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The Houston Astros Next Top Prospect is Brett Phillips

By Eric Huysman |
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Earlier in the offseason I asked a question, who would be the next top prospect after Carlos Correa and Mark Appel are promoted to the big leagues. You can find the original post here, Astros Prospects: Next Top Prospect After Carlos Correa. Looking at the rankings of the  Houston Astros top prospects at the time, the top three prospects at the time were Vincent Velasquez, Michael Feliz, and Brett Phillips.

Velasquez has done a great job this year pitching with the Astros, and will continue to improve his pitches to avoid the high pitch count due to foul balls. Feliz has been back and forth between Double-A and the Astros but has only made one appearance out of the bullpen for the Astros. While those two have great potential, the best of them is still at Double-A and has not made an appearance with the Astros yet. The next top prospect is Brett Phillips, who would like to go by his middle name, Maverick.

I might be a little biased with this guy because he was the first player to interact with me on Twitter, and we have stayed in contact since. I may over-hype this guy at times, but he does the talking mostly with his play. He made the Single-A California League All-Star team and was told shortly after the game that he would be promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks.

You can find some of my posts including interviews, below.

The Rise of Astros Prospect Brett Phillips

Stealing Second with Astros Prospect Brett Phillips (with/interview)

Keeping Up with the Astros Prospects: Brett Phillips

Keeping up With Astros Prospects: Brett Phillips

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Next: High School and Minors Stats

High School and Minors Stats

High School Seminole High School (Florida)

Phillips made the Varsity team during his sophomore season after playing JV his freshman year. In high school, he didn’t show much power in terms of home runs, but he did show plus average and on-base skills. He also showed some speed, especially in his sophomore season with 11 steals on the season in 14 tries.

The stats below are from MaxPreps, which can be found here.

The Astros then drafted Phillips in the 2012 MLB draft in the sixth round out of high school. He was drafted in the same class as Preston Tucker, Lance McCullers, Correa, and Rio Ruiz. While he may not be top of that class, now that they have all found their way to Houston (or traded to the Braves), he should supplant Correa as the top prospect.

Minors

Below is Phillips’ timeline through the minors from Baseball-Reference.

Coming out of high school at the age of 18, Phillips started in the rookie ranks and has moved up to Corpus Christi Hooks at the time of writing this post.

Let’s take a look at his stats so far in the minor leagues from Baseball-Reference.

Looking at his progression, he really didn’t start to blossom until 2014, where he was the Astros Minor League hitter of the year. The biggest jump is in home runs, where he hit zero in his first two years, then exploded for 17 the next year. His on-base percentage has stayed fairly constant but took a dip so far in 2015. Despite the drop in on-base percentage, his slugging percentage is rising in 2015. Phillips can hit for average, power, and speed.

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Next: Scouting Report and Trading Block

Scouting Report and Trading Block

Brett Phillips

Photo by @QCBanditPhotog.

Scouting Report

More from Prospects

The information comes from the scouting report of Bernie Pleskoff: Phillips has been called a five-tool player, with his power tool developing over the past few years. His on-base skill will probably make him be a top of the order hitter. He has the body of a centerfielder and plays better as the take charge person of the outfield. His arm will be strong, especially if you pair him up with George Springer in right field.

He has a strong upper body that should allow him to hit about 20 home runs, which you can see from his stats this year that it is possible. He is patient at the plate and should hit for a decent batting average once he reaches the big leagues. He has speed and a good first step, but he needs to work on his instincts. Jeff Bagwell didn’t have the best speed, but he was able to steal based on instincts. Phillips will learn this with time.

Overall, he will be a great defensive hitter who can hit at the top of the order in front of Jose Altuve, Correa, Springer, and A.J. Reed (down the road). Put this bat in the front of the current Astros lineup, and he will get on base and steal second ahead of the big hitters.

On the Trading Block?

The bad news is that Phillips could be used as the main trade piece in a trade to get a pitcher like Johnny Cueto, Tyson Ross, Scott Kazmir, and Cole Hamels. The Astros are stocked at the outfield for the future with Derek Fisher, Daz Cameron, and Kyle Tucker, so unfortunately the Astros could see Phillips as expendable. This decision would be a mistake because this guy can play baseball.

I would rather the Astros trade Preston Tucker, Domingo Santana, or L.J. Hoes before Phillips, but it’s a decision that Jeff Luhnow will have to weigh before making a trade. The Astros should consider bringing up Phillips until Springer returns because he could serve as the spark plug that they are currently missing. Should he survive July, he will be the top Astros prospect.

Next: Houston Astros Rumors: Padres make James Shields available

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