An inside look at the Phillies top prospects.
(MLBPipeline lists the top 30 prospects on each team’s website. While biding time waiting for baseball to resume, Steve Potter will provide his views of these young players. A Clearwater resident, his passion is seeing and following these prospects in person. Normally, Spectrum Field and Carpenter Complex are his second homes. His 4th Annual Phillies Minor League Digest is on sale at www.amazon.com.)
LHP Damon Jones
Phillies #14 prospect according to MLB.com … 25 years old … 2017 18th round selection out of Washington State University ...
We got our first glimpse of Damon on the hill in 2018 minor league spring training, he had a very good camp and earned a spot in the Lakewood starting rotation to open that season. Jones showed a power mix as a Blue Claw with a 95-96 mph fast ball and an excellent curve that often is his out pitch.
He pitched at three levels in 2019, dominating at Clearwater and Reading before finishing up with Lehigh Valley. Damon introduced a changeup to his repertoire during the season and continues to refine a slider. He’s a very intelligent young man ... one who takes full advantage of video and data to improve his game by studying release point, grips, spin rates, etc. In a conversation we had this spring he explained how he incorporates the technology into his training to build consistency and improve upon weaknesses ... I was very impressed with the plan.
Projection : Damon has an athletic build at 6’5” 225 with two top pitches that have excellent movement and bite. I think he could be a strikeout weapon in the show right now as a reliever. As he continues to develop his change up and slider a four pitch mix certainly puts him in the equation as a big league starter. Harnessing control and command consistently is one task at hand but he’s a craftsman with both mental and physical tools, no doubt we will see him in the show at some point ... just a matter of when.
