Third-round pick Martin comes with tools ... and questions
There are a lot of things to like about the Phillies’ second day claims in the MLB Draft.
Considering they had to sit around and wait until the third round to finally claim another player, they should be happy with how it all turned out.
On the heels of drafting one of the best arms available Wednesday night, in high school pitcher Mick Abel, the Phillies Thursday went for a promising combination of speed and power in Arkansas shortstop Casey Martin.
They got the (optimistically) 5-11, 175-pound infielder with the No. 87 pick overall, not bad considering the Razorbacks junior was rated the 30th best player in the draft by MLB.com and 38th by Baseball America.
That’s larely because of the tools Martin possesses. He has speed to burn, and the ability (with some teaching) to become a topnotch base-stealer.
He also packs punch at the plate for his size. Nevertheless, the preseason AllAmerican struggled as a junior, slashing 271/.458/.386 earlier this year with two home runs in 59 at-bats before the pandemic shutdown.
Yet as a sophomore, he hit .286 with 15 homers and 57 RBIs, and as a freshman he surprised during a Razorbacks College World Series run by hitting .348.
That’s what had the scouts excited about Martin, who at one point was ranked as a potential midhigh first round prospect. But his struggles with breaking pitches this year and resultant high strikeout rate dropped him in the rankings, then he fell some more before the Phillies called his name at 87.
In the field, Martin has had his shaky moments, too, with 43 errors during his Arkansas career.
In a way, then, fans could look at his selection as a bit of a risky pick. But Martin is also considered one of the fastest, if not the fastest player that was on the board for the second day of the draft.
It’s that speed that has some observers thinking Martin may end up as a center fielder in the minors, a position always welcome in an organization. And what’s that old adage about you can’t teach speed? If he develops into even a semblance of a hitter capable of hitting major league breaking stuff, he could soon pay off.
The Phillies veered back toward the mound in the fourth round Thursday night, taking tall righthander Carson Ragsdale from the University of South Florida.
He’s one of an ever-growing legion of pitching prospects supposedly strengthened under the knife, having Tommy John surgery as a junior in 2019. He seemed to bounce back nicely as a 6-foot-8, 225-pound redshirt senior, leading the Bulls with 27 strikeouts when the coronavirus snuffed the 2020 season. He logged a 2.84 ERA in 19 innings this year, both as a starter and reliever.
With their third and final pick of the night, the Phillies went for Baron Radcliff, 21, a 6-4, 228-pound outfielder from Georgia Tech.