Connor Narron- 5th round- SS, C.B. Aycock HS (NC)

[rhall]

Glad you brought this up, I know its the wrong place but does anyone know anything about this Singleton kid. I read somewhere that lots of teams are calling the Phils about him already. I also read he is now considered their best trade chip.

I'd be surprised if the Phils traded him so early, but I guess it could be discussed if they need to make a move at the deadline and they still don't want to trade Domonic Brown (they shouldn't!). And I expect Ryan Howard's contract would make it easier to trade Singleton.

Anyway, I agree with Stotle's report, and here's what John Manuel had to say about Singleton in a Phillies chat back in November.

Paul (Philly): Was Jonathan Singleton near your top 10?

John Manuel: Hey Gang. Welcome in to the chat. I'll try to keep my answers shorter today so I can get to more. Singleton was under discussion for sure. Lots of players could have made this top 10, and I think it's going to be a packed top 20 once I finish writing it and ranking it (I'm a bit late already). Singleton is one of the system's best pure hitters already and has a pro approach for someone so young. He's a little like Freddie Freeman, very young at 17 when drafted, SoCal HS 1B, Freeman has more juice but Singleton can hit. Just had other toolsier options and guys closer to the big leagues like Bastardo who I think can make some impact.

I think Singleton has improved his standing since he wrote that, especially in the power department. He's certainly showing game power earlier than I expected (granted, I've never seen him. I'm just going off of scouting reports).

[bluehens45]

Do you guys think he will be a top 100 prospect? The Phils really do a great job bringing in those raw athletic toolsy types. Taylor, Brown, Gose, Hewitt, Collier, and a kid i really think will break out Jiwan James. Thats just to name a few. They def. have a type of kid they go after in the draft.

[rhall]

Do you guys think he will be a top 100 prospect? The Phils really do a great job bringing in those raw athletic toolsy types. Taylor, Brown, Gose, Hewitt, Collier, and a kid i really think will break out Jiwan James. Thats just to name a few. They def. have a type of kid they go after in the draft.

If he keeps hitting like he is now, I don't see how he wouldn't. But, of course, it would be unreasonable to expect him to keep this up all season. We'll just have to see how he progresses. His profile as a guy with a good feel for hitting and a mature/professional approach at the plate should help him limit the length of any slumps he might get into, which will help his season totals remain impressive. He'd have to get into a nasty slump to ruin the numbers he's built up so far. Although, at this rate, it'll be interesting to see if/when the Phillies promote him. If he gets promoted mid-season and has a hard time adjusting, couple that with positional inflexibility, and it could keep him out of the top 100. That's just a guess, though.

Bringing this back on-topic, I would stress that the development of Singleton so far is a best-case scenario of someone coming out of a HS season like that, so we shouldn't expect Narron to do the same. It's just a little bit of support to the idea that he could still have prospect value.

[Tony-OH]

I agree that hitting .310 in high school is a red flag, but I'm willing to give him a chance. The scouts think he's got some tools, we know he's got some bloodlines, and there's enough info out there to make you wonder if he was even 100% healthy during his senior season.

In the past, I don't think I would've given Narron a second thought, thinking, ".310 in high school?! No way he'll amount to anything in the pros." But last year the Phillies drafted a 1Bman named Jonathan Singleton (8th round) who had a good track record going into his senior season and then disappointed, hitting .321 (IIRC). It certainly looks like he's doing fine now.

Like I said, I still agree it's a red flag, but he wouldn't be the first guy to over come a "bad" senior season.

Agree 100%. I'm not writing this kid off before he signs, I'm just saying it's a red flag. In other words, stop, and do some research on why he hit that low in high school. Perhaps the O's did and they were satisfied with the results. I'm just saying if I'm the scouting director and the kid wants top three money and everyone else is passing on him, I'm going to say, "Why do you think this kid is going to be a major league player when he put up a below average average in high school?"

I would never say I'd pass on the kid just because of the low average, but it would be something I would have some concerns over. He better have hit into some bad luck or something or had a lot of reached on errors that drove down that BA.

Hell, I hit over .350 as a high school senior and went 3-for-6 off the only kid that got drafted (3rd round by the Brewers) and I didn't see scouts pounding down the door of this 5-foot-8 guy.

Seriously, I hope the kid signs and he tears it up, but I'm going to be on record as saying I have some concerns over the low average.