Are the Phillies really starting to embrace analytics?

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY SportsBaseball is more than just numbers.

Hopefully, even the most ardent sabermatrician would tell you that. Sometimes, there are things about a player that numbers just can't tell you, especially in player development, where statistical data simply isn't available in a large enough sample size to be truly reliable.

The really successful organizations find a way to use a burgeoning analytics department with scouts and more traditional methods to give a well-rounded analysis of potential draftees, minor league players, and big league players on other teams.

But for a long time, the Phillies were admittedly behind the curve on using sabermetrics in the decision-making…