Reading Phillies Prospects

The Reading Phillies are the final Eastern League team to come to Portland this season, so this is my final "Prospect Preview" on the season (though I will likely continue with "Prospect Reviews" in the future. First of all, feel free to look at all of the Phillies top prospects according to John Sickels, as well as his mid-year update.

Cole Hamels (#3, LHP, B) has had his progress slowed a great deal by injuries the last couple of seasons. Hamels pitched just three games for Clearwater this season, and just twice in Reading since his promotion earlier this month. He's been pretty successful thus far, allowing just 7 earned runs and striking out 32 in 29 innings. He's allowed 14 walks in that span, which is too many, but this isn't really in line with his career marks and could merely be a sign of rust. Only 21 and obviously posessing loads of talent, Hamels is yet another top pitcher to come through the EL this season. It looks like he's on tap for Tuesday, when I'm scheduled to work, so I look forward to seeing more of him then.

Sickels has this to say:

"Yes, Phillies fans, I am aware that Cole Hamels has the most raw talent of
anyone on this list. I have him at Grade B right now because of last year's
elbow problems (which I find very worrisome), as well as the stupidity of the
bar fight. If he is healthy and has his head screwed on straight this year,
he'll move back up quickly. Remember that Grade B is not an insult in my system,
but it does reflect the uncertainties in his profile."

Michael Bourn (OF, #4, B) is the leadoff batter who Sickels "likes a lot" and is hitting 279/363/370-4-27 with 28 steals in 89 games this season. Bourn skipped high A ball to come to Reading, and he isn't showing the same power and on-base numbers as last year when he hit 317/433/470 for Lakewood. He draws a fair amount of walks, but strikes out a lot more than you want from a leadoff guy.

Francisco Butto (RHP, #14, C) Pitching out of the bullpen, Butto has thrown 28 innings for Akron, posting a 3.54 ERA and 1.25 WHIP, 23 K's and 9 walks. In 28.1 innings at Clearwater at the beginning of the season, Butto's numbers were very similar, with the exception that he recorded a few more K's and a few less walks. This follows a season where he didn't fare too well with Clearwater, though his numbers were strong with Lakewood in 2003 (3.03 ERA)

"Many of the Grade C pitchers (Brito and Butto in particular) have live arms but sketchy and inconsistent track records."

Chris Roberson (OF. #20, C) is hitting 318/376/471-9-44 with 23 steals in 91 games. These numbers are almost identical to what he posted last season in Clearwater. Roberson hasn't posted lofty home run totals yet has good power numbers due to a lot of doubles and triples. It's a good all-around batting performance, but at 25 years of age he's a little old for the league and one probably can't anticipate that his doubles and triples are an indication of more homers to come, as one might if he were a few years younger.

Reading’s offensive also feature’s the Eastern League’s top hitter on the season. Randy Ruiz has destroyed opposing pitching to the tune of 356/406/673-24-81. He’s tied with Trenton’s Shelley Duncan with 24 home runs, but leads the other triple-crown categories by a wide margin. Ruiz is also tops in the league in slugging % and fourth in OBP. Ruiz, however, is 27 years old and has never played above A ball until this year, despite hitting pretty well pretty much every year. I’m not sure what’s going on there.

The pitching staff has been led by a couple of minor league veterans: 28-year-old Chris Rojas has thrown 105.2 IP with a 3.92 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and decent 90/26 K/BB ratio. This is the most success he’s shown at AA in his fourth season at this level (first in the EL), led by an improved walk rate. 29 year-old Allen Davis first reached AA in 1998, though he hasn’t pitched at this level since he was with Harrisburg in 2002. In 108.1 IP, Davis has posted a 3.57 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 55/11 K/BB ratio. Seung Hak Lee has made 11 starts for Reading with a 1.97 ERA in 64 innings, however his peripherals (1.28 ERA, 50/24 K/BB) don’t suggest that he can sustain quite such a low ERA. Lee is a Korean who spent much of last season at AAA Scranton.

Reading’s bullpen is anchored by a couple of workhorses. Ryan Cameron, a Sea Dog in 2003 and 2004, has pitched very well in 60.1 relief innings: 2.24 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 62/22 K/BB. Cameron has shown promise in the past, and these numbers represent probably the best of what one could expect from him. Cameron shares the team lead in saves (7) with Travis Minix, who has 50.1 IP with a 1.97 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 44/12 K/BB ratio.

Virtually all of the statistical leaders on this team were signed as minor league free agents and are too old to be considered strong major league prospects at this time.