hitter this season.
Martinez, the 90th overall selection, hit .301 with eight doubles, a triple, three home runs and 38 RBIs in 59 games for the Hurricanes during his junior season. His power numbers were down from his sophomore season when he had 10 doubles, 21 home runs and 69 RBIs. That was likely a result of the less potent bats used in college baseball this season.
Martinez made 21 errors as a sophomore, but cut that number to 14 as a junior. He was drafted by Texas in the 19th round out of Braddock High School in Miami in 2008 but did not sign.
'Bama lefty taken fourth; Nebraska third baseman fifth
Scouting director Marti Wolever identified lefthanded pitching as an organizational need before the draft and he addressed it with the 120th pick by selection University of Alabama's Adam Morgan.
Morgan, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound junior, was 5-7 with a 4.64 ERA in 16 starts for the Crimson Tide this season. He walked 26 batters, allowed 104 hits and struck out 77 in 97 innings.
Obviously not overly impressive numbers, but we'll find out more when Wolever talks about the second-day picks after the Phillies are done drafting.
Cody Asche, a third baseman from Nebraska, was taken with the 151st pick of the draft. Asche, a junior, led the Big 12 with 12 home runs and his 56 RBIs ranked second. He batted .327 and set a school record with 27 doubles.
His coach at Nebraska this season was former major-leaguer Darin Erstad.
STILL ANOTHER UPDATE
With their sixth, seventh and eighth picks, the Phillies took high school shortstop Mitchell Walding, catccher Zach Wright from East Carolina and righthanded pitcher Kenneth Giles from Yavapai Junior College in Arizona.
Walding was the 16th-ranked shortstop by Baseball America and has a scholarship to Oregon. He hit .433 with a .536 on-base percentage this season.
Wright, a 6-foot-2, 208-pound junior, batted .272 with 15 doubles and a team-high 13 home runs and 39 RBIs in 62 games at East Carolina.
Giles, 20, appeared in 23 games at Yavapai and went 1-1 with two saves and a 1.18 ERA. He struck out 67 batters in 38 innings.
You can read about the entire second day of the Phillies draft in Wednesday's Inquirer.
In other news, double-A Reading righthander Josh Zeid was placed on the disabled list with right biceps tendinitis. Zeid has struggled most of this season and has a 6.80 ERA after making the jump from single-A Lakewood to Reading.
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No CBP for these guys— shawnmac- Freddy Galvis, as one of the youngest players in the Eastern League at 20, with Reading, looks better every day----plus he does take a few walks.— Romus
- Roy Oswalt pitches tonight---where was he drafted by the 'Stros? Not a number one pick---I can assure you of that. Just keep your fingers crossed and hope some develop and avoid disabling injuries at the minor league level.— Romus
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- Sounds like the reached for every guy the took so far when the minor leagues are depleted of talent.— twpman
5'-9", 165 lbs --- taken in the 2nd round, 3-4 rounds earlier than projected. I think we just reached for a batboy.- Comment removed.
- As age creeps and monies stop , the Phils will depend even more on draft picks. So let us pray that these kids have some career chances to make it because getting FA's in the next few years will not be easy for the Phils.— Koons
- the phillies use the draft choices as trade bait (big joe, oswalt, Doc, and Lee (2009)). Can't complain too much about that.— palmyra21
- Biggest need was to draft a color man for telecasts....failed to address that.— NewMick314
- Less than 1% probability that these guys ever become MLB star players.— farley
- The big difference between the NFL draft and MLB draft is that the hit rate in the first three rounds is MUCH higher in the NFL. I am not too concerned that BA doesn't have the Phillies picks too high up their list. I remember years ago when BA and company said Darren Dreifert was going to be the greatest pitcher ever.— kdavis2172
- Amen. Remember, some guy named Mike Piazza was drafted in the 62nd round (1390 overall) in his draft. I hear he had a decent career. — ESFjellin
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Actually it sounds like Michael Martinez...maybe now we can offer him back to the nationals!- Hmm. Sounds an awful lot like the scouting report on Rollins. Of course, he's at least 4 years from even having a shot at the MLB roster and Jimmy's a free agent in 5 months.— jpk
