In the third installation of this series, I’m going to attempt to improve my selections and redress a past oversight. I’m also going to split things up so that the numbers can remain current. Today is #s 1-3.

By way of reminder, the ranking system is a pretty straight forward 1-5 star system. 5 stars is elite, 4 stars is good to great MLB regular, 3 stars is useful but not spectacular prospect, 2 stars is organizational soldier, and 1 star = non-prospect.

5 Star Athletes

1. Domonic Brown, age 22, STOCK UP: Brown is in the midst of an almost slump going 11 for 39 in his last 10 games. It’s probably a good sign that I’m calling a .766 OPS performance “an almost slump”.  Aside from that little update, there isn’t much new to say. Brown is continuing to impress scouts by showing power. He’ll will be considered MLB ready if he can continue to display this 25 homerun pace after a promotion to AAA. I assume that promotion is forthcoming. Knowing the Phillies, they will find a way to block him until mid-2011. Even with the power development, he still looks like a 4.5 Star prospect…

4 Star Athletes:

2. Jared Cosart, age 20, STOCK UP: Cosart has continued to battle a blister on his throwing hand. So long as it doesn’t become a Josh Beckett situation this is fine. It actually forces the Phillies to limit his workload at a time when they might be tempted to push him. He has 3 starts in June and has combined to pitch 20 innings while allowing 4 runs. He continues to show good strike zone numbers with 18 k’s against 6 walks in those starts. I haven’t gotten any new reports on his offspeed stuff so he’s still a 5 star upside, 3 star downside pitcher. If his secondary stuff develops, he has a good chance of being a mid-rotation pitcher or better. With his impressive 73/15 K/BB ratio in 63.2 innings, a promotion to Clearwater is probably on the horizon.

3 Star Athletes

3. Jonathan Singleton, age 18, STOCK UP: This is the oversight I mentioned. As a 17 year old in rookie ball, Singleton showed great plate discipline with 18 walks and 13 strikeouts in 119 PA’s. The power was underwhelming (but not entirely absent) with just two homeruns and nine doubles. He ended up with a triple slash of .290/.395/.420 which is a nice debut.

The Phillies recently decided to challenge Singleton by assigning him to low A Lakewood. Unlike fellow youngster Domingo Santana, Singleton has absolutely dominated the level. In 32 games (137 PA) he’s mashed and bashed his way to a .405/.496/.698 line with seven bombs, 21 walks, and 24 strikeouts. His battering of the Sally League has earned him nearly daily mention in Kevin Goldstein’s Prospect Watch. The Phillies are usually aggressive with their prospects in the lower levels so continued dominance from Singleton might result in a late season promotion to Clearwater. Singleton is flashing a 5 star bat right now and I was tempted to file this under the 4 star category.

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