2026 Reading Fightin Phils Season Recap

Season Recap

Record: 70-67 (Won Eastern League Championship)

Reading spent the first half of the season living up to projections. There were talented prospects, but pitching and inexperience held the team back. Injuries to Dante Nori and Carson DeMartini did not help. A breakout by Bryan Rincon and stabilizing starting pitching from Adam Seminaris, Luke Russo, and Braydon Tucker helped keep the team respectable. Gage Wood joined the team over the summer and things kept slightly build from there until they caught fire in August and September while picking up promotions and injury returns from key players.

The end result was a team that reached the Eastern League postseason loaded with talent in their lineup. The starting pitching was good enough that they were able to hand games off to a dominant bullpen down the stretch. The Fightin Phils were able to ride that into a second half title, a postseason berth, and then 4 dominant postseason games enroute to a title. While it didn’t always look it along the way, this team will go down as one of the most dominant and prospect full team in recent memory.

Top Prospects

(Prospects will only be featured once with the highest level team they played for)

RHP Gage Wood – Depending on how you look at his season, Wood was either a disappointment or highly successful. The combination of the minor league ball and Reading’s park factors led to a home run rate among the highest in the minors thanks to an unsustainably high HR/FB rate. On the other side, Wood was among the minor league leaders in K% and K-BB%, strong indicators of success. His fastballs is his best pitch, with good life and angle. At his best he will sit 95 to 98, but there was fading late in the year. His slider and curveball struggled with consistency, and he did put a few too many in the middle of the zone. There is a chance at two plus breaking balls, but finding consistency will be a key next step for him. He swapped his changeup to a splitter about the time he reached Reading, and it has the makings of a solid pitch, he just has rarely thrown it. While there is still reliever risk, Wood logged 99 innings this season with the postseason without much wear until the very end. There is still some percentage outcome he is an impact starter, but he is probably trending more towards inconsistent mid rotation arm that is ready at some point in 2027.

SS Bryan Rincon – After two years ruined by injuries, Rincon had a breakout season. He is never going to hit for a high average as he has traded some overall contact quality for more power output. His approach will border on passive, but he slightly increased his swing rate this year and it mostly appears to have been against balls in the zone. He isn’t an elite contact hitter, but he doesn’t have a glaring amount of swing and miss. This has led to walks and a high, but not concerning, strikeout rate that may be strained as better pitchers challenge him more in the zone. He had a huge jump in power due to a combination of improved health and approach along with the home run friendly hitting environment. He is a solid defender at shortstop, and if the contact stands up against better pitching, he can be a solid regular at the position.

IF Aroon Escobar – The Phillies pushed Escobar aggressively to Reaidng and he struggled for most of the year. He isn’t overly aggressive in approach, but he rarely cuts down on his big violent swing. He can hit the ball far, but also has a tendency to run into poor contact quality. He hit .362/.464/.672 in 16 games in September which gives him an up arrow heading into a AFL stint. HE has mostly moved to second base, where he is a bit stretched, but it is also the position he fits best at long term. If he can improve his contact quality he could be a bat first regular at second.

OF Dante Nori – There was a bunch of excitement around Nori after hitting against poor pitching in the WBC, but that never turned into a real improvement. He missed two months to a stress fracture that also had limited him earlier in the year, and will go to the AFL to make up for some of that lost time. It was a very Nori season overall. He sprayed line drives, hit for very little power, and played good defense. Unless he can find a way to impact the ball more, he profiles as a fringe regular who hits at the bottom of the lineup.

IF Carson DeMartini – DeMartini had a disappointed end to his 2025, but had a solid rebound to open 2026 before an injury cost him 2.5 months. After returning in late July he was on fire, hitting .304/.497/.589 in 38 games through the end of the postseason with 42 walks to 35 strikeouts. He swung less and had a sharp improvement in contact rate. He has some distinct home/road splits and a jump in HR/FB that are due to the environmental effects. He played 3B more after the return, and overall his defense did not look as good as it did a year ago. If he can maintain the contact improvements against better pitchers, he profiles as an everyday player.

RHP Cody Bowker – The Phillies pushed Bowker to Reading for the end of the season, and he had some of the same problems as Wood with 3 home runs in two games at home. Bowker does not throw particularly hard, mostly sitting 91 to 93, but he makes up for it with funk. Bowker has a low delivery that lets a sinker shape with huge armside run come in with riding fastball attack angle. He will throw a cutter, slider, and changeup as well, and while they showed some improvement none really look like a carrying pitch. He predictably missed less bats at each level, but his control issues with Clearwater just look like a blip. He profiles as a back end starter with some funky middle reliever fall back.

Others to Know

LHP Mavis Graves – When the Phillies bumped Graves from Jersey Shore to Reading they moved him from rotation to bullpen. The moved has mostly worked out. After walking 4 batter and allowing 2 earned runs in his first appearance, Graves did not allow an earned run the rest of the way with 12 walks and 33 strikeouts in 21.1 innings. He has seen a modest increase in velocity to sitting about 93 with occasional 94 and 95s. He continues to deemphasize the fastballs in exchange for an onslaught of changeups, cutters, and sweeping sliders. His stuff doesn’t point to a high leverage late inning option yet, but he has been a stopper in a multi inning role.

OF Raylin Heredia – Heredia stayed healthy all year and his counting numbers reflected it. He saw a modest boost in HR/FB, and not a large boost from his home ballpark. He continues to struggle with his approach and contact with a very high swing rate and low contact rate, and that may limit any major league upside. If he does do it, he profiles as a bench bat that can play both outfield corners and provide hard contact.

C Kehden Hettiger – Hettiger struggled on the field and then struggled to stay on the field, missing all of August and September. He was starting to show progress in July before the injury, but had struggled with lefties and contact all season. Hettiger will go to the Arizona Fall League to attempt make up for lost time, but after an interesting spring training it was a disappointing season for Hettiger.

RHP Estibenzon Jimenez – Jimenez moved into the closer role for Reading after Alex McFarlane was promoted to AAA and the majors, and was great in the role. He has solid stuff, a good fastball in the mid 90s that he pairs with solid upper 80s slider, and occasional changeup. It is the stuff of a fringe middle reliever, and Jimenez is a pending minor league free agent, and while the Phillies may want him back another team may want to offer him a 40 man spot.

RHP Wen-Hui Pan – Pan’s return from Tommy John was mixed, but ended on a high note. He competes on the mound with ok to poor shaped fastball that will sit anywhere from 94-98. His best pitch is his splitter, which will just disappear when he commands it, but he doesn’t always have enough feel to throw it where he wants it. He needs to find a better slider as he struggled to command his and that led to struggles against RHBs. He has middle relief stuff, but will hint at enough to get some time in higher leverage spots.

RHP Christian McGowan – McGowan missed all of 2025 to a shoulder injury, and returned in a bullpen role in 2026. He throws a mid 90s sinker that he has historically paired with a harder changeup and upper 80s cutter. Over the course of the season he worked in what the Phillies call a baby sweeper, a mid 80s pitch with a decent amount of glove side movement, that pair better with his sinker. He profiles as fringe middle reliever, limited by his lack of a bat missing offering.

Stat Leaders

Pitching