Prospect at a glance: Tom Windle

The latest of our posts on the Phillies' four newest starting pitching prospects centers on lefthander Tom Windle, part of the Dec. 19 Jimmy Rollins' deal with the Dodgers.

Previous posts on right-handers Ben Lively and Zach Eflin.

Tom Windle

Age: 22 (turns 23 in March)

Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 215 pounds

Draft position: second-round (56^th overall) in 2013

College: Minnesota

There is some question as to whether Windle will down the road amount to a starter or a reliever because of a delivery some view as a bit stiff. A big left-hander who complements his fastball with a plus slider (his best pitch), the book on him also reads that his change-up could still use refining.

But in the opinion of MLB.com's Jim Callis, who covers the draft and minor league prospects, Windle could wind up being the best pitcher among the Eflin/Windle/Lively trio. Windle's slider, Callis said, is the best pitch any of the three new Phillies' prospects throw.

"I think Windle's got the highest ceiling of those guys," Callis said by phone on Thursday, "but at the same time if you told me Windle wound up being like a seventh- or eighth-inning reliever and Eflin wound up being the No. 4 starter, I could see that, too."

During his freshman and sophomore seasons at Minnesota, Windle started only sparingly, instead proving to be a workhorse in a relief role. The Maple Grove, Minn. native broke out as a starter in the Cape Cod League before his junior (and final collegiate) season, pitching well enough for Baseball America to rank him the 11^th best prospect from that summer's Cape Cod crop.

Windle was a starter his entire junior season at Minnesota in 2013 and 37 of his 39 professional appearances thus far in the Dodgers' system have been in that capacity. In high A Rancho Cucamonga last season he was 12-8 with a 4.26 ERA in 26 games (25 starts). He, like Eflin and Lively, will likely begin his Phillies' tenure at double A Reading.