It is no secret the Phillies farm system is stacked with outfield prospects, which explains why nine of the players on the Phillies’ top 30 prospects are outfielders. Our focus for this third edition of prospect watch is 20-year-old outfielder, Carlos Tocci, who is ranked as the organization’s 14th best prospect and is currently playing for the Phillies single-A team, the Clearwater Threshers.
The Phillies signed Tocci when he was 16-years-old as an non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela and he is arguably one of the Phillies best young hitters in their entire farm system. In 69 games with the Threshers this year, Tocci is batting .287 with one home run, 27 RBI’s, and he has also stolen 11 bases with his solid speed. Tocci is ninth in the Florida State league in average and he is second in the league in hits with 77. Carlos Tocci has been hitting out of his mind lately, currently with an 11-game hitting streak where he is batting .469 during the streak, including a game last night in which Tocci went five for six with a double, two RBI’s, two runs scored and a stolen base.
Tocci has taken over the leadoff spot for the Threshers and he has thrived ever since he’s been moved up in the 0rder. The one problem with Tocci is his lack of strength, which causes him to wear down towards the end of seasons. The big key for him will be continuing to add strength so he can hold up for a full season and the Phillies believe he will. Aside from that, the rest of Tocci’s game is fine because he can flat out hit, above-average defender in centerfield with a solid arm, and he can run pretty well.
Tocci, if he keeps adding strength, can still potentially become an everyday centerfielder, but where he’s at right now, he looks like more of a fourth outfielder for the moment. His expected arrival time to the majors is 2018 as it is for a lot of the Phillies top prospects and it will be interesting to see what the organization does with all of this young talent they have, especially at the outfield positions.
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