Maikel Franco has quickly caught plenty of attention around minor league baseball. The Dominican Republic native, whose name is pronounced similarly to Miquel, was signed by the Phillies in 2010 as an amateur free agent.

The 6-foot-1-inch 180-pounder began his pro career with the Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2010. As that club’s everyday third baseman, Franco posted respectable numbers for a 17-year-old making his professional debut (.222/.292/.330). It was Franco’s defense, however, that immediately began to get him noticed. With excellent reflexes and a top notch arm at the hot corner, Franco impressed many in his U.S. debut.

A year later, Franco began the season in extended spring training and later competed with the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters. The righty hitting Franco looked great against NY-Penn League competition, posting 2 homers, 28 RBI and a .274/.339/.389 line in 42 games before earning a promotion to Class A Lakewood.

As an 18-year-old in the South Atlantic League, the baby-faced Franco struggled mightily. In 17 games for the BlueClaws, the Dominican born prospect went 8-for-67 (.123 avg) and racked up a weak .349 OPS. The Phillies realized Franco was overmatched and that he was growing discouraged, so he was re-assigned back to Williamsport, where he finished the season by batting .333 with 7 extra base hits and 10 RBI over his final 13 games with the Crosscutters.

One definite plus about Franco’s time with Lakewood was that he made no errors in those 17 games. However, striking out 15 times while walking only once in 17 games for the ‘Claws, compared to 30 K’s and earning 25 free passes in 54 games for the ‘Cutters screamed of Franco not being quite ready for the older pitchers of the SAL.

With no career stolen base attempts in two pro seasons, speed is not a facet of Franco’s game.

Mickey Morandini, who managed Franco with Williamsport in 2011 and will surely be reunited with him in Lakewood in 2012, as Morandini was promoted up a level this off-season, describes Franco as being relied on as a middle-of-the-lineup RBI guy. Morandini feels Franco projects as a power bat, as he fills out physically and climbs the developmental ladder.

Still very young – 19 years old until the end of August – Franco is in a great spot to land among the top tier of prospects if he can prove himself offensively at the full season Class A level this year.

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Jay Floyd is PhilliesNation’s minor league insider. You can read more from Jay by visiting his site, PhoulBallz.com.

Righty hurler David Buchanan has proven himself as a guy on the fast track upward in the developmental ranks. The 22-year-old ripped through Class A South Atlantic League competition, leading his manager, former big leaguer Chris Truby to describe him as “the most consistent pitcher in the league”.

The Lakewood BlueClaws’ horse became the starting pitcher for the SAL Northern Division All-Star team in 2011. In 20 starts, Buchanan went 11-5 with a 3.38 ERA and a .246 batting average against with Lakewood before being promoted for the final month of the season. As a member of the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers, Buchanan posted considerable numbers through his first five outings, sporting a 3-1 record with a 3.07 ERA. A weak final start to his 2011 campaign (4 ER, 8 hits, 3 innings) largely effected his Clearwater stats.

The 6-foot-3-inch 190-pounder used his sweeping delivery and an arsenal of a fastball that registers in the low-90′s, a developing slider and a solid sinker to tally strong stats in his first full professional season. The sinking two-seamer helps him live up to the billing of being a ground ball pitcher, something that could prove valuable as he moves up the developmental ranks.

The modest Georgia native attributes his promising success to date to his coaches, other Phillies instructors as well as the defense that plays behind him during each outing.

Selected by the Phillies in the 7th round of the 2010 amateur draft, the man jokingly referred as “Buck Nasty” by his teammates made his pro debut that same year as a member of the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters. He posted a 3-1 record with a 4.21 ERA in 13 starts. His questionable control at that level (30 strike outs/23 walks in 62 innings) led to some necessary adjustments to his delivery. As Buchanan showed tendencies to get ahead of himself, rush through his motions and to over-analyze situations, Lakewood pitching coach Steve Schrenk would often stress the need for the youngster to slow things down on the mound and to pitch with a clean mental slate. That focus resulted in a much improved strike out to walk ratio (110 strike outs/43 walks in 157 1/3 innings) at two levels last year.

Growing up as a Braves fan, Buchanan was a major fan of pitchers like John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. These days, he’s most impressed by a hurler in the Phillies organization that he hopes to share a locker room with some day…Roy Halladay.

Buchanan was originally selected by the Mets in the 6th round of the 2009 draft, but chose not to sign. Instead, he transferred from Chipola Junior College in Florida to Georgia State University, where he became that school’s highest drafted baseball player ever.

Looking forward to 2012, Buchanan could benefit from a full season in the Florida State League, where he’ll be reunited with promoted skipper Truby and strive to impress organizational brass once again. Buchanan projects as a finesse starter at higher levels. Progress will determine how far up the ladder he goes.
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2012 Countdown thus far…
#23- Garett Claypool
#24- Cameron Rupp
#25- Austin Wright & Aaron Altherr (tie)

Jay Floyd is PhilliesNation’s minor league insider.  You can read more from Jay by visiting his site, PhoulBallz.com.

A blazing hot second half of his 2011 season solidified a spot on this list for catching prospect Cameron Rupp. Following a feeble opening half last season in which he sported a .219 batting average with 2 homeruns and 13 RBI in 48 games, Rupp exploded after the All-Star break, batting .318 with 2 homeruns and 31 RBI in 51 games.

Selected in the 3rd round of the 2010 amateur draft out of the University of Texas, Rupp made his professional debut with the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters that season. In 55 games in 2010, Rupp posted a .218 batting average with 5 homeruns and 28 RBI against NY-Penn League competition.

Praised for his work ethic on defense, his strong throwing arm, his solid footwork and especially for his ability to lead, Rupp is quickly becoming the complete package on that side of the game.

Last season, the 6-foot-2-inch 230-pound Rupp helped a developing collection of young pitchers like David Buchanan, Garett Claypool and Lisalberto Bonilla make their marks in a tough South Atlantic League. Each of those hurlers were named as All-Stars, but each attributed credit to their battery mate for guiding them to such heights.

The 23-year-old Plano, TX native was perhaps a victim of a heavy workload at times during 2011, due to injuries suffered by his back ups, Jeff Lanning and Torre Langley. In leagues where pitchers and other position players get days off and/or certain amounts of down time, catchers are counted on to work with pitchers for their side sessions daily, before batting practice and other team activities. Rupp finally adapted to the daily grind in the latter portion of his first full season in the minors.

Confidence was the biggest key for Rupp, although, according to Lakewood hitting coach Greg Legg, he did tweak his offensive approach a shade, after his early season struggles. Throughout last summer, Rupp and Legg worked closely together, shortening his swing and improving his load. On top of those minor adjustments, Rupp’s focus at the plate became more sharp. All of that translated into a string of success that snowballed and helped Rupp raise his season OPS 87 points in the second half of the season.

Look for Rupp, whose father Kevin pitched in the Montreal organization during his playing days in the 1970′s, to begin the season with Class A Advanced Clearwater in 2012. Clearly positioned behind highly-regarded catching prospect Sebastian Valle, on the organization’s developmental rankings, Rupp will get every opportunity to shine, as he tries to play catch up to the talented Mexican that is twenty-two months his junior.

If his hitting can follow the other facets of his game and improve to impressive levels, Rupp will be a prospect that other teams come calling for this summer.
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Jay Floyd is PhilliesNation’s minor league insider. You can read more from Jay by visiting his site, PhoulBallz.com.

Recently, we took a look at the return the Phillies acquired when they traded Cliff Lee to Seattle in December 2009. So why not take an updated look at the talent the Phillies traded away to obtain Roy Halladay?

The biggest key to the deal with Toronto was righty hurler Kyle Drabek, who made the Blue Jays’ opening day roster this season. The Phillies’ first-round draft selection from 2006, Drabek was a force in the minors after bouncing back from Tommy John surgery in 2008, posting a 13-6 record and a 3.03 ERA in 33 outings from 2008-2009 at four levels of the Phillies’ developmental system.

After joining the Toronto organization, Drabek had a strong 2010 with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, leading the team to the post-season with a 14-9 record and a 2.94 ERA. The 6-foot-1-righty rode that string of success right into a September call-up, making three starts for Toronto, all of which he lost.

In an exclusive interview last August, Drabek stated that he felt he was ready for Major League competition, however this season, he has struggled. He lasted on the Blue Jays’ big league roster until mid-June, but was demoted to Triple-A Las Vegas after getting torched to the tune of a 15.30 ERA and a .404 batting average against in his final 3 starts. Things haven’t gotten better for the 23-year-old as a member of the 51′s in the Pacific Coast League. Through 14 starts at the Triple A level, Drabek has gone 4-4 with a 7.41 ERA and a .361 opponent’s batting average.

While the young fireballer isn’t a bust quite yet, he certainly hasn’t had the sort of impact over the past 12 months that Toronto fans would have hoped for.

Another highly regarded prospect in that trade was catcher Travis d’Arnaud, also a 1st round draft pick by the Phillies (supplemental round, 2007). The 6-foot-2-inch 195-pound California native was already among the top ranked prospects in the Philadelphia organization before he helped lead the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws to their first of two consecutive championship. Guiding the pitching staff and leading the team in RBI with 71, d’Arnaud rode a trophy clinching high into an off-season that would see him change affiliations.

Since joining the Blue Jays organization, d’Arnaud has been on a steady rise upward, spending an entire season each at Class-A Advanced in 2010 and at the Double-A level in 2011. After having missed some time last season due to injury and posting a .256 average with 6 HR and 38 RBI in 71 games, d’Arnaud really exploded as an offensive force this year. En route to locking down the Eastern League MVP Award, d’Arnaud produced for the playoff bound New Hampshire Fisher Cats, batting .313, mashing 20 HR and driving in 77 runs through 112 games.

Speaking this week about his career high power numbers, d’Arnaud credited his hitting coach, Justin Mashore with helping him maintain a steady approach.

“(The difference this year has been) me and Mashore, just banging it out every day, making sure I stay consistent with my swing and my approach,” d’Arnaud said. “And that’s pretty much it, I mean I don’t try to hit homeruns. I think before I would try and it’s harder to try to do it instead of just accidentally running into one. And this year, I ran into twenty of them and I still can’t believe I have twenty. I feel like a little kid. I always feel like a kid, but I still can’t believe it.”

d’Arnaud’s brother Chase made his Major League debut with the Pirates this year, so Travis is hoping to accomplish the same feat soon.

The third piece in that deal was outfielder Michael Taylor, who was quickly flipped by Toronto to Oakland for first baseman Brett Wallace.

In the Athletics system, Taylor, who will turn 26-years-old this coming offseason, has spent two seasons with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats.

In the PCL last year, Taylor posted a .272 average with 6 HR and 78 RBI in 127 games just a year after his .320 avg/20 HR/84 RBI season with the Double-A Reading Phillies. Clearly a step back.

This season, having missed some time due to injury, Taylor’s average is the same at .272 through 92 games, but his power seems to have bounced back a bit, as he has slugged 15 homers.

While some of the future stars that Philadelphia gave up for Roy Halladay have fizzled and others have shown bust-out progress, the Phillies have clearly seen the Toronto deal pay off. Halladay has won one NL Cy Young, is a frontrunner for a second straight, and has wrecked the competition in nearly every start.

Stay tuned early next week for a current look at the prospects traded for Roy Oswalt.
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Jay Floyd is PhilliesNation’s minor league insider. You can read more from Jay by visiting his site, PhoulBallz.com.