Today: PHI Prospect Anthony Gose
Anthony Gose is a two-way player recently drafted out of Bellflower High School by the Philadelphia Phillies. Gose turned down a baseball scholarship to the University of Arizona in order to sign with the Phillies. Before being drafted in the second round (51st overall), Gose was both starting pitcher and off-day outfielder in high school, batting .443 as a senior with three home runs, 16 RBIs and 31 stolen bases in 54 games.
As a pitcher, he's a lefthander with the kind of easy, electric stuff that you'd expect from any high school pitcher drafted in the first round. Gose's fastball is a frightening 97mph, and he's already got a working hard curve and pretty good straight change to go with it. On the mound in high school, Gose was known for being a very fast worker, taking almost no time between pitches and grinding batters down quickly.
Gose takes only three of four warm-up pitches between innings and works so quickly he often appears to be winding up for a pitch before he’s received the ball back from the catcher from the previous pitch. After one foul ball, Gose caught the new ball from the umpire with his bare pitching hand. While he can't maintain his 97mph heat for an entire game, he does stay above 90 even after many innings, which means he's a viable starter. Some scouts, though, see his fastball and want to slot him in as a closer or shutdown lefty right away.
Despite the fact they have a 97mph lefty under contract, though, the Phillies are expected to first develop Gose as an outfielder, since that's a lower risk proposition and also one that Gose seems to prefer. In the field, Gose has plus speed and great range, a soft glove, and an absolute cannon of an arm. Even at 18 years old, he already projects as an everyday right-fielder in MLB. His raw speed should be a serious weapon on the basepaths, too, once he learns the art of stealing bases.
The main areas of concern that cools some scouts with Gose are his batting skills. With an unusual swing that seems to cause him to try to put every ball in the seats (he usually fails), coaches may attempt to break him down and rebuild him in a more conventional way. Gose has shown flashes of gap power but also an alarmingly high strikeout rate. If the Phillies can teach Gose to make a little more contact, he could develop into a terrific leadoff hitter with speed. If he continues to try to smash every baseball, though, he could be looking at a AAA career.
Of course, if he flames out as a hitter, there's always that 97mph fastball to fall back on. The Phillies have a nice set of choices here, with no real way to lose unless they give up early.
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