4. Jhailyn Ortiz, OF
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 11/18/1998 (19)
2017 teams/levels played for: short-season A-ball Williamsport Crosscutters
2017 Stats: .302/.401/.560, 187 PA, 8 HR, 5 SB, 18/47 BB/K
Info: A giant of a human being, even at 16, Ortiz drew a $4M+ bonus from the Philadelphia Phillies when they signed him from the Dominican in 2015.
In spite of a frame in the 6’3-6’4 range with a solid 220+ pounds of chiseled muscle, Ortiz is more than just a behemoth as he’s been one of the better athletes on the field on each team he’s been on thus far in his pro career, which is incredible at his size.
Ortiz is never going to be a guy who steals a bunch of bases as he does take a few steps to get up to his above-average speed, but he should be a solid right fielder with his plus arm and underway speed to track down balls.
The booming bat from the right side of the plate will always be Ortiz’s calling card. He has legit double-plus raw power, at least a 65 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale, and plenty of scouts dropping a pure 80 on his power, one of 2-3 guys in all of the minor leagues who get that grade on their power.
His ability to control the strike zone and make consistent contact will determine whether he’s just a swing-and-miss miss slugger or a dominating middle-of-the-order force for years to come for the Philadelphia Phillies. His first taste of full-season ball will come in 2018.
3. Scott Kingery, 2B
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 4/29/1994 (23)
2017 teams/levels played for: AA Reading Fightin Phils, AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs
2017 Stats: .304/.359/.530, 603 PA, 26 HR, 29 SB, 41/109 BB/K
Info: Kingery got big-time baseball exposure at a young age, playing up the middle with his twin brother on a team that went to the Little League World Series in 2006. He then had the experience of walking on at the University of Arizona to play college baseball, working hard enough to become the conference player of the year his draft season before being selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2nd round of the 2015 draft.
Kingery continued his hard work in building himself into more than others would expect in 2017, as he hit 5 times as many home runs in 2017 as he had in his first two pro seasons combined. He also put in a significant amount of work on his defense, turning himself into a fringe defender when he came into pro ball to a guy that some scouts consider a plus defender in spite of a below-average arm.
Kingery didn’t have quite the same home run power in AAA, and it’d be a farce to expect him to be a 25 home run guy in the major leagues, but he certainly could be a guy who pounded the gaps with 30 doubles, 10-15 home runs, and 20+ steals along with plus defense at second.
While many fans see the big minor league numbers in 2017 and want to see Kingery up in 2018 immediately, he will likely open the season in AAA, but he should factor into the Philadelphia Phillies lineup by the end of the season.
Next: #1 and #2