The Phillies have signed 14 international prospects to minor league contracts, Phillies Director of International Scouting Sal Agostinelli announced today.
Among those signed is 16-year-old right-handed pitcher Starlyn Castillo. Castillo, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound native of the Dominican Republic, was ranked by MLB.com as the eighth-best overall prospect in this year's international free agent class (No. 16 by Baseball America), and the second-best pitching prospect. Both outlets tabbed him as the best arm to come out of the Dominican Republic in this class and MLB.com graded his fastball a 70 on a 20-80 scale.
Joining Castillo as a top-50 prospect signed by the club is 6-foot-5, 16-year-old, left-handed pitcher Joalbert Angulo out of Venezuela, ranked No. 42 on Baseball America's list.
The Phillies have also come to terms with right-handed pitchers Eiberson Castellano (VZ), Wilson Gherbaz (VZ), Jonathan Rivas (VZ) and Luis Vegas (VZ), left-hander Neyker Ibarra (VZ), catchers Victor Diaz (DR), Andrick Nava (VZ) and Javier Vina (VZ), outfielders Jeury Corona (DR) and Reiberth Gil (VZ), second baseman Alexeis Azuaje (VZ) and shortstop Kervin Pichardo (DR).