News broke Sunday night from Milb Central that the Phillies would be making a variety of promotions at the start of the next minor league series, most notably shortstop Aidan Miller and right handed pitcher George Klassen would be moving from Clearwater to Jersey Shore. As of now the other reported moves are catcher Luis Caicuto also moving from the Threshers to the BlueClaws, and catcher Andrick Nava and infielder Otto Kemp moving from Jersey Shore to Reading. There are more possible moves, though as of now it does not look like they will be quite as notable, but it remains to be seen.
Probably the most obvious and logical of these promotions is Klassen. The 2023 6th round pick is the breakout prospect of the season, dominating Clearwater after not pitching after the draft last year. Klassen looked on the verge of a promotion a month ago, but experienced shoulder soreness that caused him to miss a month and have to ramp back up. He has been sitting 96 to 99 with his fastball, often holding his velocity throughout his starts. He reportedly through a 4-seamer and sinker, but there is a muddied separation between the two and his 4-seamer lacks real dominant characteristics beyond the velocity. His mid to high 80s curveball and low 90s cutter do a lot of the heavy lifting, both suppressing contact and posting gaudy whiff numbers. Klassen’s control is not as good as his walk numbers indicate (currently 2.8 per 9), and upper level batters will chase less, so he will need to throw fewer non-competitive pitches with the BlueClaws.
Miller’s promotion is also not unexpected, just a bit earlier than expected. The plan appears to have been to have maybe waited another month, but despite a quiet week this week, he had a breakout May, and looked ready for the next challenge. What likely pushed it over the edge were the other moves in the system. BlueClaws shortstop Bryan Rincon has been out for almost a month (and that will continue to be the case) and Jersey Shore has been at 3-5 infielders for much of that time (before the struggling Felix Reyes was put on the development list this week) with Leandro Pineda having to play a significant amount of first base and Otto Kemp unable to move up the Reading. Meanwhile, Reading has been short on players between injuries in the majors and AAA. This allows Kemp to move to AA (more on that later), and Miller arrives in Jersey Shore a little early. Miller consistently hit the ball hard all season, but even more so in May. He also has shown a good approach, and while he has some swing and miss it isn’t a current massive concern. The biggest change this season is his defense, which has become solid at shortstop and he will almost certainly be the everyday BlueClaws starter there.
Going along with Miller and Klassen to Jersey Shore will be catcher Luis Caicuto. The Phillies selected Caicuto in the minor league Rule 5 draft. He missed most of the 2023 season and acquitted himself fine so far this season. He struggled in May after a good April, and is a high contact hitter who lacks power. He will form a tandem with Jordan Dissin.
Leaving Jersey Shore for AA Reading are infielder Otto Kemp and catcher Andrick Nava. Kemp is hitting .330/.440/.533 for the BlueClaws since starting the year on the injured list. He hits the ball hard, and dramatically cut his strikeout rate this season. Kemp does not maximize his power in the air for home runs, but he has been a line drive machine since signing as a non drafted free agent back in 2022. Kemp is older, already 24, so getting to a higher level is important for getting a better feel for his talent. Kemp has some positional versatility, playing second and third primarily, while mixing in first base and corner outfield this season. In a small sample size, Kemp has crushed left handed pitching while still being good against righties. Hitting A-ball pitching as a 24 year old does not make a prospect on its own, but there is some evidence that Kemp may be a late bloomer who could have a future on a bench.
With Caicuto moving to Jersey Shore, catcher Andrick Nava is moving up to Reading with Kemp. Nava was a top international signing in 2018, and hit well in his pro debut in the FCL in 2019. Then 2020 happened, and then in 2021 he had a knee injury that cost him all but 3 games. He spent the last two years struggling and being more of an extra catcher in A ball. He had a good trip to Australia this offseason, showing much more power than he had before. He was good in April, but has been on fire the last month and a half with a .977 OPS over the last 28 days. He is a switch hitter who makes a large amount of contact, and has hit RHP well. He is still only 22, and looks better behind the plate. He should join Caleb Ricketts as the tandem in Reading.
None of the callups are undeserving (and in some cases over-deserved), but the mass movement looks to have been somewhat prompted by constraints of the new roster rules. The 165 man roster for domestic minor leaguers only has 15 exclusions for 60 day IL, and none for shorter term injury assignments. The Phillies have 17 players on a 7 day IL today, and there are some players on rehab assignments leaving the Phillies with about 150 players for 5 levels, and that put them in some crunches this week when injuries in the majors and AAA coupled with the taxi squad for London caused a bunch of emergency moves last week and left some teams short staffed over the weekend. It has also left the organization in tight binds at particular positions, or certain levels, at the moment. This hasn’t just been because of the reduced roster limit, but the early start of the FCL season has left the complex without any healthy extra players that can be sent across the org as a band aid for a week. These strains have both held players down and forced promotions, and are going to continue until the draft, and possibly beyond in certain areas. My cynical expectation is that this won’t lead to an expansion of the rosters, but we are heading towards another level contraction as soon as MLB is able.