Philadelphia Phillies: Takeaways from their win over University of Tampa
The Philadelphia Phillies opened Spring Training with a 6-0 win over the University of Tampa, a Division II powerhouse.
The game has become a yearly tradition for the Philadelphia Phillies and there were many positive things to take from the win, even if it was against a second tier college baseball team.
After a down year for several of the Phillies top prospects in 2016, it’s important for many fans’ sanity to see the farm hands have some success in the early spring.
Pete MacKanin’s lineup card was littered with minor leaguers, offering a tantalizing glimpse into the Phillies future.
Here are five takeaways from the Phillies win over the Spartans.
Quinn, the Phillies number six prospect, is an electric outfielder when healthy and his skills were on display today. Quinn singled to start the game and promptly showed off his speed by easily swiping second base.
In the 3rd inning, Quinn crushed a 2-0 pitch over the right field fence, his first home run of the spring after hitting six for Reading last season.
If Quinn can stay healthy and continue this level of production, he could challenge the Phillies decision to start him in Triple-A this season.
After walking only twice in his final 66 games last season, it only took Williams two at-bats to draw a walk this spring. Williams didn’t have a great day, going 0-3 in four plate appearances. It was still encouraging to see Williams walk, no matter who the competition is.
A Glimpse at the Phillies infield of the future?
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The Phillies started number one prospect
at shortstop, number 11 prospect
at second base, and number 13 prospect
at first base. The trio looked smooth in the field, turning several double plays before subbing out for the backups.
In a perfect world, Crawford and Kingery become the next version of Rollins and Utley, roaming the middle infield for years to come as the Phillies return to prominence. Hoskins blasted 38 home runs last year and is potentially close to challenging
for the full-time first baseman job.
Whether they pan out as prospects will play out over the next couple years, but for today it was fun to dream.
Cozens blasted a home run to deep center field, displaying the power that allowed him to hit 40 home runs last season and climb all the way up to the no. 9 prospect in the Phillies system. One encouraging sign from Cozens home run is that it was against a left-handed pitcher. The hulking lefty slugger struggled significantly against left-handed pitchers and much of his power was attributed to hitter-friendly Reading First Energy Park. If you watched his home run on Thursday, it didn’t look like the result of a hitter-friendly ballpark.
Even though it was a meaningless scrimmage against a Division II team, seeing the Phillies back on a baseball field was a welcome sight.
For the first season in a while, there is legitimate cause to be excited about the 2017 Phillies and the Phillies laundry list of top prospects.
Next: What to Do About Pete Mackanin?
And this season didn’t start out like the depressing 2015 season, when the Phillies lost to Tampa, 6-2.
All in all, it was an exciting first look at the 2017 Phillies prospects, many of which could be joining the big league squad shortly.