2025 FCL Phillies Season Preview

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Top Prospects

C Alirio Ferrebus – Ferrebus was limited to 24 games due to an injury after he came stateside. He is an athletic catcher with good size. He has great looking swing from the right side that generates plus exit velocities while getting the ball on a line or in the air. He has shown a solid approach in the complex as well, rounding out a good offensive ceiling. Defensively, he is on the tall side for a catcher and he does not display an innate proficiency for the position. He also only has 17 pro games at the position and has the arm strength and athleticism where he could make the position work with time. He will likely play some 1B as the team rotates catchers, and he looks like he could play an OF corner if it came to that.

RHP Brad Pacheco – Pacheco is a short RHP who has barely pitched the last two years due to injuries. He has a quick arm and has shown solid control in his small sample size of official and unofficial games. Last season he was 90-95 with his fastball, and that is reportedly more 92-97 this spring. He pairs that with a big high 70s curveball that plays off the fastball up in the zone. He shows feel for a changeup as well, but it has been inconsistent. There is some reliever risk, but he has enough interesting traits to not rule out him starting.

LHP Angel Liranzo – Liranzo missed most of 2024 due to a back injury, only appearing in unofficial games and one relief appearance with the Threshers. He still is only 18 and has made some improvements since a dominant 2023 DSL campaign. This spring he has been 89-92 with a mid 80s slider and changeup. His changeup is his best pitch, but he can sometimes lose consistency on it. He definitely has room to fill out and add velocity, but as a short left handed control oriented pitcher from Venezuela he draws some Ranger Suarez comparisons. He does not have Ranger’s command yet, but he might be a back end starter down the line.

RHP Alexander De Los Santos – De Los Santos was one of the youngest players in the Phillies 2023 signing class (he is 4 days older than Eduardo Tait) and so this will be his age 18 season. He is a projectable arm who has shown year over year growth from touching 91 in 2023 to being up to 96 this spring. His control still needs work, but he has a starter’s arsenal with a slider, curveball, and changeup. He will need to refine and separate his pitches, but he has back end starter upside with some more room for growth based on his youth.

Under the Radar

C Cesar Mujica – Mujica was the Phillies second largest signing bonus in 2024, but struggled in his debut year. He looks better than the numbers, and has played well this spring. He has a similar build to Ferrebus, but has a better feel defensively for catcher. He is probably more of a long burn player to watch.

SS Jose Familia – Familia is a lanky infielder who will play until the middle of August at age 17 and will be one of the youngest players on the team. He was a bit passive at the plate last year, with some high strikeout numbers. He has some decent pop, which bodes well if he fills out his frame.

LHP Juan Amarante – Very similar to Liranzo in that he is a short, left handed Venezuelan pitcher who throws in the low 90s (Amarante is more 90-93 T94). Amarante does not have the control of Liranzo and is older (21), but his big curveball fooled FCL hitters last year. Amarante throws a slider and changeup in addition to the curve and two fastball shapes. He has much more reliever risk, but has back end starter upside.

RHP Wilmer Blanco – Blanco was a very good starter for DSL Phillies White in 2023, but had a rough stateside debut in in 2024. This spring he is throwing a little higher (up to 96) with a four seamer with good ride but poor angle. He also looks to have scrapped his curveball in favor of the slider-sweeper breaking ball combination. He is on the older side, but he should be one of the Phillies starting pitchers.

RHP Maxwell Hernandez – Hernandez was an important part of the 2022 champion DSL Phillies White team and than and important part of the 2023 team. He pitched between the rotation and bullpen in the FCL last year and struggled to both throw strikes and strikeout batters. Once more of a fastball-changeup arm, Hernandez will still occasionally mix one in, but has been up to 97 this spring while more often leaning on a high spin slider to better success. Hernandez will turn 22 next month, so he is most interesting as a reliever if the velocity increase sticks and he can use the slider to miss bats.

Offensive Expectations

It is not a star studded offense for this year’s FCL team, there is no Caba, Tait, or Escobar. Ferrebus should be a good hitter, Nikau Pouaka-Grego and Rickardo Perez are still at this level for some reason and they are both too good for this level, and then there is not much else. Yhoan Escalona and Francisco Loreto, and possibly Angel Mata (who has been in Extended but is on the Clearwater IL), will join the crowded catching rotation. Escalona and Loreto have played second and third as there are just not enough infielders on the roster. Mata is interesting with offensive punch and good defense, but he hasn’t been able to stay healthy. Meylin De Leon an 18 year old infielder who got on base at a .350 rate last year is the only other listed infielder alongside Pouaka-Grego and Familia.

The outfield is somehow more muddled and interesting. Manolfi Jimenez is the only returning bat among a bunch of unheralded prospects who mashed in the DSL last year.

Dipre is older and a minor league Rule 5 pick, and there are swing and miss and athleticism concerns among the rest of the group. Cardoza (who will likely get much of the CF reps) is probably the most interesting as he made some swing changes in the middle of last season that saw him have a dominant late stretch. There is a chance one of these guys pops at least as a contributor to this team. Overall though it is probably going to be a struggle for them to sustain offense.

Pitching Expectations

There are some interesting pitchers, but also no real stand outs. Joining the starting/bulk depth mentioned above will Raymon Rosario a side-arm sinker, sweeper changeup lefty, Alexis De La Cruz a projectable Taijuan Walker delivery clone who can get it up to 94 and occasionally flash feel for secondaries, and Joel Heredia an older pitcher who can get it up to 95, but has been erratic over the years.

The bullpen’s best arm right now looks to be Josbel Garcia who struggled in his stateside debut last year, but is throwing harder this year. Naoel Mejia is a big righty who big stuff and command issues. Adilson Peralta returns as well with a fastball that will sit 91-96. Eligio Arias is a big man who will show big arm strength with a sweeping slider, but both his velocity and command can be inconsistent. Fernando Ramos and Luis Gonzalez round out the bullpen to give the team a bevy of solid arms. Many of these pitchers struggled in the FCL last year, but the hope would be that it is a veteran staff that can provide solid pitching all year.

Looking Ahead and Overall Thoughts

With the draft so late, there isn’t going to be help coming from there. As of right now there also isn’t a prospect slated for the DSL that looks like they should make the jump like Ferrebus did last year, but these things change quickly. On the injury side, Angel Mata is already playing and is Juan Villavicenia can come back that would help the infield depth. Pitching wise they should get Danyony Pulido for his rehab time and maybe more, and he is another arm strength guy with consistency issues.

It is probably not a good FCL team this year, nor one that is going to produce notable prospects. It is an interesting group of players to follow from a prospecting side for seeing how they have made improvements to their complex league development.

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