The modern major league roster construction has bullpens made up of players with minor league options remaining. This means some of the young pitchers in camp such as Austin Davis and Yacksel Rios are functionally prospects, but not by service time and innings. There are no open competitions for the majors involving pitching prospects, but that doesn’t mean that there are not some interesting pitchers in camp. Notably, almost the entire AAA rotation is made up of prospects and they are all in camp. While they may not be competing for major league spots, a good spring can move a player up the call up order.
*All ranks are recalculated after J.T. Realmuto trade
Top 50 Prospects:
#2 RHP Adonis Medina
With the trade of Sixto Sanchez, Medina is arguably the Phillies top pitching prospect. His fastball will sit 91 to 96, and up to 97 with heavy sink. His slider and changeup are starting to reach their plus potential. He still has work to do on his consistency, but he already shows good control with all of his pitches. He is the furthest away from the majors of any pitcher in camp, but his stuff might be some of the most electric. He likely spends most of the year in AA, but his arm is good enough that he could impactful in the bullpen in September.
#6 LHP JoJo Romero
On the surface Romero looks like a command and control lefty who is mostly fastball-changeup. When he is on, Romero will throw harder than that profile though, routinely touching 94 to 96. His changeup is a plus pitch, but he has two average breaking balls that he can also throw for strikes. He doesn’t miss a ton of bats, but he can keep the ball in the yard and he won’t give up free passes. He is pretty safe to be a back end starter, but if he consistently hit the high end of his stuff, he could be a mid rotation arm. Much like his fellow pitching prospects, his initial path to the majors might be in the bullpen if the Phillies need extra arms down the stretch.
#7 RHP Enyel De Los Santos
De Los Santos has one of the best fastball of any pitchers in camp, reaching up to 98 and sitting in the mid 90s out of the bullpen. His second best pitch is a above average changeup, and he has been able to use both pitches to great success in the minors. He has yet to find a consistent breaking ball, jeopardizing his ability to stick in a major league rotation. His fastball and changeup give him a chance to be a high leverage reliever, a path the Phillies could explore at some point this season.
#13 LHP Ranger Suarez
Suarez is similar to Romero, in that he is a command and control lefty with a bit more stuff than profile. Suarez’s changeup is not as good as Romero, and neither his ability to change the movement on his fastball. So far Suarez has been able to keep minor league hitters off balance, but has not been overpowering. He was not sharp in the majors in 2019, but profiles as a backend starter.
#34 RHP Edgar Garcia
Garcia is the latest in a long line of short Latin right handers to come up for the Phillies. He does not throw as hard as some of his peers, but he will touch 94-96. His velocity can be a bit inconsistent and he doesn’t have great movement on the pitch like Medina or Seranthony Dominguez. What Garcia does have is a plus slider that he can lean on to miss bats. He is only 22 and needs some further polishing, but he should be part of the reliever taxi squad between Philly and Lehigh Valley starting this year.
#35 LHP Cole Irvin
Irvin is more to type as the command and control lefty than Suarez and Romero. Irvin is a bit on the older side (25) and experienced a small velocity drop in 2018 (everything dropped about 2 mph), but he still put up great numbers in AAA. He will throw 4 pitches for strikes, and will add and subtract from his fastball to give himself an array of looks to work with. He succeeds more with keeping hitters off balance, than overpowering them, as none of his pitches profiles as more than above average. His future likely is as an innings eating back end starter, but he has a fine line between success and being stuck in AAA.
#44 RHP Drew Anderson
Anderson has seen his status plateau in recent years. His secondary pitches have not taken steps forward, with his curveball still being an above average pitch and his changeup and slider/cutter lagging behind. He has been fine in a rotation in the minors, but he profiles as a back end starter at best. Given his low ceiling in a rotation, there is a decent chance that Anderson moves to the bullpen at some point. He should be able to sit in the mid 90s with his fastball and pitch off a simplified arsenal led by his curveball. He is on the 40 man roster so it could be quite literally an up and down year for Anderson.
Outside Top 50:
LHP Tyler Gilbert
After a solid first year in the bullpen in 2017, Tyler Gilbert saw his stock take a big upturn in the middle of 2018 as he made it to AAA. He doesn’t throw any harder than he used to (he still tops out around 93), but he added a cutter which has rapidly become a go to pitch for him. He still is good against left handed hitters, but the cutter has given him a weapon against righties as well. He doesn’t profile as a high leverage reliever, but could be a middle reliever along the lines of fellow lefty Austin Davis.