Baseball America unveiled their Phillies Top Ten prospect list month (here), a list topped by 2017 BlueClaws pitcher Sixto Sanchez.

Ben Badler, who you can follow on Twitter here, wrote up the list for Baseball America and took the time to answer a few questions.

First, here is the write-up from BlueClaws.com.

1. Sixto Sanchez tops the list. What big leaguer (or recent one) would you compare his ability to, and what would his ceiling be?

I think has a chance to be a true top of the rotation starter. Injuries held him back last year, and that’s a legitimate red flag in terms of his durability, but he has an outstanding combination of pure stuff and ability to throw strikes with ease. He has a chance to develop into a starter along the lines of Luis Severino with the Yankees.

2. What is the best tool Alec Bohm brings to the table and what do you expect to see from him as he starts his first full pro season?

Power. The track record of hitting in college is impressive, so he’s not a one-tricky pony by any means, but the loudest raw tool is the power. He had a sluggish pro debut last year, so I think a lot of people in the game are looking forward to seeing whether that was an aberration or a sign of what’s to come. I think he bounces back this year.

3. Who has the highest ceiling of the 2017 BlueClaws starters that made the list — JoJo Romero, Ranger Suarez, and Adonis Medina?

Adonis Medina. I like all three of them, but Medina is the one with the best chance to be a №2 starter. There’s still a fair amount of risk of him getting to that level, but he has the combination of a power fastball and secondary weapons to miss bats that could potential fit in one of those top of the rotation spots.

4. What can BlueClaws fans look forward to seeing in Luis Garcia this year if he indeed comes to Lakewood?

One of the most exciting position prospects the Phillies have signed out of Latin America in years. He’s a potentially plus defender, with the rare combination of a young shortstop who can make the acrobatic, flashy play but also has the internal clock and intelligence to slow the game down and not make many mistakes you typically see young shortstops make. Oh, yeah …. and he led the GCL in hitting as a 17-year-old. A shortstop who can hit and field like that has a chance to be special.

5. Who does Francisco Morales compare to among some of the recent arms to come through the Phillies system?

The arsenal is different than Franklyn Kilome, but he’s in a similar mold as a young, tall pitcher who has good stuff but is still learning his body and his mechanics to be able to throw more strikes. Big fastball, bat-missing slider, a lot of development work to do, but a lot of attributes you want to see in a young pitching prospect.

6. Where did Spencer Howard make his biggest strides late in the year (5.65 ERA in the first half and 2.67 ERA in the second half, plus his playoff no-hitter)?

He was one of the biggest risers in the minors from the first half to the second half of the season. If you saw him or talked to a scout who filed a report on him in the first half, it was a significantly different takeaway from seeing him later in the season. His stuff really jumped in the second half… not just the velocity, but the progress of his changeup I think was a significant key for him.

7. Adam Haseley finished his first full professional season in Double-A. What do you expect from him over the next several seasons as he continues to push up the system?

I’m curious to see how far his pure hitting ability will carry him. A lot of scouts think that his defensive skill set fits better at a corner than it does in center field, but he doesn’t have the traditional power of an everyday corner outfielder. A hit-over-power profile can still work, but I think the question of how much overall impact he’s going deliver will be with him at every level.

8. The 2018 BlueClaws had two strong LHPs out of the bullpen in Kyle Dohy (who ended the year in Reading) and Zach Warren. Did they catch eyes among scouts this year?

Absolutely. The Phillies have done a tremendous job under their pitching coordinator Rafael Chaves and all their pitching coaches of being able to get their young pitchers to synchronize their deliveries and pull out extra velocity from guys who were either low-profile Latin American signings or late-round picks. Dohy was 16th-round pick out of a Division II program who walked a batter per inning in his pro debut…. then he flies through the system and reaches Double-A last year. The slider turned into a wipeout pitch for him, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in Philadelphia by the end of the year as a multi-inning reliever who can miss a ton of bats. Warren too was another good late-round pick, a 14th-rounder who struggled at Tennessee, but things clicked for him last year. More velocity, more strikes, more missed bats with a sharper, power breaking ball last year.

9. Who didn’t make the Top Ten but made the biggest rise in 2018?

Dohy and Warren were two big risers. Will Stewart (another nice late-round development) is another. Lefty with a low-90s fastball who throws a ton of strikes and has a plus changeup that disrupts the timing of hitters. Austin Listi is another player I’m very intrigued by. He’s been old for his level, but that’s because he was drafted as a 23-year-old senior. He’s just raked everywhere, and while it’s fair to be skeptical when a player is doing it in the lower levels, when he kept doing it last year in Double-A, I think more people started to take notice.

10. Besides the players in the Top Ten (Bohm, Garcia, Morales), who is a player that BlueClaws fans can look forward to seeing this year?

If Logan O’Hoppe doesn’t start the year with the BlueClaws, he’s going to be there at some point. He’s a super interesting guy to be and I think has a chance to be a really good late-round pick. He’s a Long Island high school pick in the 23rd round of the draft last year who really impressed both as a hitter and with his receiving behind the plate last year in the Gulf Coast League. That jump to Lakewood is a big one but I’m optimistic about him.

11. How does the Phillies’ minor league depth compare to the rest of the league?

It’s thinned out from recent years. Part of that is a byproduct of graduating so players in recent years, especially all the upper level hitters. They had several hitters who scuffled last year, so you can see the lighter depth among position players once you get past the top guys, but the pitching depth still stacks up fairly well relative to the rest of the league. And I feel pretty safe betting that they’ll have more pop-up guys again among their pitching prospect by the end of the 2019 season.

Thanks to Ben for helping us with this Q&A.