After finishing dead last in Major League Baseball last season, with a 63-99 record, the Philadelphia Phillies will make the first selection in this year’s MLB Draft, scheduled for Thursday June 9 in Secaucus, NJ.
The Phillies’ dismal performance a year ago continues a trend that has seen the club post losing records in each of the past three seasons, and miss the MLB Postseason for four years running.
Not surprisingly, the Phillies enter the upcoming MLB season as distant longshots to claim their first World Series championship since 2008, pegged at a distant 200/1 in sports betting at Betway.
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Philadelphia management will be making their first MLB Draft selection from a stable of prospects heavy in pitching, including Jason Groome, a 17 year-old southpaw out of Barnegat High School in New Jersey, who is ranked No. 1 in MLB’s list of top draft prospects.
Groome, who is committed to play his college ball at Vanderbilt, has impressed scouts with an above average fastball and curveball, and at 6′ 6″, 220 lbs., will become an increasingly formidable presence on the mound as he continues to mature.
Ranked at No. 2 on the MLB top draft prospects list is another lefty, AJ Puk from the University of Florida.
The 20 year-old was originally drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 35th round of the 2013 MLB Draft, but chose to join the Gators instead of signing with the Tigers, and has since emerged as one of the top arms in this year’s draft class.
Puk is closely followed at No. 3 by Alec Hansen, a 21 year-old right-hander currently chewing up innings with the Oklahoma Sooners, who have emerged as a strong 8/1 bet to claim this year’s College World Series in NCAA baseball futures betting at Betway.
Hansen is another mammoth hurler, standing 6′ 7″ and 235 lbs, whose fastball has been clocked at over 97 MPH.
Originally selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 25th round of the 2013 draft, also receives above-average grades from scouts on his curveball, and a formidable slider that has been clocked in the mid-80s.
After the Phillies open this year’s draft with their top selection, the Cincinnati Reds are slated to pick second, followed by the Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, and Milwaukee Brewers.
The Reds, who finished just one game ahead of Philadelphia with 64 wins, return to action alongside the Rockies at a long 125/1 on the World Series odds at Betway, trailing the Braves, who sit at 100/1, and the Brewers, who sport much more respectable 66/1 World Series odds.
