Phillies Minor League Monthly Retrospective – 2025 Season

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Minor League Awards

All of these awards are made up. Unless otherwise stated they are not about prospect ranking and evaluation, but are about how a player actually performed.

Hitter of the Year – Felix Reyes

101 G – 343 PA – 34 2B – 4 3B – 16 HR – 13 SB – .331/.362/.562

Reyes is far from the top prospect in the Phillies system, in fact there will be healthy debate as to whether he is a prospect at all due to defensive limitations and an overly aggressive approach at the plate. Reyes didn’t join Reading until a few weeks into the season, but never posted a month with an average under .280 or slugging under .491. He led the Eastern League in batting average, doubles, slugging (by 73 points!), and OPS (by 70 points). He had one of the best statistical season among qualified full season minor leaguers. He did this by mashing LHPs (1.092 OPS) and hitting just as well on the road (.925 OPS) as at hitter friendly Reading (.923). Reyes isn’t the first or last statistical performer in a Reading uniform, but he was so much better statistically than everyone else in his league it is hard to ignore from a pure statistical performance side.

Honorable Mention: Justin Crawford, Aidan Miller, Otto Kemp, Anderson Araujo

Crawford (.334/.411/.452 7 HR 46 SB) and Miller (.264/.392/.433 14 HR 59 SB) had the two best hitting seasons by hitters who are actually prospects. They will get plenty of recognition when it comes to prospect lists. Crawford was good all season and Miller had a blistering last month and a half. Kemp (.310/.417/.570 16 HR 13 SB) had better rate stats than Reyes, but he did it in a more offensive league and in 27 fewer games. It is hard for a DSL player to top full season players, but Araujo’s season, and in particular his July were amazing, but more on him later.

Starting Pitcher of the Year – Jean Cabrera

26 GS – 3.81 ERA – 6-9 – 137.0 IP – 61 BB – 127 K

It wasn’t a great year for minor league starting pitching in the Phillies season especially once Mick Abel had some time in the majors and then was traded to Minnesota. Cabrera did not match his Paul Owens Award winning numbers from 2021, but he led the organization in innings pitched, never went fewer than 4 innings in a start and was a real workhorse for Reading all year. He was better on the road as hits and home runs came more frequently in hitter friendly Reading. While he does not profile as a top starting pitcher, he worked in a new cutter this year to be a more complete pitcher and has positioned himself as valuable depth for 2026 and is stretched out enough innings wise to likely not need any special consideration in that area.

Honorable Mention: Griff McGarry, Braydon Tucker, Zuher Yousuf, Deiry Gonzalez

McGarry (83.2 IP 3.44 ERA 124 K) had some trouble with injuries at times, and was never really a workhorse, but he got his walks more under control and had an impressive bounce back season both in results and stuff. Tucker (105.0 IP 3.34 ERA 75 K) had his second good year, despite starting in the bullpen for the BlueClaws. He is more of a fringy prospect, but has put together some valuable stretches of dominance in the minor leagues, despite not putting up gaudy strikeout numbers. Yousuf (49.0 IP 1.65 ERA 55 K) pitched across three lever this year and was the Game 2 starter for the Threshers in the FSL postseason. He is a short lefty with solid control and a good changeup. Gonzalez (40.0 IP 1.13 ERA 34 K) was the best starting pitcher on the DSL teams, and was a midseason and postseason All-Star in the league.

Relief Pitcher of the Year – Saul Teran

40 G – 1.30 ERA – 48.1 IP – 15 SV – 16 BB – 56 K

Teran has been a fun pitcher to follow since he made his debut as a 20 year old in the DSL in 2022. He struggled to stay healthy and effective last year, but was dominant in his return to the Threshers this season before having success with both the BlueClaws and Fightin’ Phils. Teran’s velocity was up 2 mph this year to averaging around 94, and both his sinker and 4-seamer played above their poor attributes due to a dominant sweeper. Teran threw his breaking ball a touch less this year, but he threw it harder and with more sweep and opposing batters struggled to make contact with it. He is more of an up and down reliever projection, but his slider makes him interesting as a potential big leaguer.

Honorable Mention: Danyony Pulido, Jose Pena

Pulido (1.11 ERA 40.2 IP 21 BB 49 K) finally threw more strikes and by the end of the year was throwing harder than he ever had. Pena (1.54 ERA 41 IP 13 BB 41 K), struggled a bit once he reached the BlueClaws, but he threw more strikes this year and it paid off.

Rookie Hitter (First Full Season) of the Year: Anderson Araujo

45 G – 183 PA – 11 2B – 3 3B – 7 HR – 11 SB – .289/.377/.528

Araujo, a catcher, was an unheralded international signing this past winter. He looked interesting in the spring, but then went hitless in 6 of his first 7 games, and looked like he would struggle like most teenage catchers do. Instead he finished out June by going 10-33, and then hit a home run in 6 of 9 games to start July. He doesn’t have huge power or tools, but his swing is balanced and quick, and he has a knack for making good contact. He should get to show what he can do stateside next season.

Honorable Mention: Dante Nori

After two poor months, Nori (4 HR 52 SB .261/.361/.372) did a lot to really help his prospect stock, but a .626 OPS over his first 45 games was a deep hole to get out of, and his .795 mark over his last 80 games is about as valiant an effort as you will see this side of Aidan Miller.

Rookie Pitcher (First Full Season) of the Year: Ramon Marquez

14 G – 12 GS – 55.0 IP – 4.42 ERA – 17 BB – 72 K

Marquez did not have the same stats as Gonzalez, but the young righty came directly stateside for his debut and emerged as one of the more interesting starting pitching prospects in the Phillies system. His fastball sits mid 90s with sinking action, but it is his changeup that really put him on the radar. He sells it well and it has significant drop vs his fastball, which led to problems in and out of the zone for opposing batters. He also throws a gyro slider with near 0″ vertical and horizontal movement that he was able to throw in the zone and for chases. A full offseason in the organization could see him primed for a second breakout.

Honorable Mention: Deiry Gonzalez

Gonzalez, mentioned in the top pitching performance section, is a skinny pitcher who sits 87-91 with room for more growth. He throws a changeup and a big curveball as well.

Season Stat Leaders

Stat Minimums:

  • Hitters: 300 PA (full season), 200 PA (FCL), 150 PA (DSL)
  • Starters: 80 IP (full season), 35 IP (FCL/DSL)
  • Relievers: 40 IP (full season), 20 IP (FCL/DSL)

Hitting

Hits

Batting Average

  • .334 – Justin Crawford
  • .331 – Felix Reyes
  • .323 – Keaton Anthony
  • .310 – Otto Kemp
  • .291 – Dayber Cruceta

Home Runs

Slugging

  • .570 – Otto Kemp
  • .562 – Felix Reyes
  • .528 – Anderson Araujo
  • .484 – Keaton Anthony
  • .452 – Justin Crawford

Stolen Bases

OPS

  • .987 – Otto Kemp
  • .923 – Felix Reyes
  • .905 – Anderson Aruajo
  • .863 – Justin Crawford
  • .862 – Keaton Anthony

Pitching

Innings

K/9 (RP)

Strikeouts

  • 131 – Alan Rangel
  • 127 – Jean Cabrera, Gabe Mosser
  • 124 – Griff McGarry
  • 123 – Andrew Painter
  • 116 – Estibenzon Jimenez
  • 105 – Charles King
  • 103 – Mavis Graves

ERA (SP)

K/9 (SP)

ERA (RP)

  • 1.11 – Danyony Pulido
  • 1.30 – Saul Teran
  • 1.54 – Jose Pena
  • 2.69 – Ryan Drombski
  • 3.00 – Tommy McCollum

Mailbag

@bearc.bsky.social: How much credit should Rob Thompson receive for how this team has responded since Wheeler was put on the IL? The vibes felt so low at that point but since then the Phils have gone 18-7. (as of 9/13)

I don’t have insight into the clubhouse, but it seems like Rob has managed to galvanize the team around the next man up mindset that they have had in the past. He seems to have maneuvered the outfield situation into its optimal positioning, which probably has as much to do with them weathering losing Wheeler and others than anything else.

@billygoldenjr.bsky.social: Is there anyone in the DSL that would be considered the next Escobar or Tait?

There isn’t a Tait lurking. Tait had great reviews coming into the season and it was immediately evident that he was going to be great. Escobar flashed promise for three years prior to breaking out, including having a .732 and .643 OPS in his two DSL years. Anderson Araujo got mentioned above, but I continue to believe that Romeli Espinosa is the guy who can take the sort of slower breakout path because he is so long and projectable, and young. His walk and strikeout numbers (10 BB 34 K in 168 PAs) point to an immature approach, but he hit .282/.363/.430 this season and you can see above average to plus tools peaking out everywhere for a guy who might stick at shortstop.

@melkasinka.bsky.social: Phillies season success has stemmed from their starting pitching strength compared to other teams. Now with Wheeler injured, Suarez heading for FA, Luzardo going into his last year of control, and maybe a rough year for Painter. How do you think Phillies address this group on the off-season?

The Phillies seemed last year at the end of their financial rope. They knew they had to figure out Schwarber, realmuto, and rebuilding an outfield. With Wheeler potentially an unknown What is the priority list order and how much $ do they realistically have to address these issues this off season

As of now it looks like you are probably missing Wheeler for a month best case scenario, but you do bring back Sanchez, Luzardo, Nola, and Walker. Given how this year went, I would imagine they would love to sign Luzardo long term, but he probably wants to see if he can put together a second monster year. Taijuan Walker isn’t a good pitcher, but he is a totally fine #5. My guess is they let Suarez walk unless his market collapses and they bring in a stop gap one year guy (like current Walker Buehler, not saying him, but sort of the swing guy but better than Joe Ross), and then you bring Painter, Cabrera, McGarry, and some milb FA guys to compete with the vet for the last spot.

I think they start by trying to move as much of Castellanos’ money as possible. Then you clear Kepler, Ross, and Romano’s numbers. Strahm has a really reasonable option, and I think they bring back Alvarado on something near to that option number ($9M) because they need arms and he can be next year’s version of Romano. They bring back Schwarber on what probably is a sizeable raise, but not stupid. At this point I think JT gets a small pay cut for a 2-3 year deal (maybe like $18-$20M not $23M). That probably doesn’t leave a ton of maneuverability, but also I don’t know what they want to spend on either, as Kyle Tucker has become much less attractive. If you move Nick, you probably want a RH vet bat because all of the prospects are LH. In an ideal world Marsh plays a ton, Crawford takes a spot and things are cheap. I think this also likely means they just go one last arb year with Bohm and move on since his replacement cost is probably higher than him.

@adamaaronson.bsky.social: Is Felix Reyes destined to be a DH? Could Alex McFarlane get fast-tracked in 2026?

I don’t know if Reyes will hit enough to be a pure DH. He probably needs to be able to stand at first and both outfield corners and mash LHPs. He isn’t a good defender, but also I don’t know if he is meaningfully different in that regards to Otto Kemp or Gabriel Rincones.

I was surprised McFarlane was not fast tracked this year and I would not be surprised if next February we get some stories about how he could break camp with the team before he ultimately ends up in the minors to begin with. He needs to hold his velocity and throw more strikes, but the fact that the peak velocity instantly reappeared when he moved to the bullpen late in the season was encouraging.

@kp-paul.bsky.social: I think mine are the obvious questions. How did the top 10 or 20 prospects in the system change over the course of 2025 season? Where will the new top 10-20 end this year and start next year? Who among them are we likely to see next year?

I don’t have the full rankings done and it is a many thousand word piece, but I have a rough draft and last year’s offseason list (# in parentheses), and we can sort of bucket the differences.

You can probably construct most of the ranking tiers from that.

@papergreat.bsky.social: Let’s talk 3B. I don’t think they extend Bohm, so he’s traded this winter or walks as a FA after 2026.

Could Kemp be in play for that spot as an everyday MLB 3B? If not, who in the majors or minors could handle 3B? …. I think this gets to the question of where Miller & Turner will play

As mentioned above, I think they just go into the last year with Bohm and let him walk. He is a perfectly fine stop gap. I don’t see Kemp as a replacement at third base, partially because he is a complete liability there defensively, but also he is currently running a 5.3% BB% and 30.4% K% and per Statcast tracking data is getting eaten alive by fastballs and changeups. If Kemp is a bench bat, that is fine, but he is quickly exposed. After this year we can table the Turner moving off SS talk for now and Stott’s resurgence has tabled any 2B talk, which means the answer is Aidan Miller moving over to third. Aroon Escobar is the other guy who has spent time at third, but he is more of a second baseman.

@ocaptmyobvious.bsky.social: after this season, what are your big league projections for miller? how have they changed from last year?

@chancesman.bsky.social: Did Miller make any approach or mechanical change to erupt in the second half? Is it sustainable?

Miller has made himself more athletic, or at least proven his athleticism. I don’t think he is a burner who is going to steal 50 bases in the majors, but 20-30 feels reasonable with good smarts. I don’t know if the overall projection on him has completely changed, I think the power will come and he will probably be a good approach, average hit, above average game power batter. He still can stick at shortstop, which is less to do with amazing range or arm strength, but a really solid internal clock and actions, both would work really well at second or third if they defer MLB shortstop to Turner. In many ways his season is similar to Bryson Stott’s in the majors where he was too passive and ended up in suboptimal counts and situations where it just looked like he was caught in between. That led to some elevated strikeout rates and some poor contact. He just looked a bit more sure down the stretch and he was driving the ball more, in particular his number of doubles exploded. It is a very small sample size, but his numbers in AAA indicated great swing decisions and a plus ability to make contact in the strike zone. I don’t know if he is a star, but he looks like a really solid player.

@waleed104.bsky.social: Am I in love with Mcgarry or the just idea of him

These two things are identical, as there really has mostly just been the idea of him given how AAA has mostly just been a wall where things all fall apart. That said, he looked like a much better pitcher this year, the command and control as still bad, but his pitches themselves were more consistent and were overpowering to opposing batters.

@jaypo.bsky.social: Who would be your top 5 picks for future high-leverage relievers in the system?

  1. Alex McFarlane
  2. Wen Hui Pan
  3. Seth Johnson
  4. Casey Steward
  5. Gabe Craig

I just am too much of a coward to say any of the starters are relievers, especially the draft guys. I don’t know what to do with Moises Chace and I just think starting works for McGarry, but relief does not. I like Saul Teran, but he just doesn’t look like a high leverage guy to me, more of a middle reliever.

@thomasmrobson.bsky.social: I’m sure you’re inundated with questions about minor league players, but what about minor league coaches/managers? Anyone on the farm staffs that seems destined for a big league future in Philadelphia or elsewhere?

BlueClaws manager Greg Brodzinski has been tagged as a mlb future manager for a number of years, and he definitely has that presence. Reading pitching coach Brad Bergesen probably isn’t a future MLB coach, but they move him around to their minors to where their pitching prospects are and he has success. It can be hard to nail down who has those future vibes in general. They have pushed Nerluis Martinez (former org catcher) up some levels and he is now with Clearwater and is going to Australia to coach with Adelaide under Chris Adamson (Adamson is the bench coach for the IronPigs), which is a bit interesting. They are sending the other Reading pitching coach Riley McCauley to fall league. Not really future MLB guys as a group, but in Anthony Contreras (AAA), Al Pedrique (AA), Brodzinski (A+), Marty Malloy (A-), and Shawn Williams (FCL) they seem to have a stable core of minor league managers they move around as needed to meet team needs.

@patwoods.bsky.social: If the season was only half way over, instead of over, what players would you think would be making the leap to the next level before the end of the season? I guess also asked: what players might be hurt by losing momentum of season coming to and end?

It is a good question, but the nature of the staggered end to the minor league season is that we got that with Nori, Escobar, Miller, McFarlane, McGarry, Reyes, Teran, Hettiger, and probably someone I am missing all getting at least a week at the next level. The only guy that really came to mind where they did not do this is that Casey Steward seems to just have found some footing in a bullpen role as the season need. Possibly the same for Danyony Pulido in Clearwater.

@scottacular21.gobirds.online: What your honest evaluation of Gabriel Rincones Jr? Is he at least a platoon big leaguer?

“At least” is putting a lot of trust in things going right, but it is what I would make a reasonable projection that he will become. Even in that role, he needs to be better against LHPs because he was just completely non-competitive against them this year. But he hit .261/.392/.480 vs RHPs, and over the last 2.5 months of the year hit .285/.408/.535 overall. His defense is terrible, but he will need to stand in an outfield corner to make this all work. He has very impressive raw power (though he does not utilize it well), and he swings and misses much less than you would expect. This is a comp stretch, but what you really are looking for him to be is a poor copy of Cubs era Kyle Schwarber. If he can do that, he has a place in the league.