Phillies Cover Bases With Adam Haseley

The Phillies, under second-year general manager Matt Klentak, have committed to building an organization and ultimately a big league team that controls the strike zone on the mound and in the batter’s box.

So it was no surprise that with its first pick in the 2017 draft the club went for a player who does that well. Philadelphia selected Virginia outfielder Adam Haseley with the eighth overall selection.

The lefthanded-hitting Haseley is a contact machine with growing power and the ability to control the strike zone. He walked 44 times and struck out just 21 while hitting .390 with a .491 on-base percentage in 2017. He hit 14 homers—up from six as a sophomore—and added 16 doubles in 58 games. He also went 7-1, 3.58 in 11 starts on the mound, but will play outfield exclusively as a professional.

Phillies scouting director Johnny Almaraz said Haseley was a similar player to Mickey Moniak, the lefthanded-hitting center fielder that the club took No. 1 overall in 2016. Moniak is playing at low Class A Lakewood, and Haseley likely will join him there when he signs.

“I’m super-excited to get started,” the 21-year-old Floridian said.

The Phillies had an army of scouts at Haseley’s games this season. The team also considered Haseley’s Virginia teammate, first baseman Pavin Smith, who was selected one pick earlier by the Diamondbacks.

Almaraz raved about the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Haseley’s all-bases-covered skill set.

“He’s everything you look for in a hitter,” Almaraz said. “He’s a really good baseball player with outstanding ability and outstanding tools. He can run, throw, hit and hit for power. He has pull power and we see him as having the ability to be a 20-25-homer guy as he gets stronger.

“He also has incredible intangibles for the game, outstanding makeup, character, intelligence and field awareness. He’s really good.”