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The Rankings:
- JP Crawford
- Arquimedes Gamboa
- Grenny Cumana
- William Cuicas
- Emmanuel Marrero
- Malquin Canelo
- Daniel Brito
- Enmanuel Serra
- KC Serna
- Edgar Duran
The Reasoning:
I don't think it would be a bold statement to say that J.P. Crawford is the future at shortstop for the Phillies. The slick fielding shortstop was the Phillies 1st round pick in 2013. Once signed, he began the season at the GCL and finished with Lakewood. In 2014 he began the season in Lakewood and finished in Clearwater. He has 97 walks and only 109 strikeouts in 658 minor league at bats. He had a combined .285/.375/.406 slash line with 11 HR in 2014. In most prospect circles he is rated only behind Carlos Correa, Addison Russell, Corey Seager and Francisco Lindor. Crawford is better defensively than all but Lindor, with Seager likely not staying at SS for much longer. J.P. is that premier Phillies 1st round draft pick that looks to have all the requisite skills to succeed at the MLB level in quite some time. It's okay to have high exceptions at this point. Expect to see J.P makes his MLB debut as early as 2016.
The rest of this list is highly volatile and all based on my perceived projections. Gamboa seems to be the most exciting and has a lot of highly contradictory scouting reports. He is a switch hitter, but depending on who you read is better at one side or the other and could or couldn't have some potential power. One thing all scouts agree on is his defense is very good and despite being able to play multiple infield positions, that he is going to be a true SS in the end. Gamboa is only 17 years old and has a ways to go.
Cumana, Cuicas and Marrero represent the other 3 interesting names on the list. Cumana is listed at only 5'5, but shows great bat speed and some line drive potential. He got off to a great start in the GCL this season before suffering an injury, which despite returning to the lineup, hindered his effectiveness at the plate. Cumana will likely split time in Williamsport with Cuicas in 2014, who also shows lots of promise at the plate. Cuicas had an impressive 19 to 23 K/BB ratio this season while slashing .310/.433/.431. It was a small sample size, but still an impressive stateside debut for the 19 year old. Emmanuel Marrero is a 2014 7th rounder out of Alabama State University. He gets extremely high praise for his glove, but not so much for the bat. Ironically, he did have an excellent July and August at the plate before falling off in September. He will a guy to keep an eye out for and will most likely begin the 2015 season in Lakewood.