Top Prospects
Carlos De La Cruz – Carlos De La Cruz has now been around for nearly 7 years in the Phillies system, but this will be just his age 24 season. He is repeating Reading and is a minor league free agent after the season. He is physical anomaly on a baseball field with easy plus plus raw power. He is going to need to a better job hitting for contact.
Gabriel Rincones Jr. – Rincones was the Phillies 3rd round pick in the 2022 draft, and got a lot of baseball in last year, playing 142 games between the regular season and Arizona Fall League. He has more raw power than his 15 home runs would indicate, and he needs to work on getting the ball in the air more. He is going to strikeout at a high rate due to a patient approach and swing and miss in his swing. However, he generally swings at the right pitches, and he is good at getting on base. He is not as fast as his 32 steal would indicate, but he is a good base runner.
Under the Radar
Kendall Simmons – Simmons has struggled to stay healthy over his minor league career, and it especially marred what looked like a breakout season in 2023. He has settled in mostly at second base defensively, where he is fine. He has some of the best raw power in the Phillies system thanks to a vicious hack with plenty of bat speed. He has some swing and miss, but has gotten more patient at the plate. Like De La Cruz he has been around for a while and is sort of in a make or break situation.
Matt Osterberg – Reading is very light on pitching, which makes Osterberg stand out a bit. It isn’t big stuff, but he has seen some slight velocity increases and was probably the best statistical starter in the org in 2023. He is a many pitch lefty with good control who will sit in the low 90s. He is a bit on the older side, and doesn’t have a ton of MLB projection, but he could work his way into a #6 starter or bulk reliver conversation.
Offensive Expectations
There are not a lot of hit tools present on this roster. Bryce Ball, Kendall Simmons, Carlos De La Cruz, Marcus Lee Sang, Gabriel Rincones Jr., and Baron Radcliff all of good to great power and real questions about their contact ability. Casey Martin has just questions about his contact ability, and Robert Moore and Trevor Schwecke have questions about their impact. Caleb Ricketts had his season derailed by injuries, but is a good bat to ball player. Jim Haley has been an ok AAA player the last two years, and will give them professional at bats, they just might not be very good.
Defensively, Moore and Martin are solid up the middle defenders. Lee Sang is good in a corner and slightly stretched in center, Rincones and De La Cruz are passable in the corners. That all adds up to not a lot of defense going on. On the bases, Moore and Martin have a little speed, and Rincones has shown to be a good opportunistic base runner.
Pitching Expectations
The starting pitching is brutal. Osterberg will be joined by some combination of Robinson Pina, Lachlan Wells, Efrain Contreras, and others. Those are mostly free agent pickups that would be better served in long relief. Wells was dominant in the ABL, so it will be worth seeing if there is anything there. The bullpen is more interesting. Andrew Baker is probably the most electric of the arms, and will be joined on the RH velocity front by Andrew Schultz and Zach Haake. Jordi Martinez has never gotten the results, but he is a lefty reliever up to 98. Max Lazar, Tristan Garnett, Konnor Ash, and Matt Russell all have some level of funk going on with the first two probably the most interesting. Tommy McCollum might be the best arm in the bullpen if he have bit better command as he throws a good mid 90s fastball and a great splitter. Beau Burrows, Carlos Francisco, and Mitch Neunborn round out the group.
Injuries
Andrew Painter is going to be on the Reading IL all season, as a sort of taunting reminder of what could have been (though not for Reading). Dominic Pipkin starts on the 60 day IL as well for an undisclosed reason. Ethan Wilson and Christian McGowan were both assigned to the FCL, and Reading feels like the assignment when they are ready. McGowan has a healthy offseason post Tommy John and would be the top pitching prospect on the roster. Wilson has struggled since being drafted, but there are still some underlying tools, even if they are heavily faded.
Looking Ahead and Overall Thoughts
It is not a good team. The bats might have their explosions, but there could be long stretches of double digit strikeout losses. The bullpen is solid, but the starting rotation does not look good enough to withstand the Reading ball park. The good news is the Jersey Shore roster is good, and much of the rotation there is full of pending Rule 5 players the Phillies might want to see against better competition. The bullpen and lineup could also provide a boost if the Phillies want to start pushing guys. Check back in during the second half and there might be a different team waiting.
This team will be bad but hopefully some of the more heralded Blueclaws will progress and get promoted by midseason, making Reading a better watch.