Phillies Nation

Prospect Rankings No. 7: Joe Savery

Posted by Ben Seal, Mon, September 21, 2009 06:30 PM

Joe Savery, LHP

Born: 11/4/1985 in Houston, Texas

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 215

Coming out of high school in 2004, Joe Savery was drafted by the Dodgers in the 15^th round. Rather sign with L.A. he chose to attend Rice to play college baseball and entered the draft again in 2007. The time at Rice paid off for Savery, as the Phillies picked him 19^th overall in the first round, placing immediate expectations on the lefty. So far in the minors he has shown both the talent that made him a first-rounder and some inconsistencies that make his future with the club a little less clear than many would like.

Savery works with a fastball in the low-90s, one that he can control well on either side of the plate when he is on his game. He throws a slider that still needs plenty of improvement to become a Major League pitch, but makes up for that with an excellent changeup. Savery’s change sinks low and away to right-handed batters and is his best pitch. The changeup will be his bread and butter once he can make the rest of his stuff rise up to meet it. Though his control is top-notch when he is on, Savery too often finds himself struggling to locate and command his pitches, making them ineffective. He also throws only a four-seam fastball with minimal life, one that does not profile as much of an out pitch.

When he jumped out to a 12-4 record this year at Reading before being called up to Lehigh Valley, Savery became a need-to-know prospect. The peripheral stats weren’t anything spectacular – a 4.41 ERA at Reading – but winning games is the goal, and he certainly knows how to do that. He didn’t look great at triple-A after the call-up, but there is reason to assume a full season at that level will benefit him next  year. He has the pitches and makeup to find greater success next season, which will be make-or-break year for Savery. He is still just 23 and should be given at least another year to put it all together and show why he was a first-round pick. If he does, it should be an exciting year on the farm in 2010.

Savery’s stock may be falling after it reached its high point earlier this summer, but what he has shown above all else is an ability to win baseball games, and if that translates to the Majors then he is deserving of a spot in the Top Ten. He has a great build and is experienced, and after three years in the system he is the Phillies best left-handed starting prospect.

Statistics

Year   Level   W   L   ERA   IP     H   ER   BB   K    K/9

2007   A-      2   3   2.73  26.1   22   8   13   22   7.5

2008   A+     9   10  4.13  150.1 171  69  60  122   7.3

2009   AA    12   4   4.41  112.1  111 55  53   77    6.2

2009   AAA   4   2    4.38  39.0   42   19   24   19   4.4

Rankings – All previous prospect profiles can be found here, which is also on the left sidebar for easy viewing

7.   Joe Savery, LHP
8.   Vance Worley, RHP
9.   Sebastian Valle, C
10.  Mike Stutes, RHP
11.  Antonio Bastardo, LHP
12.  Anthony Gose, OF
13.  Colby Shreve, RHP
14.  Anthony Hewitt, 3B
15.  Justin De Fratus, RHP
16.  Sergio Escalona, LHP
17.  Yohan Flande, LHP
18.  Julian Sampson, RHP
19.  John Mayberry, Jr., OF
20.  Mike Cisco, RHP
21.  Freddy Galvis, SS
22.  Jonathan Pettibone, RHP
23.  Domingo Santana, OF
24.  Jonathan Singleton, 1B
25.  Drew Naylor, RHP

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