Gage Wood

Role: Mid Rotation Starter/Late Inning Reliever
Risk: High – Wood might be close to being a middle reliever now, but he needs to clean up his offspeed pitches to pitch late in games. His higher upside is in a rotation, but he will need to prove that he can handle a full season workload as well as show better command and feel for his offspeed pitches.
Overview: Wood was one of the most famous, thanks to a no-hitter in the Men’s College World Series, and highest upside pitchers entering the 2025 draft. He had a 9.9 strikeout to walk rate in college thanks to a walk rate of just 1.7 and strikeout rate of 16.5 per 9. The problem is that he only threw 37.2 innings and had a 3.82 ERA thanks to some early struggles and a propensity for giving up some long balls. The big selling point on Wood is his fastball. He gets low with good extension, giving it a flat approach angle, and averages about 96 on it while touching up to 98. However, he didn’t get great ride or run on it in his small pro debut, which will be something to watch as he transitions to using the pro ball. It is a real bat misser up in the zone, but he is probably going to be home run prone if he misses low. He pitches off the high fastball with a power curveball with large drop and sweep. Given his two best pitches are probably chase pitches, it will behoove him and the Phillies to dial his gyro slider into a better and more consistent pitch that he can use in the zone and to suppress contact. To stay in a starting rotation, he also will need to improve his changeup enough to be able to show it a few times a game. There has been a lot of talk of Wood being a quick moving reliever because of his fastball and curveball, but there are really starting pitcher traits, especially in line with modern starting pitching development. The injury risk is a large factor, Wood missed a bunch of 2025 due to a shoulder injury and has never really sustained a starting pitcher workload. Even if he can hold up in a rotation, the Phillies are likely going to ramp up his workload slower than the major league contribution some are envisioning. In a couple of years, if the starting pitching development doesn’t work out, he does have a fall back as a prototypical late inning arm.
2026 Outlook: Wood’s fastball is probably enough to dominate Clearwater on its own, so starting in Jersey Shore makes the most sense. His innings will be limited due to previous workload levels, which could see him pitching short games early and maybe some bullpen innings later. As a starter he probably tops out in AA in 2026, but if they want him in the bullpen late in the season, he could theoretically make the majors.
ETA: 2027

Summary: Wood has some of the best raw stuff of any starting pitcher in the draft, but a shoulder injury meant he barely pitched and when he did it took some time to get back to his best. He has a mid to upper 90s fastball with elite characteristics, a power curveball, a sharper slider, and a changeup. The Phillies have experience in getting the best out of pitch arsenals, especially hard breaking balls. To be a starter, Wood will need to improve the changeup and his command, and most importantly show that he can handle a full workload.