Phillies Minor League Organizational Rankings - Centerfield

The Rankings:

1. Roman Quinn
2. Carlos Tocci
3. Aaron Altherr
4. Aaron Brown
5. Jinadido Tromp
6. Carlos Duran
7. Jesus Alastre
8. Venn Biter
9. Zach Collier

The Reasoning:

Roman Quinn, less than a year removed from a torn Achilles tendon, played 88 games of baseball this past season for the Clearwater Threshers. He matched his career high in steals (32) and moved back to a position that he hadn't fielded since high school ball. He was a project at SS that saw its end this season and also in no small par duet to the emergence of J.P. Crawford in the system. Quinn before his injury was regarded as one of the fastest players in the minor leagues. They say it takes 2 years to fully recover from this type of injury, so we should see Quinn at hopefully full strength by mid-season in 2015.  He saw a slight power-spike this season, hitting a career high 7 homers and 20 XBH overall. He isn't projected to be a power guy, but I don't think a 10 homer season in his prime would be out of the question. He's made great adjustments to playing CF full-time again and has a very good arm in center. He is on track to begin the 2015 season in Reading, where he will be the starting CF. This is of course assuming that Altherr showed enough to move up to Lehigh Valley.

The 2nd name on this list is the subject to much debate. He is a slender 6 footer with excellent defensive instincts who has yet to hit very well. Think of him at this point as the CF-version of Freddy Galvis. Why is he so high on this list? As as I already mentioned, the defense is very legit and the bat is still developing. He continues to put on good weight and should improve his overall game. Tocci is only 19 and is playing full-season ball for the 2nd season in a row. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Aaron Altherr who broke out in 2013 with 12 homers, 23 steals and a .275/.337/.455 slash in Clearwater. He played in the AFL following the season before succumbing to a hand injury and missing the beginning of the 2014 season. Altherr saw a decrease in both his K and BB rates, but his average dipped to .237. Altherr is already on the 40 man roster and saw limited action with the Phillies late last season. He is a very good defensive CF and projects to be a better John Mayberry Jr. I think he can be a starter in this league, but only if he cuts down the strikeouts.

Aaron Brown, a 2014 3rd rounder out of Pepperdine, both hit and pitched in college. When drafted, he was immediately thrown into the hitter's role and played a majority of his games in CF. He is an excellent athlete and obviously has a great arm, so he should stick in center for the time being. He is already 22 years old and will probably be pushed through the system rather quickly. He has developing power, but not strong plate discipline yet (7 walks to 60 strikeouts in 235 PA). He is someone that can easily move up this list, along with Jiandido Tromp. Tromp, repeating Williamsport for the 3rd straight season (21 years of age) broke the Williamsport HR record set by Zach Green and Dylan Cozens last season. He was slightly overage for the league, but still put up some impressive numbers. He has the speed and power to stay in the organization, but will also need to improve his plate discipline to cut down the strikeouts and take more walks. A majority of his playing time was spent in CF this season, but could move to the corner outfield for increased playing time.