Top Prospects
OF Dante Nori – Nori played most of the year with Clearwater in 2025, but the Phillies aggressively pushed him to Reading after he spent some time with Italy in the WBC. Nori has worked on being less of a slap hitter, and to drive the ball in optimal counts, but he might not even have average power. He does put the ball in play, doesn’t expand the zone , and has good speed. This coupled with good center field defense (though expect him to play some left) make him a solid all around prospect.
2B Aroon Escobar – Escobar broke out last year with a great start in Clearwater and then a bit of a scuffle at Jersey Shore before ending the year in Reading. He is primarily a second baseman, but can slide over to third if needed. He hits the ball fairly hard for his size, with a good feel for contact. His approach can be a bit aggressive and that can lead to some poor contact.
C Kehden Hettiger – Hettiger had a bounce back 2025 season, and had some positive flashes in major league camp. He has given up switch hitting, and was better against lefties than in his first full season. The change also seems to have just simplified things overall. He looked better behind the plate, and he now looks like he could stick there long term. At the plate he has a patient approach and good raw power, but has a decent amount of swing and miss.
RHP Alex McFarlane – The Phillies put McFarlane back in the rotation in 2025 in his return from Tommy John surgery, and he was up and down all year until he moved into the bullpen late. This spring he has put it all together, sitting 97-99, touching 100 with two fastballs. He has added a sweeper to his already good slider, and somewhere is working on a changeup/splitter. He is not going to be a pinpoint accuracy type pitcher, but he is built for high leverage and might not be at Reading long.
3B Carson DeMartini – DeMartini struggled in his first trip to Reading, with his walk rate collapsing, and his ability to hit for power disappearing. He is a pull side power hitter, who is likely going to swing and miss at a decent rate. The key will be hitting for enough power, and showing that he is a decent defender at the hot corner.
SS Bryan Rincon – After a terrible last two seasons, marred by injuries and ineffectiveness, Rincon had a great spring. He hit the ball harder than he has in years, and looked much better at the plate. He is a good shortstop, so the bar for him to be a useful major league bench player is not particularly high if he can be an ok hitter.
RHP Wen-Hui Pan – Pan isn’t on the roster yet, as he is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery. When healthy, Pan has a mid to upper 90s fastball, a good splitter, and improving slider. Given we haven’t seen him pitch in over a year, it is hard to say what he good be, but there is a definite possibility that Pan comes back as a fast track high leverage reliever.
Under the Radar
2B/OF Dylan Campbell – Campbell is an interesting prospect because he has shown real infield-outfield defensive flexibility. He can play a decent center field (in addition to the corners) and can passably stand at second at probably third and first. He has some swing and miss and his batting average suffers from a flyball heavy approach without the requisite power. However, he hits left handed pitchers very well, making him an interesting future bench piece.
RHP Chuck King – King had some moments in camp with the Phillies that made it look like he might be interesting as a relief prospect, but he has held 95-97 over enough innings that the Phillies are going to have start for Reading. He throws a slider and a splitter, btu has struggled at times to throw strikes and to miss bats vs better hitters.
RHP Yoniel Curet – Curet was a prominent Rays prospect for a few seasons before he was DFA’d and traded to the Phillies. The Phillies are converting him to relief, but that went poorly this spring. He is not officially assigned to Reading, but presumably the Phillies will try to rebuild him in Florida before sending him north. He has a mid 90s fastball, a weird and effective changeup, and short slider he has struggled with. His control has been an issue prior to his spring struggles.
RHP Christian McGowan – McGowan missed all of 2025 to shoulder surgery, and really has not been healthy for very much of his professional career. He is back on a mound throwing, and presumably will be working as a reliever now. Prior to his injuries, he had the stuff to pitch in a major league bullpen, so it will be worth watching whether that comes back.
LHP Cristhian Tortosa – The Phillies signed Tortosa to a 2-year minor league contract during the 2025 season. He has control issues, but he will sit in the mid 90s from the left side, with the ability to brush triple digits. His slider is a good pitch as well. If he can throw strikes, he will be one to watch.
RHP Saul Teran – Teran dominated the lower minors with a good pair of sliders. He throw strikes and has a good feel for pitching, but his low-90s fastballs just do not miss bats and that has held him back in the upper minors. Teran will need to show that he can miss bats with a secondary pitch forward approach to pitching.
Offensive Expectations
Reading has some good prospects, but it lacks great ones. There also isn’t a big time masher of a bat on the roster either as the prospect depth comes in the form of more well rounded hitters. They should be decent defensively in a bunch of different positions, and somewhat of a menace on the base paths. History says that someone is going to have some Reading induced power numbers, but it is hard to see who that player is.
Pitching Expectations
The starting rotation is not great. Chuck King has been interesting, but Luke Russo and Braydon Tucker are more org arms, and Kyle Brnovich and Adam Seminaris are org arms brought in from other organizations. There is a good chance the early innings are rough for this team. The bullpen should help balance it out. Lenny Torres, Andrew Baker, and Levi Stoudt have good arms that should join with McFarlane and possibly Pan and McGowan to bring some heat. Teran is joined by Daniel Harper, Tristan Garnett, and Jack Dallas as good secondary pitch guys who should be solid against AA level hitters. If they can survive their starting pitching, they will hold on for some wins.
Looking Ahead and Overall Thoughts
In addition to the injured players already mentioned, Estibenzon Jimenez should be back in some role, and Moises Chace could be back late in the year. Jersey Shore has some live arms in the bullpen that could help. They also have some good starting pitchers like Mavis Graves, and potential breakout candidate Luke Gabrysh who could really help the rotation. There is almost no hitting help coming. Devin Saltiban is probably the best hitter that could make it to Reading before the end of the year roster moves.
Reading is going to be a place to watch for prospects, with Nori, Escobar, and others drawing interest for the future and trade deadline attention. The team might not be good though, with those prospects being more middling and the rotation looking like a major hole. There is a chance they get enough pop from places that they can contact and speed their way to some white knuckle bullpen wins, but the quality of the team is unlikely to be what draws you to Baseballtown this summer.
I’ve read about Mavis Graves adding a few 5ticks to the fastball