Entering the draft I wrote the Phillies had an obvious need for pitching. It wasn’t a new or novel concept, and saying they needed both depth and talent was obvious to anyone who started to put together a ranking or tried to figure out who the Phillies had to give up in trade. We may never know if it was the Phillies plan to go all in on pitching, but of their 20 draft picks they selected 14 pitches and 6 position players, with one of those position players unlikely to sign.
It wasn’t just the volume, all the top bonuses in the class will go to pitchers, with sizeable bonuses expected for first round pick Gage Wood and seventh round pick Matthew Fisher. Fisher will receive the first bonus over a million dollars to a high school pitcher since Andrew Painter in 2021. For a seven figure bonus for a college pitcher you will need to go back to the 2017 second round and Spencer Howard getting a below slot $1.15M. Gage will at least surpass that and Cade Obermueller might as well.
The Phillies draft throughout prioritized better fastball shapes. Pitchers with low release, high ride fastballs dominating early picks and popping up later as well. They went sinker/slider with some of their pure reliever picks, but we know even the relievers are likely to end up throwing two fastballs in pro ball. While it wasn’t big fastballs throughout, the better pitcher shapes should lead to much better raw stuff entering the system. You could also see where pitchers may not have the stuff right now where there is feel for spin and shape, and you can see where the Phillies are going to optimize pitches and possibly add a bridge pitch. Given the Phillies struggles with optimizing hitters, it was good to see them give themselves some raw material to work with on the pitching side for once.
Nowhere was this more evident than the overall strategy of the day. Brian Barber has not always left himself budget for after round 10 opting instead to make his swing early. He has been pretty good at going up and down in certain bonus spots to make the bigger player without gutting the class. Last year they cut hard on their first round pick to go up big in the second round. This year, it felt like rounds 2 to 4 were all slight reaches, but not full round reaches, and then in rounds 5 and 6 they took a senior and then a clear later round pick to cut a bunch of money, but both are real reliever prospects. It turned out that target was Matthew Fisher, a player they had been linked to throughout the process. Some of my problem, outlined in my day 1 recap, was that the Obermueller and Bowker picks were fine, but they weren’t exciting. Fisher is a legitimate comp to top of the second round pick. The Phillies might save some on Wood, but this wasn’t moving back on their first round pick to make a second big pick, but moving slightly back in a lot of places to make a big pick happen.
This draft is really going to be judged on Wood and Fisher. Hopefully they get some solid players from their other pick, but in their likely two biggest bonuses they have actually invested in pitching in the system. They are two fairly different pitchers too. Wood has now stuff, but needs some polishing and health luck. Fisher is pretty raw with a bunch of positive traits that the Phillies are going to need to actually round into a good player. Combined it is a strategy that looks higher upside and for the present and future than the Nori-Burkholder pairing from a year ago.
While the shorter, low release point arms will dominate much of the conversation, the Phillies did diversify more as the day went on. Gabe Craig may get a small bonus, but he could be a bullpen contributor really soon. James Tallon is sort of a weird angle reliever that could make him interesting. There were some college performers who could start in Cole Gilley (10th round) and Jonathan Gonzalez (14th round), but also the Phillies normal collection of mostly small school monsters who are more longshots. Unlike last year there might be 7 starting pitchers between Wood, Obermueller, Bowker, Sean Youngerman (4th Round), Fisher, Gilley, and Gonzalez, while still leaving a bunch of reliever depth. That should help rebuild that type of player in the system, but also it should help make the affiliates more competitive in the 2026 season and beyond.
The lack of hitters is probably fine. Getting a high school bat in with Matthew Ferrara (9th round) is interesting. If they can actually sign Logan Dawson (16th round) that is a real injection of projectable high school bats without using top picks. Will Vierling (11th round) hit really well for a team that made a miracle run to the MCWS and gives them a different type of low minors catching prospect. Jack Barker (13th round) and Robert Phelps (19th round) are small school guys who really performed against weaker competition, and that probably makes them worthy dart throws. While the complexes aren’t full of hitters that bowl you over, there are some interesting bats among the domestic and Dominican complexes that should at least fill low minors rosters.
Given the state of the major league team the organization acquiring college pitching is going to make for a more satisfying draft for fans. There will be some unreasonable expectations on when that pitching might come to help, but it is easier to visualize than more high school hitters. It is really hard to truly judge a draft the night of, but if the Phillies sign everyone but Landon Schaeffer, it looks to be a good and needed use of resources.
THANK YOU for all your excellent coverage of this year’s draft, Matt!
excellent content – thanks!