The All-Star week festivities have concluded, the game being played, the home runs having been hit and the players having been drafted. It\u2019s all complete and Philadelphia was on full display for the baseball world to enjoy. One of the bigger events was the first year player draft that happened over the weekend, teams filling out their player prospect pool with new choices. The Phillies were among them, realizing several dreams along the way. How the Phillies did was a matter of discussion among several experts, so let\u2019s take a look at how different people believed the team to have done.<\/p>\n
ESPN<\/a><\/p>\n I didn\u2019t mention their first two picks yet: SS Tyler Spangler (first round) and CF Caden Bogenpohl (second round). Those two are typical Phillies picks with some risk \u2014 does Spangler get to his power in games and what did we miss from not seeing him play this spring? Will Bogenpohl\u2019s swing get optimized to get to his power in games? \u2014 but also plenty of ROI if the development objectives are hit.<\/p>\n Baseball America<\/a><\/p>\n This draft class is full of extremes:\u00a0Tyler Spangler\u00a0was a huge question mark after not playing all spring,\u00a0Caden Bogenpohl\u00a0and\u00a0Will Gasparino\u00a0have huge power and huge contact questions,\u00a0Deven Sheerin\u00a0has one of the wilder deliveries you\u2019ll see and Rhudy has an outlier fastball.<\/p>\n Just Baseball<\/a><\/p>\n The Phillies\u2019 draft was, admittedly, confusing to me. They took on risk, which is fine, but there are serious question marks surrounding the bats selected. Tyler Spangler missed the spring with an injury (among other things), Caden Bogenpohl has significant hit tool concerns, and Deven Sheerin and Jaxon Jelkin are expected to be relievers. They made decent picks here and there (Macon Winslow, Ruger Riojas, and Patrick Clemmey), but I am curious as to the plan for their class.<\/p>\n Fangraphs<\/a><\/p>\n The Phillies draft was top-heavy, with a potentially over-slot Spangler up top and what look like some pretty hefty under-slot targets later. Spangler exited last summer as a virtual lock for the middle of the first round or higher, then his team was collectively suspended for partying and he had a stress fracture in his back. He looked rusty at the Combine. If the Phils can get Bogenpohl to tap into his power in games, then they\u2019ll have a second-round steal. With this kind of power, he can run a sub-70% contact rate and still thrive so long as he\u2019s getting to the pop, which he was last able to do freshman year. Riojas and Sheerin could be quick-moving relievers \u00e0 la\u00a0Orion Kerkering<\/a>. Jelkin is a lanky, talented pitcher who had a nomadic college career due to off-field behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n