4 Phillies' On Top 50 Midseason Prospects List, Crawford No. 1
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Phillies entered the season with an MLB most seven top-100 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline.
Fast forward to July 7th and the release of Baseball Prospectus' top-50 midseason prospect list. The Phils have four players on the list, including the No. 1 overall midseason prospect in shortstop J.P. Crawford.
Crawford's ceiling, according to BaseballProspectus.com, is a "perennial all-star." His floor is a "solid, everyday guy."
The other three Phillies' players on the list include outfielder Nick Williams (No. 23), right-hander Jake Thompson (No. 36), and catcher Jorge Alfaro (No. 43). All three of those players were acquired by former, and highly criticized, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. in a trade for Cole Hamels.
Williams was benched multiple times for not hustling in Triple-A and Phillies manager Pete Mackanin admitted he was "concerned" about the 22-year-old outfielder.
On Williams's downside, BP.com writes, "Well, he's probably not a center fielder. And he doesn't have that much power. The arm would limit him to left field, where tweener profiles go to die. It is also possible [Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs manager] Dave Brundage will just decide to never play him again, too."
You can see the full Baseball Prospectus' top-50 midseason prospect list here.