Hoskins, Romero named Phils Prospects of the Year
PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies had one of the best farm systems in baseball this season because they had some of the best prospects in baseball.
Rhys Hoskins and JoJo Romero are just two of them.
Phillies' Prospects of the Year
"This is as deep an organization that I've ever been associated with," Phillies president Andy MacPhail said Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park. "We don't have some of the marquee names that other teams have but in terms of depth, I think we're as good as there is in the game."
MLB Pipeline named Hoskins and Romero the Phillies' Minor League Hitter and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, as chosen by the MLB Pipeline staff. To receive consideration, players must have spent at least half the season in the Minors, appeared on the team's top 30 prospects list and played the entire year with the organization.
Hoskins, 24, spent the first four-plus months of the season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley before joining the Phillies on Aug. 10. He hit .284 with 24 doubles, 4 triples, 29 home runs, 91 RBIs and a .966 OPS in 115 games with the IronPigs.
He put up even better numbers with the Phillies. He hit .314 with 18 home runs, 39 RBIs and a 1.247 OPS in his first 34 games, becoming one of the best late-season storylines in baseball. He hit .135 with nine RBIs and a .485 OPS in his final 16 games, but he finished with a 1.014 OPS in 212 plate appearances.
He is expected to be the Phillies' everyday first baseman next season.
"We'll take what I can from the ups and the downs, try to learn from it, and try to apply it to my offseason work," Hoskins said. "And try to get ready for 2018."
Romero, whom the Phillies selected in the fourth round of the 2016 Draft, went 10-3 with a 2.16 ERA in a combined 23 starts with Class A Lakewood and Class A Advanced Clearwater. The 6-foot left-hander could move quickly through the system.
Romero, the Phillies' No. 15 prospect, is just one of the organization's many highly regarded pitching prospects in the lower levels of the system. That group includes Sixto Sanchez, Franklyn Kilome, Adonis Medina, Ranger Suarez and Seranthony Dominguez.
Not all of those pitchers are expected to pitch for the Phillies. Some will make the big leagues. Some might not. Some might be traded this winter as the Phillies try to address a rotation that needs a veteran arm or two.
"Is it is possible that Matt uses those assets in the Minor Leagues to augment our Major League club in 2018?" MacPhail said. "I think the answer to that question is definitely we'd consider it. The Minor Leagues are there to populate your Major League club and it can happen a couple different ways. They can come up and play or you can turn them in for what is more known assets."