Phillies 2024 Top Prospects – Notes on Many More

A little late coming, but not every prospect can make the list and some weren’t particularly close. However, it is time to dump all of the notes I do have, because some of these guys could surprise because many are still kids and an eternity away or things just click sometimes for players who aren’t on our radar.

Upper Minors Pitching

• RHP Noah Skirrow – Skirrow looked poised to grab a hold of a depth starter spot, but instead ended up bouncing between the bullpen and rotation and having a down year for the IronPigs. He throws a fastball, a changeup, a curveball, and a pitch that averages in the high 80s labeled as a cutter, but might be more of a slider.
• RHP Andrew Schultz – Schultz still throws hard, sitting in the upper 90s and up to 100 in 2023. His slider is a harder pitch, sitting in the high 80s, low 90s. The problem continues to be control, and he walked 30 in 37.2 innings with Reading.
• LHP Matt Osterberg – Osterberg put up good numbers for both Jersey Shore and Reading. He is on the older side, but his fastball velocity is now more in the low 90s and he has added a cutter to his slider and changeup. He fills up the strike zone and has kept the ball in the park. Without another unexpected step forward, he has more of a AAAA #6 starter ceiling.
• RHP Tyler Phillips – Phillips missed 2022 due to recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he logged 122.2 innings in his return in 2023. He primarily uses a sinker that was mostly 91-96. His slider has sweeper shape, and his curveball is vertically oriented. He is still learning a changeup, and only the slider missed bats. He is 26 and only put up ok numbers in AA and AAA, but he might have back end starter upside. He was 94-96 in his Spring Training appearance, and that makes him most interesting already.
• RHP Tyler McKay – McKay is a long and lanky reliever who releases the ball from a low slot with sort of a weird angle. His fastball is 91-93 with heavy run and sink. He has a solid changeup that drops off armside, and his slider has two plane break that has large horizontal separation from his other pitches. He struggled with control in AAA and he does not miss a ton of bats. He was good vs lefties and righties last year and profiles as sort of an interesting middle reliever.
• LHP Taylor Lehman – Lehman is a tall lefty reliever who missed much of 2021 and 2022 due to injury. His fastball averages 93 and has some natural cut. Midway through the year he replaced his slider with a cutter that is about a mph slower than his 4-seam fastball, with more vertical than horizontal separation. He throws a big curveball in the low 80s that was his primary bat misser. He had huge platoon splits with righties putting up a .787 OPS vs RHBs while holding lefties to a .417 OPS.

Other Relief Pitchers

• LHP Tristan Garnett – Garnett has slowly added more velocity, now sitting more 90 to 94. He is tall and lanky and comes over the top with his delivery. His changeup is his best secondary pitch, but he will mix in a slider.
• LHP Wesley Moore – Moore has seen his velocity tick up a little, averaging a little under 93 out of the bullpen. His best pitch is a changeup with large drop and armside run, that FSL hitters whiffed on 48% of their swings against. He comes from a funky arm angle and throws a lot of strikes. He has some major league upside in a middle relief role.
• RHP Jack Dallas – Dallas was dominant as a multi inning reliever at multiple levels in 2023. He is not overpowering, but he throws three distinct fastballs (4-seam, sinker, and cutter) in the 89-92 range, and will bump the 4S and sinker to 94. He will show a changeup and then a high spin slider. The kitchen sink approach works in the low minors, but has a tendency to struggle vs better hitters.
• RHP Cristian Hernandez – Hernandez is a workhorse minor league reliever. He sits 92-95 and will mix in a breaking ball and changeup as well.
• LHP Jordi Martinez – The Phillies moved Martinez to the bullpen full time in 2024, and it was sort of a mixed bag. His overall numbers weren’t that much better and he struggled with his control at times. His fastball can get up to 98, but sits more mid 90s. He will use a slider and changeup, with the changeup being a solid pitch. He will need to throw more strikes and miss more bats, but the arm strength is intriguing.
• RHP Jonh Henriquez – Henriquez’s fastball was possibly a bit overstated in 2022, but sat just under 93 in 2023, getting up to 96. He will show a 4 seamer and a cutter to go with a changeup, slider, and rarely used curveball. He racked up 14 wins in 30 games as the Threshers middle reliever and long man.
• RHP Mitch Neunborn – Neunborn got a late start to his pro career, and came out of the bullpen at first before moving to the bullpen. Down the stretch he alternated between dominance and struggles. His offspeed pitches allowed him to dominate A-ball hitters. He has gotten his fastball up to 95 in the past.
• RHP Josh Bortka – After a rough start to his time with Clearwater, Bortka came back and was an important part of the Threshers bullpen to end the season. He throws a mid 90s fastball, a slider, a curveball, and will mix in a changeup. He misses bats with both breaking balls, but he struggles to throw strikes.
• LHP Danny Wilkinson – Wilkinson averages just over 90 mph on his fastball, struggled with walks, and had an ERA over 4, but was one of the best strikeout pitchers in the minors. Wilkison throws a pair of breaking balls in a slider and a slow curveball. His curveball was pedestrian, barely throwing it for a strike or a chase. His slider induced a swing and miss on 25.9% of pitches, and a whiff on 57% of swings. He also threw it for a strike at high volume. His sinker had solid metrics, but his slider outcome makes him worth keeping half an eye on.
• RHP Max Lazar – Lazar a minor league free agent signing, has had a slow burn career marred by injuries. He is a reliever now, and was 93-94 in a brief spring training appearance. He gets good plane on a deceptive fastball. He throws a good number of strikes.

Flawed Bats

• OF Marcus Lee Sang – Lee Sang made it to Reading for 25 games after being solid with Jersey Shore. He walked much more in 2023, but the strikeout rate ticked back up again and was over 30% for the season. He doesn’t hit for enough power to offset the lack of contact.
• OF Leandro Pineda – Pineda still looks the part and from July onward hit .291/.379/.463 as a 21 year old with Jersey Shore. He has enormous platoon splits, but is luckily on the right, well left, side for that to be less of a problem. There is breakout potential as a 4th outfielder, but he will need to sustain the progress against better pitching.

Former Prospects

• SS Casey Martin – Martin looked to be getting himself back on path with Jersey Shore (though as a 24 year old in his 3rd season at the level). He then went to Reading where he struck out 87 times in 236 plate appearances with 16 walks. He has a good glove, and showed some more power in 2023, but he is never going to make enough contact.
• RHP Starlyn Castillo – The 2022 season was more of a return from surgery year for Castillo, and 2023 was supposed to be the year he got back on track. Instead he was terrible in Clearwater and was demoted to the FCL and wasn’t much better there. His velocity is still mostly there and his breaking ball is still plus to plus plus, he just has been unable to throw enough strikes to have any meaningful future.
• OF Baron Radcliff – Reading should have been the place where Radcliff showed off his power, instead he missed half the year, hit 12 home runs in 70 games and struck out 102 times. He has enormous raw power, it is just pretty safe to say he is never making enough contact.
• OF Jordan Viars – Viars has struggled to put together sustained success after the Phillies took him in the 3rd round of the 2021 draft. Still only 20 years old, he has good raw power (111.5 max EV), but he has not fully tapped into it and struggled to drive the ball in the air. He is limited defensively, so the bat will need to come around quickly.
• OF Yhoswar Garcia – Garcia is now 22 and hit .235/.300/.324 in the FCL. He is probably past this being a make or break season, he now has to breakout or be gone and he might not have a chance to breakout.

Low Minors

• RHP Eiberson Castellano – The Phillies moved Castellano to the bullpen in 2023, and his stuff ticked up a mph, with his 4-seamer and sinker peaking at 96. He throws a full starter’s arsenal, but his slider is the only pitch that has really missed bats. He also struggled with strike throwing and is trending towards org reliever.
• RHP Jonathan Petit – Petit moved into the Threshers rotation in May, and was very up and down from start to start, ultimately ending with two disastrous games that raised his ERA from 4.23 to 5.24. He can get his fastball up to 96, but will sit 92. He throws a sinker, 4-seamer, cutter, changeup, slider, and curveball, but doesn’t have any really dominant results with any.
• RHP Giussepe Velasquez – Velasquez was dominant in the FCL before moving to the Clearwater rotation where he struggled before an arm injury, and ultimately Tommy John surgery ended his season. He has some interesting pitch characteristics, but also his velocity is still very pedestrian.
• C Jordan Dissin – Dissin was part of the Threshers catcher rotation all season. He is a good defender with a patient, and possibly a bit passive, approach at the plate. His average exit velocities were ok, but his 90th percentile was on the low side, indicating the power might not be there, or at least not yet. That tracks with the 15 extra base hits in 263 plate appearances. He is on the younger side as a JuCo and not 4yr college player, so he has some time to slowly progress.
• OF Ricardo Rosario – The Phillies pushed Rosario stateside in 2022 and made him a prominent member of the OF rotation for Clearwater in 2023. He is a relatively patient hitter, but he struggled to impact the baseball, posting an average exit velocity of just 84.2 mph. He has more raw power than that, but he struggled to consistently make hard contact.
• C/IF Leonardo Rondon – Rondon is still bouncing around between second, third, and catcher defensively. He hit well in his stateside debut, but without a ton of power. Still an interesting guy to watch.
• OF Cade Fergus – Fergus is a plus center field defender who had an average exit velocity of 88.9 mph and 90th percentile EV of 104.2 mph with the Threshers. He hit 12 home runs and stole 14 bases. He went to Australia in the offseason and was even better with the power and speed. He also struck out 116 times in 314 minor league plate appearances and swung and missed on 42.5% of his swings with Clearwater. The hit tool is unlikely to ever be there, but the rest is there.
• IF Marco Soto – Outside of having the wrong picture for all of his pages, Soto is not really too notable a prospect yet. He was a solid bonus guy in 2021, and he hit well in the DSL in 2022, but was sort of poor in the FCL in 2023. He primarily played shortstop, but has moved around the infield. He will need to impact the ball more to be a utility infield type prospect.
• C Luis Caicuto – The Phillies selected Caicuto in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. He has just turned 21 and is coming off a year in which he only played 9 games due to injury. In 30 games as a 19 year old in the complex in 2022 he hit .352/.433/.451. He has barely played, but is an interesting prospect to watch.
• RHP Saul Teran – Teran is a smaller reliever who is a bit on the older side. He increased his velocity slightly in 2023 and added a cutter. His slider is his best bat misser.
• C Andrick Nava – Nava has a reputation as a bat first catcher, unfortunately outside of his trip to Australia that hasn’t involved much power. He is a switch hitter who will take a walk, but he has just 13 extra base hits with the Blueclaws in 64 games. He has stuck behind the plate so far, but his bat has been at a level where he will actually need to provide defensive value.
• IF Bryson Ware – The Phillies took Ware in the 8th round of the 2023 draft after he hit .350/.438/.731 with Auburn. He hit .177/.276/.318 in 25 pro games with just ok exit velocity numbers, and was eaten up by offspeed pitches.
• IF Zach Arnold – The Phillies 14th round pick in 2023, Arnold was another college performer having hit .365/.453/.590 with Houston. He fared well in pro ball, hitting .290/.374/.441 in 26 games. The EV numbers were a little less rosy, and he struggled against sliders/
• C Arturo De Freitas – Regarded as a good glove catcher, De Freitas only hit .157/.227/.176 on the season.
• 1B Keaton Anthony – Anthony hit well in the FCL and walked in the FSL in just 14 total games. He hit .372/.476/.686 in college though.

Dominican Complex

• OF Jeaden Calderon – One of the Phillies larger signings in 2023 ($150,000), Calderon hit well in the DSL with a .276/.415/.463 batting line with 24 walks and 34 strikeouts in 152 plate appearances. He was already sliding a bit down the defensive spectrum this year, playing primarily left field with a smattering of right and first.
• RHP Enderson Jean – Jean’s command and results were terrible, but he got his fastball up to 95 while showing an array of pitches and a projectable frame.
• RHP Joel Heredia – Signed late in the 2021 signing period, Heredia is a huge RHP, listed at 6’6”. He struggled with control and is on the older side, but he is up to 93 with size. 
• C Angel Mata – The Phillies like Mata, who had a better second go around at the DSL, hitting .277/.381/.362 with DSL Phillies White. He has been very good at throwing out base runners the last two seasons (20 CS on 39 attempts in 2022 and 14 CS on 30 attempts in 2023).
• LHP Claudio Gatier – Gatier is larger than his listed 6’3” 190lbs, and he struggles with control. He is up to 92, but is sort of weird and the offspeed pitches are kind of interesting.
• LHP John Sosa – Sosa is a sort of good sized lefty who is a bit on the older side. He walked a bunch of batters, but struck out 43 in 28.1 innings with a 1.91 ERA.  He also saw his velocity go from high 80s, to up 94.
• SS Nolan Beltran – The Phillies gave Beltran $350,000 in 2022 as they spread mid sized bonuses around. He doesn’t have a ton of power, but he is an up the middle defender who hit .297/.375/.405 last season after having poor overall numbers outside of walks the year before. The Phillies brought him stateside already.
• RHP Adilson Peralta – Peralta is a tall lanky righty who put up good numbers while primarily pitching as a starting pitcher for the Red team. His velocity can be a bit inconsistent, but he can get up to 95 with a changeup and breaking balls to back it up.
• RHP Danyony Pulido – Pulido has been a rotation stalwart for DSL Phillies White the last two years. His ERA regressed this year despite much improved underlying numbers. His stuff also improved, picking up 3-4 mph across his fastball, changeup, slider, and curveball.
• RHP Pedro Peralta – Peralta got $140,000 in the Phillies 2023 class as a short right handed pitcher. He struggled all season, but was one of the youngest players in the league (turned 17 on July 27) and can get his fastball up to 95.