2016 Phillies Draft Rounds 16-20

Round 16
Brett Barbier, C
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Bats: Right
5'11" 190 lbs
Calling him a Catcher is a bit misleading. His chances of sticking there as a pro are pretty slim. His defense behind the dish is quite raw. He played a lot of First Base in College, but doesn't have quite the power to stick there either. Best bet might be the Outfield where he got some playing time as well. I'm sure the Phillies will give him a shot behind the dish, but almost certainly have a backup plan in mind. As is the theme with the Phillies in this draft what makes Barbier intriguing is a strong hit tool and patience. He does have some pop in the bat that could work in a corner. He may have a future as a bit of the rare Ryan Doumit type bench piece capable of playing passable-ish defense in multiple places along with pretty solid offense. Video from Allison Edmonds.

Round 17
Danny Zardon, 3B
Nova Southeastern University
Bats: Right
6'1, 190 lbs
Enough arm for Third Base and positional flexibility as he's played First, Second and Third. His calling card is Plus Raw Power. The bat seems solid and he's shown solid patience at the plate. He's an average runner, at best, and his defense has been shaky in the past. He feels a bit to me like this draft's Derrick Mitchell for the Phils. A solid player with some potential, but more likely a guy who can play all the way up to AAA and fill roles for the club for several years. The kind of solid Org. guy every team needs plenty of. The red flag would be the need to transfer from LSU because he couldn't break into the starting lineup. He was the starting Third Baseman in 2015, but several defensive miscues moved him to First Base, but he didn't have quite enough bat for that and fell into a DH role against Lefty heavy teams. Video from Chris Hagan (seems like a funny kid).

Round 18
Jake Kelzer, RHP
Indiana University
6'8" 230 lbs.
If Zardon is this year's Derrick Mitchell, Kelzer feels like this year's Michael Schwimer. He should be a quick moving Reliever and could potentially be a middle relief option as early as 2019. The Fastball is adequate, but his height gives it really good plane and it pays up a bit beyond the average velocity. The true calling card here though is a pretty nasty Slider that could make him a really solid Groundball machine out of the pen. He has a pretty marginal Curveball, but nothing slower. His Fastball is 88-92 and his Slider is 87-89. So aside from movement it's a bit one note and hitters will have an easy time dialing in the timing if the doesn't get a third slower pitch to mix in once in a while. Previously drafted by the Cubs in the 14th round. There's lots of Kelzer in this IUAthletics video highlight package.

Round 19
Will Hibbs, RHP
Lamar University
6'7" 245 lbs
I know nothing about Hibbs and there's not a lot of info out there on him. It's a bit of a trend here as they took 2 enormous College Seniors back-to-back

Round 20
Caleb Eldridge, 1B
Cowley County CC
Bats: Left
6'3" 235 lbs.
He shows up as a JuCo player, but he was actually a midseason transfer from Oklahome State. He transferred as he really never got much playing time at OSU and his little time was quite bad. Caleb is a crazy aggressive hitter. If he gets 400 At Bats a year his goal seems to be 400 runs in those at bats. Every swing is max effort and saying he has some swing and miss is overselling his hit tool a bit. Low risk, high reward potential as the raw power is plus and the bat speed is at least above average (so the power isn't all muscle, leaving him susceptible to velocity). Probably a guy who flames out after a few seasons, but worth the gamble if you can convince him to back off situationally with his swing. Video from Baseball Evaluations.