A new scouting director brought a change in the Phillies' approach in the Major League Baseball draft on Wednesday night.
After five consecutive years of selecting a hitter in the first round under erstwhile scouting director Johnny Almaraz, the Phillies went with a high-school pitcher, plucking right-hander Mick Abel from Jesuit High School in Portland, Ore.
Brian Barber, hired away from the New York Yankees in October to run the Phillies' amateur scouting department, said last week that he wouldn't shy away from a high-school arm if he believed in the talent. In 1991, Barber was drafted as a pitcher out of high school by the St. Louis Cardinals.
"You take the college position player and you have three years of statistics and three years of analytics and three years of data, so the comfort level in what you're going to get is ultimately higher than, say, a high school pitcher," Barber said. "But there's some really good high school guys that were drafted as high school pitchers that are in the major leagues as well. I do not want to walk by the right guy just on a personal philosophy."
In a first round that was dominated early by college players _ the first seven players were from colleges _ Abel was regarded by some as the best high school pitcher available. The Phillies also didn't have the ability to watch Abel pitch this spring because high school seasons were canceled by the coronavirus.
Abel, 18, reportedly reaches the mid-90s with his fastball. At 6-foot-5, he has a sturdy frame. The development of his offspeed pitches, including a solid changeup, will determine his ceiling in the professional ranks.
The Phillies hadn't taken a pitcher in the first round since Aaron Nola (seventh overall) from LSU in 2014. The last time they selected a high-school pitcher with their first pick: 2012, when they took Shane Watson in the supplemental first round.
