Stephen’s a pleasant surprise in fall league

Josh Stephen continues to surprise even himself.

The outfielder, who spent all of 2019 at Double-A Reading, is doing quite well with the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League.

The 22-year-old has five hits in his first 14 at-bats (.357) with a triple, an RBI and three walks for the Scorpions (8-7).

Stephen, an 11th-round draft pick in 2016, was shocked to start this season at Reading, skipping High-A Clearwater. That was equaled by the surprise of how much — and how well — he played for manager Shawn Williams’ club (a .271/.342/.483 stats line with 47 extra-base hits and 47 RBIs in 113 games).

Most of the Phillies’ big-name prospects continue to do well for Scottsdale.

Alec Bohm, a 2018 first-round pick, is batting .390 (16-for-41) with three doubles, six RBIs and two walks to go with 10 strikeouts.

Infielder Nick Maton, a 2017 seventh-round pick batted .333 (4-for-12), with a double, home run and walk with six strikeouts before being shut down with an injury. Fellow infielder Jose Gomez is hitting .250 (1-for-4) with one RBI as Maton’s replacement.

Outfielder Mickey Moniak, a 2016 first-round pick, is batting just .171 (7-for-41) with two doubles, a triple, walk, stolen base and four RBIs to go with seven strikeouts.

Pitcher Connor Seabold continues to dominate. The 2017 third-round pick is 1-0 in three starts with a 0.75 ERA, 0.58 WHIP and 18 strikeouts in 12 innings.

Fellow starter Spencer Howard has a 2.79 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 13 strikeouts in three starts.

Class-A reliever Zach Warren allowed two earned runs on one hit and two walks in two-thirds of an inning in his lone outing.

Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com