This will be the final one
It’s draft day, so let’s see what the latest intel is about who the Phillies might be taking today. As a reminder, they’re picking 26th tonight, so be sure to stay up late!
CBS Sports – Josh Hammond, 3B, Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC)
You have to go back to 2019 (Bryson Stott) for the last time the Phillies used a first-round pick on a college player. Hammond was a two-way player most of his high school career and didn’t start focusing on hitting full-time until this spring. He’s widely considered one of the top upside plays in the draft because he has big power, good athleticism, and not much experience as a hitter.
ESPN – Matthew Fisher, RHP, Evansville Memorial HS (IN)
This one would be another curveball, but the Phillies likely can’t get Fisher to their second pick and would be set up for an overslot move at their next pick(s), similar to what they did last year. Andrew Fischer is also mentioned here. Alec Blair (a top 100 basketball recruit in the country) and Sean Gamble are among the prep position players they could target to move down the board.
MLB Pipeline – Luke Stevenson, C, University of North Carolina
The Phillies have also been very high school heavy in the first round for the last several Drafts, so we’re going to change it up here and have them take the next best college catcher on the board, while they consider other college bats like Ethan Conrad. Prep bats like [Sean] Gamble or Hammond are still a possibility.
USA Today – Slater de Brun, OF, Summit HS (OR)
The run of late-round high school players takes a few Philly targets off the board but they can still fulfill their prep preference with de Brun, a potential center fielder of the future whose speed will likely always trump his power.
Just Baseball – Ryan Mitchell, 2B/SS, Houston HS (TX)
Ryan Mitchell has a list of suitors in the back half of the twenties, and considering the strategy Philadelphia employed a year ago with Dante Nori and Griffin Burkholder, there’s a chance it happens again. Mitchell would come in with an under-slot deal here.
If they go college, Riley Quick and Caden Bodine are mentioned here.
The Athletic – Riley Quick, RHP, University of Alabama
I don’t think the Phillies have changed approach, as Brian Barber has had some huge successes taking high schoolers in the first round, but rather that they might go for a fast-moving arm to try to bolster their contending roster (or provide some trade value). If they go high school again, it’d be someone like Xavier Neyens, Sean Gamble or maybe Josh Hammond.
It’s pretty clear that the mock drafts are all over the place and that no one has any idea what the Phillies are going to do. They cut a deal with Dante Nori last year in order to get Griffin Burkholder and we see how that’s turning out. Maybe instead of doing that this year, just take the best player available, regardless of anything.