Devin Saltiban

Role: Average Regular
Risk: Extreme – Saltiban did not face top competition in high school, was not on the showcase circuit vs top arms, and is moving to shortstop having never really played it before signing. It is a decently long list of areas where he is going to need to prove something against an unknown.
Summary: The Phillies drafts under Brian Barber have been very comfortable with risk and small sample sizes, and no one probably exemplifies that more than Saltiban. He is a high school outfielder from Hawaii who did not really appear in showcases and was relatively unknown. As a high schooler he played 11 games in the MLB Draft League for West Virginia against college aged guys and was good. He then reportedly excelled at the Draft Combine. The Phillies took him in the draft and announced him as a shortstop, despite him never really playing there (it turns out that a crosschecker saw him on the infield and made the suggestion). He looks promising at shortstop, but it is still very early in that process. He might have enough speed to move out to center field if the infield experiment doesn’t work, but there is a danger he slides down the defensive spectrum to corner outfield. He currently has plus speed, but depending on how he fills out that could change. At the plate he isn’t the biggest guy, but he has a quick bat and short swing, and there is definitely the makings of at least average power and a solid hit tool. Nothing immediately jumps off the page for Saltiban, but he sort of looks like a ball player, and nothing stands out as a negative either. It is possible the Phillies got a real steal in the third round by moving quickly on a rising player, there are just still too many moving parts and unknowns to really make that evaluation yet.
2024 Outlook: The early indications are that the Phillies might hold Saltiban back in Extended Spring Training to work on the move to shortstop. His bat looks ready for Clearwater, so they may not be able to hold him back for the whole season.