Heath Phillips

Organization Prospect Rankings

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  Ranked Chicago White Sox #12 prospect in 2007
  Phillips has been White Sox property since 2000, and they still don't know what they have in him. That's because the presence of five veteran starters plus Brandon McCarthy left no reason for Chicago to give him a big league audition in 2006, when he was the International League's pitcher of the year and beat both Canada and the Dominican Republic for Team USA in the Olympic qualifying tournament. He has earned 46 victories in the minors but gets overlooked because of underwhelming stuff. Some in the organization connsider him Mark Buehrle Lite, as he offers a similar collection of pitches but not quite as much velocity. Phillips relies on location and changing speeds. His closest thing to an out pitch is his changeup, though hitters can look for it because they know he can't blow them away with heat. He hits his spots with an 86-88 mph fastball and also has a cutter and a serviceable curveball. Like a young Buehrle, he works fast and takes advantage of baserunners who stray too far from first. Phillips led all IL pitchers with 16 basestealers caught on his watch, and the Sox credited him with a total of 20 pickoffs. He gets in trouble when he tries to muscle up with his fastball, causing it to straighten out. Phillips has nothing left to prove in Triple-A, but the White Sox don't have much of an opportunity for him either.
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  Ranked Chicago White Sox #25 prospect in 2003
  Don't judge Phillips by his 8-23 career record. He has pitched in bad luck for teams that have given him minimal run support. He led Sox minor leaguers with 179 innings in 2002 and was dominant at times, working five complete games with three shutouts. His polish in outings like those has prompted comparisons to Mark Buehrle, another quick study. But Phillips doesn't have quite the command that turned Buehrle into a big winner at a young age. He throws a lot of strikes with a high-80s fastball that has good movement, and a slider that keeps righthanded hitters off balance. It will be interesting to see how effective Phillips can be when he's on a strong team with a good bullpen. The Sox hope that situation presents itself when he arrives in Double-A this year.
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  Ranked Chicago White Sox #27 prospect in 2002
  Mark Buehrle and Corwin Malone weren't hyped when they came into the White Sox organization but appear destined to excel. Phillips, who like Buehrle pitched well immediately as a draft-and-follow, is positioned to follow in their footsteps. He was one of the top hitters and pitchers in the Florida junior colleges last spring in his lone season at Lake City (Fla.) CC. The organization's coaches say it's eerie how much Phillips reminds them of Buehrle. He arrived with surprising poise and polish, requiring only some fine-tuning to keep him from rushing his delivery. In his half-season in low Class A, Phillips had a 3-1 strikeout-walk ratio and a lower ERA than Buehrle had in his pro debut. Phillips' best pitches are a fastball that dances and a slider. Though the White Sox probably won't push him as quickly as they did Buehrle, who arrived in the majors in his second pro season, they won't be surprised if Phillips moves fast.