Arizona Fall League Report: Bohm, Seabold thriving

Minor League Baseball season may be over, but Arizona Fall League play is underway. The Philadelphia Phillies have six prospects in Major League Baseball’s premiere fall league this year — Alec Bohm, Mickey Moniak, Nick Maton, Spencer Howard, Connor Seabold and JoJo Romero. All six of those players join prospects of the Braves, Mets, Giants and Blue Jays to make up the Scottsdale Scorpians. Let’s take a look at how these Phillies farmhands are faring through five games.

Alec Bohm – Ranked as the Phillies No. 1 overall prospect by MLB.com, Bohm finds himself in the Fall League after putting together a tremendous season across three minor league levels (.305/.378/.518). He’s played in four of Scottsdale’s five games, and leads the team in batting average (.493) and hits (7). Bohm has seven hits in 16 at-bats, including two doubles. He’s driven in four runs and compiled nine total bases.

Spencer Howard – The top Phillies pitching prospect will make his second start for the Scorpians on Thursday night against Peoria. Following a season that saw him post a 2.03 ERA in 15 starts between four minor league affiliates, Howard tossed three scoreless innings in his AFL debut, allowing one hit while walking one and striking out two.

Nick Maton – A seventh round pick of the Phillies in 2017, Maton split time between Clearwater and Reading in 2019. He’s off to a strong start in Arizona, slashing .333/.385/.667 with a double, a home run and two RBIs. Maton isn’t necessarily known for his power, tallying just 17 homers in 286 minor legaue games.

Mickey Moniak – Philadelphia’s first round pick from 2016 had an up-and-down season in Reading, showing signs of promise while also having the same plate discipline problems that have been an issue with him since being drafted. After finishing the 2019 season with Reading hitting .195 over the final 10 games, his start to the Fall League hasn’t been any better. In five games, he has just three hits in 23 at-bats (.130).

JoJo Romero – Romero has gotten progressively worse as he’s worked his way up in the organization. He finished with a 2.16 ERA in 2017 between Lakewood and Clearwater. In 2018, that jumped to 3.80 in Double-A. During the 2019 season, he started 24 games between Reading and Lehigh Valley, going 7-9 with a 5.82 ERA. The opposition hit .286 against him. He’s appeared in two games out of the bullpen for Scottsdale, allowing one earned run in 3.1 innings (2.70). He’s walked three and struck out one.

Connor Seabold – The former 2017 third round pick posted a 2.24 ERA in 12 games (11 starts) this season between four minor league levels after missing the first chunk of the season due to injury. He went 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in seven starts for Double-A Reading and has picked up right where he left off in Arizona. In two starts, spanning seven scoreless innings, he’s allowed just one hit while striking out 10.

Phillies prospect Connor Seabold leads the Arizona Fall League with 10 strikeouts … He’s allowed just one hit in his seven innings with one walk … His ceiling is probably that of a backend rotation guy, but he’s been consistently up to 93 this year and in the AFL pic.twitter.com/a2JI6mMuDq

— Mitch Rupert (@Mitch_Rupert) September 26, 2019

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