A.J. Puk’s Slow Start With Florida Gators Should Change MLB Draft Direction Of Philadelphia Phillies

Odd how a few months changes everything, but the Philadelphia Phillies have a lot invested in the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft, and now someone they had targeted no longer appears to be on the radar.

That person, 6-foot-7, 230-pound left-hander A.J. Puk of the Florida Gators, might not be the first pick after all and fans can blame it on the start of the college baseball season. The first pick should be dominating on the college level and Puk — after a solid season last year — has a very pedestrian 2-2 record with 55 strikeouts in 41 innings and a 3.07 ERA. Compare that to the record of 2014 first-round pick Aaron Nola at another SEC school, LSU. Nola finished that regular reason with a 10-1 overall record and a 2.14 ERA, and the Phillies made him the sixth overall pick in that first round. He is now the Phillies’ No. 2 starter, behind Vince Velasquez.

Armed with that knowledge, the Phillies and specifically GM Matt Klentak, are entertaining the thought of drafting a high school pitcher No. 1 overall, Jason Groome of Barnegat (NJ). Groome had been ineligible to compete in high school because his transfer to Barnegat from IMG Academy in Florida was ruled for athletic reasons. He had to sit out the first 30 days and will return to the lineup this Saturday. That makes this pick a more dangerous than usual because, unlike Puk, there are no stats to go on this year. If the Phillies were to select a pitcher from Florida, Puk’s teammate, Logan Shore, could be a better option. He’s 8-0 with a 2.14 ERA with four shutouts and 63 strikeouts in the same amount of innings.

While the Phillies have had success drafting high-end college players like Nola, their track record is very sketchy with high school picks. In 2011 they drafted a slugger out of Georgia named Larry Greene at No. 1, and he is now out of baseball. Their No. 1 pick last year, another Georgia high school slugger, Cornelius Randolph, is struggling at low Single-A Lakewood (NJ).

Maybe Puk will get it together over the next month or so and re-enter the Phillies’ thought process, but right now, time is not on his side.