FCL Notebook: Phillies’ Aidan Miller, Tigers’ Kevin McGonigle Impress

Phillies

Aidan Miller, SS: The Phillies first-round pick in 2023, Miller is making his professional debut only about 20 miles south of where he played high school baseball. He started at shortstop in both games, hitting second in the lineup. In the first game Miller went 2-for-4 with a walk and hit four balls in play. In the second game Miller went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout. He showed good plate discipline and limited his swing-and-miss, showing the makings of an above-average or better hit tool. He showed some power as well, hitting the ball well to the outfield. One clear issue is his ability to cover the plate and the ability to hit the ball hard to his pull side. A majority of his contact was to the opposite field and he showed a clear preference for pitches on the outer half of the plate. Miller is physically strong but has room to add strength in the coming years. He showed solid actions at shortstop but is not particularly rangy. With physical projection looming in his frame and a lack of quick-twitch movements, Miller is likely to slide over to third base, where his arm is strong enough to handle the move. 

Avery Owusu-Asiedu, OF: Drafted in the ninth round out of Southern Illinois, Owusu-Asiedu is a physically impressive player. He’s a strong and athletic 6-foot-4, 230-pound center fielder who showed well in the outfield in both games. Owusu-Asiedu shows strong swing decisions and easy above-average to plus power, but there’s a fair amount of swing-and-miss that needs to be mitigated. He’s an average straight-line runner from a home-to-first perspective, but shows a long running stride that likely will translate to higher top-end sprint speeds. Owusu-Asiedu is an interesting prospect taken outside the top five rounds. His combination of easy power and tools makes him a player to monitor over the next few seasons. 

Kehden Hettiger, C: An Oregon commit out of the California prep ranks, Hettiger is an athletic catcher with some upside at the plate. His catch-and-throw skills were strong over a pair of looks, throwing out a runner on a 1.96-second pop time. In fact across the two games Hettiger threw out four of six would-be basestealers. At the plate, Hettiger has a smooth lefthanded swing with bat speed. He made contact in six of seven at-bats and in his single strikeout he was caught looking. There’s plenty of projection on both sides of the ball, it’s just a matter of adding further refinement while gaining strength. 

A.J. Shaver, OF: The outfielder was highly ranked as a high school player in Florida and spent two seasons at Florida State before transferring to Florida Southwestern JC. He hit .403/.468/.882 with 19 home runs and 28 stolen bases for the Buccaneers this spring, and has plenty of tools for a later-round Juco pick. The Phillies selected Shaver in the 17th round and he debuted a few weeks ago in the Florida Complex League. Shaver has a healthy amount of swing-and-miss but noticeable bat speed, twitch and running ability. He’s a strong athlete with loud tools but is a question mark when it comes to plate skills. He moved well out of the box and just missed a ball that he pulled foul. The tools were evident but he too often didn’t control at-bats and got into pitcher’s counts. He’s a tooled-up late-round pick with some upside if he can iron out his strikeout and approach issues. 

Raylin Heredia, OF: Heredia hit leadoff and played right field across a pair of games. He showed strong pitch recognition skills, discerning balls and strikes easily. In the first game Heredia walked three times, scoring twice with a stolen base. He showed heads-up baserunning and moved with above-average to plus speed. He handled right field well, but wasn’t particularly tested from a catch-and-throw perspective. There’s power in the bat due to bat speed, some loft in his path and further physical projection. Heredia will struggle with pitches on the inner half in a similar fashion to Miller, and seemed most comfortable attacking pitches that were located middle out. Heredia is an exciting young hitter with on-base ability and tools, and he’s produced some of the best statistics in the Florida Complex League this summer. 

Daniel Mejia, RHP: A tall, projectable righthander with feel for four pitches and more velocity left in the tank, Meija will not wow you with stuff, but has enjoyed a successful summer due to his deceptive sidearm slot and ability to stay on the edges of the zone and limit hard contact. He sat 89-91 mph on his sinker, though he did show a four-seam variation. He used his sinker to generate ground balls and set up his trio of secondaries. His best secondary was a low-to-mid-80s changeup with heavy tumble and fade. He shows two breaking ball shapes, a curveball with more depth and a slider with sweep. Neither breaking ball looked better than fringe-average but he showed the ability to land all of his pitches for strikes. Mejia is a limited upside strike-thrower with a deceptive arm slot. If he grows into more velocity he could raise his profile. 

Mavis Graves, LHP: Graves made his professional debut this summer in the Florida Complex League. The 6-foot-6, 205-pound lefthander has shown swing-and-miss stuff, but strikes have come at a premium for Graves. He uses a quartet of pitches, led by a four-seam fastball that sat 90-91 mph from a steep over-the-top slot. His secondaries consisted of a low-80s slider, an upper-70s curveball and a mid-80s changeup with heavy arm-side run. His fastball missed bats as did his low-80s slider, but he would struggle to land his pitches glove side. Graves looks like a potential lefthanded reliever long term. 

Ty Collins, RHP: An athletic righthander with a smooth delivery and a three-pitch mix, Collins was a 2021 16th-round pick out of Glendale (Calif.) JC and is spending his third season in the Florida Complex League. While Collins’ performance has been poor, he has a smooth delivery and showed solid shapes on his fastball, slider and changeup. In all likelihood Collins is simply a system player, but there’s certainly elements to like about his operation and pitch mix. 

Saul Teran, RHP: In the first viewing of the FCL Phillies, Teran came on to close out the game. An athletic righthander, Teran mixes a fringy four-seam fastball and a slider that flashed above-average. The pitch sat 84-85 mph and was getting readings of up to 12 inches of horizontal break. His delivery was smooth and easy as he delivered the ball from a three-quarter slot. Teran has pitched almost exclusively in one- to two-inning roles, but if he can add a few ticks onto his fastball and continue to command his breaking ball he has a chance to make it as a reliever. 

Tigers 

Kevin McGonigle, SS: A supplemental first-round pick for the Tigers this July, McGonigle made his professional debut on Aug. 3 at the Phillies Clearwater complex. He showed advanced feel for the zone and above-average bat-to-ball skills. He has a quick and compact lefthanded swing with loose hands and showed a smooth bat path and adjustability in his barrel. He’s a diminutive player with a boxy build but is likely shorter than his listed 5-foot-10. He made the start at shortstop and showed solid infield actions but is likely stretched from a throwing perspective at the shortstop position. He’s likely to move to second base long term, where he should settle in as an average or better defender. He clocked an above-average run time but is likely only an average runner. He has a hit tool-driven second base profile with a chance to get to average power due to bat speed and barrel control.

Josue Briceno, C: The catcher has shown up high on Dylan White’s Roboscout scores among Complex League hitters, but hasn’t received strong reviews in feedback from opposing scouts. Briceno started behind the plate in the Aug. 3 game against the FCL Phillies. He immediately stood out for his size and strength. At the plate he sets up open with an upright stance. He shows more strength and leverage than bat speed with fringy bat-to-ball skills. When he did make contact there was obvious strength in the barrel but it wasn’t as explosive as one would hope. Defensively he’s almost a certainty to move off of catcher, as he struggles to catch and throw as well as block balls in the dirt. Briceno gives the impression of a slow developing first base-only, DH type who will need to hit to survive in pro ball. 

John Peck, SS: The Tigers drafted the tooled-up shortstop in the seventh round out of Pepperdine. While Peck has struggled to perform up to his tools as an amateur there’s a lot to like. While Peck started at DH in the Aug. 3 game, his ability at shortstop is well known after a three-year career at Pepperdine and a summer in the Cape Cod League with Bourne. He’s added strength over the last year and still possesses plus bat speed. He showed patience at the plate and when he did make contact the ball jumped off the bat. In fact, Peck had a fly out at 105 mph in the game against the Phillies. It’s just a matter of how much contact Peck can make, as he has power, approach and real defensive skills.