Talent at fore, Phils prioritize untapped value

Early Haseley pick signals shift; Day 3 opens with highly ranked prospects

June 15th, 2017

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies snapped a notable streak on Monday night, when they selected University of Virginia outfielder Adam Haseley with the eighth pick in the 2017 Draft.
It had been 17 years since the Phillies selected a college batter in the first round. Since the Phillies took with the 15th pick in the 2000 Draft, they had drafted five high school position players in the first round: Greg Golson (21st pick, 2004), Anthony Hewitt (24th pick, 2008), J.P. Crawford (16th pick, 2013), Cornelius Randolph (10th pick, 2015) and Mickey Moniak (first pick, 2016).
• Phillies select Haseley with eighth overall pick
:: 2017 MLB Draft coverage ::
"I wasn't aware of it, but the way this year's Draft panned out, we were focusing on college players for the first pick," Phillies amateur scouting director Johnny Almaraz said on Wednesday. "We took a really good Major League player that can play anywhere in the outfield. I really feel like we got three first-rounders in this Draft, as far as their abilities are concerned. It works out that way. We got Scott Kingery in the second round [in 2015]."
The Phillies completed the 2017 Draft on Wednesday. They selected 29 college players, 10 high school players and one player not affiliated with a school (eighth-round left-hander Jhordany Mezquita). They selected 27 college players in the first 32 rounds.
• Draft Tracker: Every Phillies pick
"We had a Draft that had a lot of balance," Almaraz said. "A lot of college pitching, quite a few left-handers."
The Phillies selected 12 right-handers, eight left-handers, seven outfielders, four shortstops, four third basemen, two catchers, two second basemen and one first baseman.
Their first three picks Wednesday were interesting in that they ranked high on MLB.com's list of the Top 200 Draft Prospects but lasted longer than expected. They selected shortstop Jake Holmes (ranked 132nd) from Pinnacle High School (Ariz.) in the 11th round, University of Mississippi left-hander David Parkinson (ranked 152nd) in the 12th round and Louisville catcher Colby Fitch (ranked 145th) in the 13th round.

Holmes, who has committed to Arizona State, is expected to sign as early as Thursday.
"He's just a young, dynamic kid who has power," Almaraz said about Holmes. "He can run. We were fortunate to get him. We felt Fitch was one of the top catching prospects in the country. We have no idea why he slipped, but he did, and he wound up nabbing him. Sometimes these guys have signability issues, but our scouts stayed on top of things and got accurate information."

The Phillies selected University of Tennessee left-hander Zach Warren, who hails from Vineland, N.J., in the 14th round. He struggled with the Vols, posting a 6.31 ERA in 51 1/3 innings. Left-hander Damon Jones (18th round, Washington State) is the grandson of Darrall Imhoff, who played 12 seasons in the NBA, including two with the 76ers (1968-70).
• Phillies draft pair of locals in Warren, Sullivan
In the 28th round, the Phillies selected right-hander Bill Sullivan from St. Mark's High School in Delaware.

They got one of the best names of the Draft in the 36th round when they picked outfielder Joe Breaux (pronounced "bro") from McLennan Community College in Texas.