Two among the top fifteen even
One of the more respected prospect coverages that is freely available to the public is found on the pages of Fangraphs. Written by one man wrecking crew Eric Longenhagen, with supplemental work done by others around him, the top 100 prospects in the game as seen through their eyes was published today and the Phillies rather well.
The team had three prospects ranked there, maybe the three you were thinking of, maybe not.
6. Andrew Painter
15. Aidan Miller
74. Moises Chace
We have already seen this trio of young players show up in our own Community Prospect List voting totals, so they’re not new. The top two of Painter and Miller are as highly regarded a pair of prospects as you’ll find around the game. Seeing Chace included should not be a surprise had you been following his stock on the rise around the publicly available lists in the game. There is still no Justin Crawford or Eduardo Tait listed here, but another solid season by both could see them moving up the lists, particularly if that solid season comes against more difficult leagues up the minor league ladder.
The team does not have quite the star-quality depth as other teams that see their name showing up, but at least they have two three names here that show some growth in the system. There needs to be more as the roster starts to age and needs to be supplemented by younger (re: cheaper) players. They would do well to start to develop players that help their floor rise a bit, something that teams like the Dodgers and Rays do well. For now, we’ll have to be content that they have some good prospects coming to help shortly.