June 10, 2016
WASHINGTON – The Phillies made it three high school players in a row when they got Major League Baseball’s draft started again on Day 2.
The Phils selected Nebraska high school infielder Cole Stobbe with the first pick in the third round, 78th overall. Stobbe is listed on MLBPipeline.com as a third baseman but was announced at the time of his selection as a shortstop.
Speaking of MLBPipeline.com: they had Stobbe rated at as the 47th-best prospect available in the draft. Like many high school players, he likely slipped into the third round due to signability issues.
Stobbe joins California high schoolers Mickey Moniak (first round, 1st overall) and Kevin Gowdy (second round, 42nd) overall as the first three members of the Phillies 2016 draft class. Stobbe and Moniak have already played together:
Stobbe (@CStooo7) knows @MickeyMoniak. Here is his twitter background photo. #HardscrabbleReporting pic.twitter.com/psGfMlBLFN
— Ryan Lawrence (@ryanlawrence21) June 10, 2016
Just as both Moniak and Gowdy have commitments to UCLA, Stobbe could opt to honor his commitment at the University of Arkansas. But with the second largest draft pool among big league teams, you have to imagine the Phillies did their homework in seeing how signable their top three picks were before selecting them in the last two days.
“That’s a big factor for us, taking players that we like that we’re pretty confident are going to sign,” general manager Matt Klentak said late Thursday night, following the first two rounds. “We obviously can’t (sign them) yet and we haven’t done it yet but as soon as [we can], we’ll do it.”
High school players cannot sign until after the graduate. Moniak, for example, will graduate from La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, Calif., today.
With no obvious consensus top pick (think Bryce Harper) in this year's draft, it's not surprising the Phillies have gone that route of trying to spread their draft bonus dollars around in the first two days of the draft.
Here is MLBPipeline.com’s complete scouting report on Cole Stobbe:
"No Nebraska high school position player ever has been selected in the top two rounds or 60 picks in the Draft, but Stobbe could become the first this June. He's an infielder with a chance to have average or better tools across the board once he moves off shortstop, and scouts love his makeup as well. He has a track record of performing on the biggest amateur stages, helped Team USA win a gold medal at the 18-and-under World Cup in Japan last September and led Millard West (Omaha) to the Nebraska Class A championship game while earning Gatorade state player of the year honors this spring. ... With his quick, compact right-handed stroke, Stobbe laces line drives to all fields. He added some strength before his senior season and drove the ball more consistently this spring, finishing among the national high school leaders with 14 home runs. He could be a .280 hitter with 15-18 homers per year in the big leagues. ... An average runner with good instincts on the bases and in the field, Stobbe lacks the quickness and arm strength to play shortstop in pro ball. He should be able to handle the offensive and defensive responsibilities at either second or third base. One scout called the Arkansas recruit a poor man's version of Rockies rookie sensation Trevor Story, who was a supplemental first-rounder as a Texas high schooler in 2011."
• 107th overall (4th round): LHP JoJo Romero, 19-years-old, 5-11, 190, Yavapai (Ariz.) JC
-Romero hails from the same junior college where Curt Schilling and Ken Giles pitched; rated at the 158 best prospect in the draft by Baseball America.
- MLBPipeline.com scouting report: "He'll throw both a two- and four-seam fastball, with the former sitting in the 89-91 mph range and the latter touching 94-95 mph at times. While his curveball was his best secondary pitch at the start of his spring, his slider and changeup have improved and perhaps surpassed the curve at this point. He is capable of throwing all of his pitches for strikes."
• 137th overall (5th round): LHP Cole Irvin, 22, 6-4, 190, Oregon
- Missed the 2014 season at Oregon after undergoing Tommy John surgery; drafted by Pittsburgh in 32nd round in 2015.
- Rated as the 195th best prospect in the draft by Baseball America.
- MLBPipeline.com scouting report: "The twice-drafted Irvin is the epitome of the advanced college lefty when he his firing on all cylinders. For much of the time since he returned from surgery, Irvin had been throwing his fastball in the 86-88 mph range, but was up to 93-94 mph consistently late in his redshirt junior season thanks to some added strength. His slider and changeup will flash above-average at times and he does a good job of throwing everything with the same arm speed to add deception. A good athlete with a solid pickoff move, he throws a lot of strikes, though he can be susceptible to the home run ball. Irvin's ceiling is limited to that of a back-end starter, but he is really polished and if he is the guy he was late in the spring, he's a high probability big leaguer."
• 167th overall (6th round): OF David Martinelli, 21, 6-1, 200, Dallas Baptist Univ.
- Rated as the 74th best prospect in the draft by MLBPipeline.com, and 166th by Baseball America.
- MLBPipeline.com scouting report: "Martinelli has flashed five-tool talent since his days at Waxahachie (Texas) High but also raised concerns with serious swing-and-miss issues, ranking among the NCAA Division I strikeout leaders in each of his first two seasons and hitting .141 with wood bats in the Cape Cod League last summer. He has been much more consistent at the plate this spring after improving his pitch recognition and his approach, cutting his whiff rate by almost two-thirds. He's driving the ball more consistently as well. Martinelli has solid speed that plays up in center field thanks to this instincts."
• 197th overall (7th round): C Henri Lartigue, 21, 6-0, 185, Ole Miss
- Led the Rebels in hitting (.353) and OBP (.414) in 57 games in 2016; switch-hitting catcher rated as the 238th best prospect in the draft by Baseball America.
Can't put this day into words. Extremely fortunate to be drafted by such a tremendous organization in the @Phillies. But always #hottytoddy
— Henri Lartigue (@HJLartigue_22) June 10, 2016
• 227th overall (8th round): RHP Grant Dyer, 20, 6-1, 195, UCLA
- Reliever who had a 1.83 ERA in 42 games (41 out of the bullpen) for the Bruins; struck out 65 while walking 15 in 59 innings; Baseball America rated him as the 198th best draft prospect, one spot ahead of Missouri shortstop Ryan Howard (no relation).
• 257th overall (9th round): RHP Blake Quinn, 21, 6-4, 220, Cal. State Fullerton
- Quinn went 4-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 17 games (12 starts) in 2016; struck out 69 batters and walked 32 in 66 2/3 innings; unlisted among Baseball America's Top 500 draft prospects.
• 287th overall (10th round): RHP Julian Garcia, 21, 6-3, 185, Metro State Univerity of Denver
- Garcia was 5-7 with a 2.90 ERA in 12 games (all starts); struck out 95 and walked 29 in 83 2/3 innings; unlisted among Baseball America's Top 500 draft prospects.
