Over the past five years, the emphasis on high-level prospects and player development has noticeably increased within the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
A primary reason for this was that the team was caught in the midst of one of their worst losing stretches in franchise history. The Phillies failed to have a winning record in seven straight seasons from 2012-18.
Because of this emphasis, Phillies fans began to familiarize themselves with minor league prospects more than in the past. In some cases even paying more attention to the minor league teams than they did the big-league squad, waiting for the best of those youngsters to emerge and turn around the club’s fortunes.