In the 3rd round of the 2026 draft the Phillies selected Texas RHP Ruger Riojas in the 3rd round of the 2026 draft.
While ranked about this range or above by MLB and Baseball America, there isn’t really a ton of optimism about Riojas’s upside. He will turn 23 tomorrow and is smaller in size. He had success as a starter for Texas, carrying a large workload (81.2 innings) with a solid 3.97 ERA and sterling 21 walks and 120 strikeouts. It seems he throws in the mid 90s, will get up to 98 and it plays up in the zone. He throws a a whole bevy of pitches with a splitter but then a cutter, sweeper, curveball progression of breaking balls. None of the ranking sites had him with a plus pitch in the full arsenal, but there are tools to stick in a rotation. He has solid command, and enough track record that he should move quickly through the minor leagues, but there isn’t much optimism that he is more than a backend starter, even if he does arrive quickly.
Given his age and that he is a senior, this seems like a pick to get a solid talent and possibly cut a bit of deal similar to Gabe Craig a year ago. I don’t expect him to sign for $200,000 like Craig did, but there seems like there should be some money available here that would either be going to Spangler or to a future pick.
Speaking of Gabe Craig, he’s gonna have to get those walks down.