Following the second day of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, one thing has become clear …
The Phillies have put a premium on experienced players.
Of the 10 picks the Phillies made in the draft, nine college players were selected (see Phillies' pick tracker). Though some are juniors and may have a year of eligibility remaining, the team’s ability to sign its draft picks is very high.
That notion even extends to the lone high school player selected by the Phillies. Sam McWilliams, a 6-foot-7 right-handed pitcher from Beech High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee, is signed to play college ball at Tennessee Tech. However, based on a Twitter post from the coach at the school, it seems as if McWilliams is interested in signing with the Phillies.
Meanwhile, six of the 10 players drafted are pitchers and another, Aaron Brown, doubled as a pitcher for Pepperdine University. Primarily an outfielder, the third-round pick batted .313 with 12 homers in 57 games.
But as a pitcher, the lefty Brown went 12-1 with a 2.07 ERA. He throws a sinking fastball in the low-90s with a slider and a changeup. Brown sounds a lot like another two-way Pepperdine star drafted by the Phillies in Randy Wolf.
Unlike with Wolf, the Phillies prefer Brown as a power-hitting centerfielder.
MLB
Another power hitter selected by the Phillies was Rhys Hoskins from Sacramento State. Taken in the fifth round, Hoskins played first base in college, but dabbled in the outfield during summer league. He hit 12 homers with 18 doubles in 56 games in 2014 and cut down his strikeouts from 42 to 29.
The other hitters selected by the Phillies are Emmanuel Marrero, a slick-fielding shortstop from Alabama State and Matt Shortall, an outfielder from the University of Texas-Arlington. Marrero is a defensive whiz, but could be a project as a hitter. Shortall batted .353 over his last two years in college, though he didn’t draw high marks from the scouts for his patience at the plate.
Additionally, in the fourth round the Phillies took hard-throwing right-hander Chris Oliver from the University of Arkansas. At 6-foot-4, Oliver’s fastball is nasty. He also has a decent slider and a changeup that needs some fine-tuning.
Two familiar names selected by the Phillies are Brandon Leibrandt, the son of 14-year major leaguer Charlie Leibrandt, and Matt Hockenberry, a righty from Temple University.
Leibrandt played for college baseball power Florida State where he displayed a knowledge for pitching well beyond his years. Though he doesn’t have overpowering stuff, Leibrandt knows how to pitch and as a sixth-round pick, projects to be a back-of-the-rotation starter.
Hockenberry went 13-17 with a 5.06 ERA in four years at Temple. However, his numbers improved a lot in his senior year and he tossed two complete games.
After two days of the draft, here are the Phillies' picks:
Round 1, pick 7: RHP Aaron Nola, LSU (R/R, 6-2/200)
Round 2, pick 47: LHP Matt Imhof, Cal Poly (L/L, 6-5/220)
Round 3, pick 81: CF Aaron Brown, Pepperdine (L/L, 6-2/220)
Round 4, pick 112: RHP Chris Oliver, Arkansas (R/R, 6-4/185)
Round 5, pick 142: 1B Rhys Hoskins, Sacramento State (R/R, 6-4/225)
Round 6, pick 172: LHP Brandon Leibrandt, Florida State (L/L, 6-4/205)
Round 7, pick 202: SS Emmanuel Marrero, Alabama State (S/R, 6-0/180)
Round 8, pick 232: RHP Sam McWilliams, Beech High School (Tenn.) (R/R, 6-7/190)
Round 9, pick 262: RHP Matt Hockenberry, Temple (R/R, 6-3/220)
Round 10, pick 292: OF Matt Shortall, Texas-Arlington (R/R, 6-3/215)