Top Prospects
RHP Matthew Fisher – The Phillies selected Fisher in the 7th round of the 2025 draft, but gave him a bonus more in line with a 2nd round pick. He has a good frame for a starting pitcher, and has very good feel for spin, showing very good spin rates on a collection of breaking balls. His control has been shaky, and while he shows good characteristics on his fastball he has been consistently 90-93 all spring. Fisher is relatively recently a full time pitcher, and has some physical projection left. Overall he is more of a project than an in progress breakout, and it may take a little bit for the potential to come through.
RHP Ramon Marquez – Marquez was one of the breakouts of the 2025 season. He was signed for a small bonus as an overage player out of Mexico, and after a good DSL spring training the Phillies pushed him to the FCL and FSL. For now he is opening the year in the FCL, and has already taken another step forward. His fastballs are now sitting more 95-97 up from 92-95, and the added velocity helps given they don’t have outlier movement. His slider has improved as well, giving him a glove side weapon and potential chase pitch to righties. What makes Marquez intriguing is his changeup, which he sells well and has great separation off of his fastball. In his small time in the FSL last year it had a 33% whiff rate and 53% zone contact rate.
SS Romeli Espinosa – Espinosa signed for a moderate bonus in the 2025 signing period, but immediately stood out on the Phillies DSL teams. One of the youngest players in the class (he won’t turn 18 until June), he is tall, lanky, and physically projectable. He is athletic enough that he was a mostly fine shortstop, even at 6’4″ with good range and a strong arm. He will need to work on his actions and has a tendency to look like a baby deer at times. At the plate, he can be overly aggressive and his long limbs make him somewhat whiff prone. He doesn’t always make the best contact, but the ball jumps off his bat. It isn’t hard to squint and see a large upside for him, if he can fill out and put things together, but he also is a 17 year old kid who has a long way to go still.
IF Logan Dawson – Dawson was drafted in the 16th round and signed to an overslot bonus. A left handed hitting shortstop, he has already slid over to third in deference to Espinosa. He has a relatively filled out frame, with good power potential. His approach is good, if sometimes a bit passive, and his swing is a bit stiff. He looks a bit too polished for the complex league level, especially in his ability to lay off pitches from inexperienced arms.
Other Notable Players
C Anderson Araujo – Araujo wasn’t the biggest signing in the 2025 international class, but was probably their best DSL hitter last year. He does not have huge raw power, but he had a knack for getting hard hit balls in the air. Defensively, he has a fine arm and is a solid defender, but he doesn’t look like a future plus defender. He might have another gear, but Araujo looks more like a solid prospect than a special one.
RHP Alexander De Los Santos – This will be De Los Santos’s 4th season, but he is still only 19. He has filled out his frame some, but he is still fairly skinny. He showed a velocity jump early in 2025, but then missed almost the full year due to injury. He is throwing 91-94 this spring with a changeup and curveball. In the past, he has gotten his fastball up to 96 and have decent control and feel for pitching.
RHP Anderson Navas – This offseason, Navas moved from projectable catcher to projectable reliever this offseason. Navas has raw arm strength, topping out at 99 this spring. He has been more 94-97 with some feel for a slider and occasional splitter. He needs to find consistency and another gear, but he also has only been pitching for a short amount of time.
LHP Angel Liranzo – Liranzo is a changeup forward lefty starter who hasn’t quite found the command or consistency to have sustained success. This season, his velocity is up from 90-93 to 91-95, but it still isn’t a great shape. He might have a bit more drop on his changeup this year, but his results have not always matched his confidence in the pitch. He has a low 80s slider that has cutter like shape, but not cutter like velocity. He isn’t old, but he is no longer young enough that you can project a bunch of future growth.
RHP Wilmer Blanco – Blanco is old (22) for the level, but that is partially because he missed all of the 2025 season. He has looked solid this spring, with a bit more velocity (93-95) and a two breaking ball (slider+sweeper) mix that allows him to expand the zone more. None of his stuff jumps off the page, but he has some backend starter upside if he can stay healthy and start progressing through the system again.
RHP Deiry Gonzalez – Gonzalez was one of the best starters in the DSL last year with a 1.13 ERA across 40 innings. His velocity has inched from 88-91 to 90-92 this spring, and while skinny he doesn’t have the frame to add a large amount of strength. He mixes in a curveball and changeup, both pitches that will be tested against better hitters than he faced in the DSL.
Offensive Expectations
The FCL Phillies are unlikely to be a good offensive team. With the draft moving back in the year and domestic roster limits, the complex leagues have largely become an extension of the international complex leagues. The Phillies 2024 international class has mostly disappointed. Jalvin Arias is on this FCL team, but has never really proven he can hit. Jose Familia is still only 18 and physically projectable, but he struggled mightily on both sides of the ball in the FCL in 2025. The Phillies 2025 class is contributing more in the form of Romeli Espinosa, Anderson Araujo, Jonathan Alcantara, and Rey Cruz to the roster, but those last two are fairly raw and lack impact tools. There is some potential thump in outfielders Victor Cardoza and Esterling Rodriguez. Cardoza has performed well in the FCL, but has struggled at higher levels. The one redeeming thing is that this is a very young group of hitters, with a bunch of teenagers that still have future projection left.
Pitching Expectations
It is a good pitching staff to open the year, but it remains to be seen how much that will stick around. Fisher, Marquez, and Liranzo should all realistically be on the Threshers, and you can make a case that Wilmer Blanco and Tegan Cain should be as well. That leaves the rest of the group with some young interesting arms, but no real standout. The bullpen also lacks intrigue. Eligio Arias will occasionally have a game where his arm strength shines, but the only other relief arm with good velocity are Anderson Navas and Tegan Cain. Most of the staff is gong to sit in the low 90s with a collection of ok secondary pitches and ok control. If the top starting pitchers stick around all season without getting promoted, the pitching could be pretty good, but it is likely they get promoted at some point.
Looking Ahead and Overall Thoughts
It is not a deep roster to start the year, and the pitching staff might get promoted away early, which is not a great combination. However, the biggest driver of how the season goes will depend on how the Phillies manage their DSL teams. Currently they have about a roster and a half, and have mostly had two teams. If they end up with one team, that could see top performers promoted stateside to the FCL team. There aren’t a ton of players to point to and say they have earned that promotion yet, but that could change as their spring training kicks up. Last year Ramon Marquez made the jump and Zuher Yousuf forced the issue early with his pitching success. The most exciting outcome would be if Francisco Renteria forces the issue, but there may be some other interesting possibilities that could emerge as well.
It is likely that the team is not particularly successful on the field. What would be considered a success is if the non-notable hitting prospects keep their heads above water and any of the unknown pitchers becomes more interesting. That is likely to lead to an unexciting summer on the backfields, but there may be some growth still happening.