Phillies invite top prospects to spring training
Nine additional nonroster players have been invited to spring training by the Phillies, including the team's top four prospects based on Baseball America's rankings.
Nine additional nonroster players have been invited to spring training by the Phillies, including the team's top four prospects based on Baseball America's rankings.
Top prospect J.P. Crawford will be in big-league camp for the first time since the Phillies made him the 16th overall pick in the 2013 draft. Crawford, 20, hit a combined .288 with a .380 on-base percentage and .414 slugging percentage at single-A Clearwater and double-A Reading last season. At the time of his promotion to Reading, he was the youngest player in the Eastern League. He entered last season as Baseball America's 14th-rated prospect overall and is likely to open this season at triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Outfielder Nick Williams and pitcher Jake Thompson, both acquired in the July deadline trade that sent Cole Hamels to the Texas Rangers, will also be in camp. Williams, the team's second-ranked prospect, hit .320 with 11 extra-base hits in 22 games after joining Reading last season. The left-handed hitting outfielder is 22. Thompson, a 21-year-old righthander, went 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA in seven starts at Reading.
Andrew Knapp, the Phillies' fourth-rated prospect, was among three nonroster catchers invited by the team in Wednesday's announcement. Knapp, 24, had a breakout stretch after being promoted from Clearwater to Reading, hitting .360 with 21 doubles and 11 home runs in 55 games.
The other two catchers invited to camp were 22-year-old Gabriel Lino and 25-year-old Logan Moore. Both are considered outstanding defensive catchers. Lino threw out 41 percent of potential base stealers (31 of 75) at Reading and Lehigh Valley and Moore, who was born in Scranton, threw out 53 percent (29 of 55) while catching at the same two affiliates.
Mark Appel, the first overall pick of the Houston Astros in the 2013 draft, will also be in camp after being acquired in the Ken Giles trade. Appel, a 24-year-old righthander out of Stanford, will spend this season trying to get his professional career on the right track. In 54 career games, including 53 starts from rookie ball through triple-A, Appel has a 5.12 ERA and a 1.439 walks and hits per inning ratio.
Brock Stassi, the Eastern League MVP for Reading last season, and Zach Eflin, a 21-year-old righthander acquired in the Jimmy Rollins trade, will also be in camp for the first time. Stassi, a lefthanded hitting first baseman and outfielder, has already beaten the odds just by being invited to camp. The 26-year-old Stassi was a 33d-round pick in 2011 and he opened eyes last season by hitting .300 with 32 doubles, 15 home runs and 90 RBIs.
Eflin, 21, was 8-6 with a 3.69 ERA at Reading last season and will likely be part of what is expected to be a strong rotation at Lehigh Valley this season.