Phillies’ Draft Targets at No. 17: RHP Brock Porter
With the MLB First-Year Player Draft just over six weeks away, it is time to get familiar with some prospects the Phillies could have their eyes on in the first round. The Phillies pick in the middle of the first round at 17th overall. They have picked at 17 twice before, in 1976 and 2002. In 1976, they selected Jeff Kraus, a shortstop from Lakewood High School in California. Kraus never reached the majors and was out of baseball after five years, never reaching higher than AA. In 2002, the Phillies struck gold with LHP Cole Hamels. Hamels went on to win a World Series, World Series MVP, four-time All-Star (three with PHI), and been involved in two no-hitters throughout his career.
The Phillies have selected right-handed high school pitchers in the last two drafts. In 2020, they took Mick Abel 15th from Jesuit High School in Oregon. Last year, they took Andrew Painter 13th from Calvary Christian Academy in Florida, where Roy Halladay used to coach and where his son, Braden went to high school. Neither of those arms are projected to reach the majors until at least 2024, but both have had nice starts to their professional careers.
Assuming the Phillies are building their pipeline with high school pitchers, the first prospect the Phillies should be looking at is Brock Porter. Porter attends Orchard St. Mary’s in Michigan and is currently committed to Clemson University. He stands at 6’4” and is the reigning Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Michigan after going 12-0 with a 0.56 ERA in 2021. He also struck out 126 batters in 62.1 innings. That translates to 18.2 K/9.
Porter’s repertoire features a fastball that sits 94-97 that can touch 100, a changeup that has been identified as one of the best in the draft, a slider that gets up to 87, and a 12-6 curve that has been steadily improving and can sit high 70’s. He generates so much velocity with light effort which minimizes his risk of a serious arm injury in the future.
His four-pitch mix and high velocity have scouts across the country excited about his potential. He also commands his pitches very well, as evidenced by the insane amount of strikeouts he put up as a junior in high school. These qualities make Porter the top-ranked pitched in the draft. Due to the class being loaded with hitters, Porter ranks 10th overall according to MLB.com
They need him to fall quite a bit to get to them, or they need him to be taken earlier because two of the picks in between 10 and 17 belong to the New York Mets. Porter is likely to be taken between eighth and 12th overall in this year’s MLB draft.
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