Phillies secure top pick in draft after losing doubleheader sweep
Any doubt regarding which team will pick first in the Major League Baseball draft next June dissipated over six hours on the penultimate day of the regular season. The Phillies, long owners of baseball's worst record, made sure of that with their performances on a chilly, windy Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.
Any doubt regarding which team will pick first in the Major League Baseball draft next June dissipated over six hours on the penultimate day of the regular season. The Phillies, long owners of baseball's worst record, made sure of that with their performances on a chilly, windy Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.
In losing both games of their doubleheader against the Miami Marlins, the Phillies clinched the worst record in the majors and locked up the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft. They will pick No. 1 for the first time since 1998, when they selected Pat Burrell, the most recent first overall draft choice for any of the city's four major professional sports teams.
The Phillies enter Sunday's series finale needing a win if they wish to avoid the franchise's first 100-loss season since 1961. Saturday's results dropped them to 62-99 and assured them of their most losses since 1969.
"Everybody makes a big deal out of [100 losses], and I get it. I don't want to lose 100 games. I don't want to lose 99 or 90," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.
"The whole idea is to get in the playoffs and win the World Series, and if you don't accomplish that, you haven't achieved your goal. . . . Any team that doesn't win it has not reached their goal. That's the way I look at it."
Although the 2016 draft class does not consist of a slam-dunk top choice, such as Bryce Harper in 2010, it will certainly not hurt the Phillies' rebuilding process to have their pick of the litter. The top selection also comes with the largest signing bonus pools with which to sign drafted players as well as for the next international signing period that begins July 2.
Eight months from the draft, the 2016 crop of draft prospects is considered top-heavy on pitching. Righthander Riley Pint of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Kansas and lefthander Jason Groome of Barnegat, N.J., are the top high school arms. Florida lefthander A.J. Puk and Oklahoma righthander Alec Hansen are among the top prospects from the collegiate ranks.
Pitching was one reason - although far from the only one - the Phillies lost both games Saturday, by scores of 7-6 and 5-2. In the first, the normally reliable Ken Giles blew only his second save in 17 opportunities since becoming the Phillies' closer. Alec Asher put the Phillies behind early in the nightcap, allowing three runs on six hits over just two innings.
The doubleheader also featured the return of Maikel Franco, who had been sidelined since Aug. 11 with a fractured left wrist. Starting Saturday's nightcap, the Phillies' rookie third baseman smoked a home run to center field and notched a run-scoring single. He is expected back in the lineup for the season finale Sunday.
Earlier Saturday, Aaron Harang made his final start of the season. The journeyman righthander allowed three earned runs over 52/3 innings in a no-decision.
A pending free agent, Harang said he has yet to decide whether he will continue to pitch beyond this season. Harang, who signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Phillies in January, turns 38 next May and has pitched in 14 big-league seasons. He capped his extremely uneven 2015 with a 4.86 ERA over 1721/3 innings.
A cerebral veteran who could have a future as a pitching coach, Harang raved about his time spent with the Phillies' young starters, namely, Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff.
"I'm excited for the future of the Phillies," he said. "Definitely in Nola and Eickhoff, you have two young guys that could potentially be front-of-the-rotation-type guys. They have the demeanor and the drive to be like that.
"Everybody talks about, 'Oh, the frontline guys got to have the best stuff.' Not necessarily. It's about the determination and commitment when they're out there. And you can tell by their attitude when they do take the mound, they're bulldogs when they're out there."
Nola and Eickhoff sure look like building blocks for the Phillies' long-term starting rotation.
Come next June, the organization will have a chance to add the future ace who tops it off.
@jakemkaplan