2026 FCL Phillies Season Review

Season Recap

Record: 22-37

The FCL Phillies were expected to be a poor team, and they were. The offense put up about 5 runs a game, but that was dwarfed by the 7 runs a game the pitching gave up. The young players struggled all year to hit, and injuries and promotions robbed them of players that may have helped throughout the season. A couple of players showed signs of promise late, but after the season much of the team was released rather than be promoted or retained.

The struggles of the team overall were also a confluence of structural problems with the shrinking minors and talent acquisition strategy and failures by the Phillies. It is no secret that MLB is seeking to eliminate the complex leagues, and by pushing back the draft and imposing roster limits on both domestic and international rosters they have shrunk the pool of talent. Teams are largely comprised of last year’s draft picks and the previous international classes, and this is where the Phillies failures fit in. The Phillies have rarely held back college selections in the FCL and have been limited in high school signings and fairly aggressive in their assignments, so only 16th round pick Logan Dawson was with the team for most of the year. Then there is the international classes. The 2025 DSL Phillies Red (25-31) and White (13-42) were light on talent thanks to a poor signing class in 2024 and 2025. The 2025 class bounced back somewhat this year, but that was largely on the 2026 DSL Phillies with players returning from injury limited seasons. It was really only Romeli Espinosa and Anderson Araujo who were top new arrivals. Some other players did make their stateside debuts, but injuries and ineffectiveness was common. The Phillies have had much more success with the 2026 DSL Phillies which should bode well for next year’s FCL team assuming the CBA changes and lockout due not cause roster issues.

Top Prospects

SS Romeli Espinosa – Espinosa was one of the youngest players playing stateside in baseball and his inexperience showed. While he maintained good strikeout and walk numbers, his quality of contact was not great. Defensively he showed his inexperience as well, showing both the upside to play shortstop and some rough plays. He will still be 18 when the next FCL season begins, so it would be surprising if he repeats the level.

C Anderson Araujo – After showing home run power last year, it was surprising how little power Araujo hit for in 2026. He walked (23) nearly as much as he struck out (24) and hit .280 for the season it wasn’t a complete lost year at the plate. He did not spend any time behind the plate and had his season end early due to injury.

RHP Matthew Fisher – It was a bit of a surprise that Fisher started in the FCL, so it wasn’t surprising when he moved up quickly. He took a little bit to get his feet under him, and did not show all the growth that was expected from his. His fastball sat around 90mph and was not a particularly effective pitch. What he did show was a real feel for spin, which is something that should help him if he is going to take a step forward over the offseason.

LHP Yordanis Guerra – Guerra, an overage signing in 2025, was solid in the DSL last year before coming stateside this year. He started in the bullpen for the FCL Phillies, but was in the rotation by midway through the year. He is very much a work in progress, with a good frame that has some projection left. His fastball will sit anywhere from 89 to 95 and has touch a bit higher, with decent ride and cut, but from a steep angle. He has a real feel for spin on both the fastball and big sweeper. He has shown a harder in between breaking ball, and his profile is begging for a cutter or slider to be there in the future. He has shown some feel for a changeup as well. Guerra misses bats, but also misses the zone. He has the projectability to be an interesting starter, but it is much more likely he develops into a reliever.

OF Esterling Rodriguez – This is now the 4th minor league season for Rodriguez, and while he had success in the DSL, he never had much power or luck staying on the field. This year he spent the first 25 games of the season doing much of the same, drawing a decent amount of walks, but not much else. In the middle of June he hit home runs in back to back games and would do so again late, giving him 5 on the season. He can’t hit lefties and doesn’t make enough positive contact, but he managed a .346 OBP with a .225 batting average on the year because his approach is solid. There might be a platoon 4th outfielder in there somewhere.

LHP Angel Liranzo – This is Liranzo’s 4th season, and second with the FCL Phillies. His stuff is improved, with a fastball that sits more 93 and can touch up to 96. It has a decent amount of run, but is vertically not in a great spot. He throws his slider in the zone a bunch, but lacks a feel for spin, making it more of a damage mitigator than a bat misser. He throws his changeup a bunch, and has found more consistency with it, but it does not consistently fool hitters. The step forward in velocity is good to see, but Liranzo is no longer young and projectable and needs the feel for pitching to take a step forward next year.

Stat Leaders

Pitching