Following a frustrating departure from the NLCS, the Phillies still appear locked and loaded for another loud run in 2025. The core of the team remains and, unlike recent seasons, reinforcements are on the horizon for the dog days of summer and beyond. It’s a farm system brimming with the talent necessary to swing impact trades and throw impact innings next season.
But perhaps the most exciting piece of the Phillies farm system is just how much tooled-up talent on the offensive end is fans can look forward to watching in 2025.
DEVELOPMENTS
The Phillies have been an organization whose farm system has been, well, stagnant for lack of a better word, for the better part of the last few seasons.
For the longest time, it’s been Mick Abel and Andrew Painter atop a farm system lacking substantial impact upside. While both of those arms bring an impact ceiling, neither is yet to debut. That will change in 2025. But it’s what’s behind Painter and Abel that should excite fans.
But first, the two arms.
Painter, a high-school righty drafted 13th overall in 2021, recently bumped 100 mph on multiple occasions in an outing in the Arizona Fall League. He’s always had that kind of arm talent, but seeing the radar guns confirm it once again has scouts excited. Painter missed the last two seasons recovering from Tommy John.
The Fall League was essentially his first professional pitch since 2022. He now appears back to full strength. His 18 strikeouts across 15.2 innings for Glendale this fall shows the stuff is back. And so is the command. Painter walked just four hitters.
It should be assumed Painter will begin the 2025 season no lower than Double-A Reading. A Triple-A assignment wouldn’t be terribly surprising either if Philadelphia believes he can handle the rigors of more advanced ball. Still, he’s likely to be on an innings limit this season. Don’t count out a summer debut.
It’s been a different story for Abel who has struggled over the last two seasons to put it all together in the high minors. We’ll get to that below.
There are those in the industry who believe infield prospect Aidan Miller is a better prospect than Painter. Miller proved some doubters wrong this season by keeping his body lean and withstanding the pressures of playing shortstop every day. He played 90 games in the field this season and every single innings was played at the ‘6’.
It’s still more than likely Miller will play most of his games at third base by the time he reaches his prime, but an early-career stint on the middle infield isn’t out of the question anymore. Offensively, Miller posted a healthy .261/.366/.446 line with eleven homers and a large helping of walks.
He’ll likely start the 2025 season at Double-A where the organization is hoping to see more game power come out in his play.
The Phillies have done well on the international side over the last two seasons inking shortstop Starlyn Caba and catcher Eduardo Tait. Both have shown well in the low minors. Tait has been punishing the baseball and .302/.356/.486 line this season with eleven homers.
From this chair, he’s the third-best prospect in the organization and has a chance to develop into a middle-of-the-order stick in due time.
In terms of those aforementioned tools, Philly has a trio of guys who should be in play to debut over the course of the next few seasons that should excite fans.
Outfielder Justin Crawford came into his own this season piggybacking a 2023 campaign that had scouts and fans bullish. His .313/.360/.444 slash was almost completely earned at Double-A. He’ll likely get his first taste of Triple-A next season and could conceivably man the spacious centerfield of Citizens Bank Ballpark as soon as next summer if the Phillies have a need out there.
Fellow outfielders Griffin Burkholder and Dante Nori were two of the more tooled-up players in the 2024 Draft and have the pedigree to move quickly. Burkholder is a plus runner with plus raw power who hasn’t had the chance to put it all together yet in front of scouts due to a nagging hamstring injury in high school.
Nori is a powder-keg-built bulldog of a ballplayer with above-average bat-to-ball skills and will turn in blazing times to first base. There’s some sneaky juice in the bat too.
QUESTIONS
From the very top of the Phillies’ system, it comes down to availability and role, but Crawford’s ETA should be the headliner here. He’s hit at every stop the past two seasons and is a five-tool talent who finished 2024 in Double-A.
Other top prospects haven’t fared as well after a promotion, however, including Caba, who looked solid in Rookie ball but struggled in Single-A (.179/.304/.189). Caba, however, is just 19 this winter and continues to make consistent contact and profile up the middle, though it’s likely at second base.
Shortstop Bryan Rincon is another prospect who lost time in 2024, managing just 35 games, batting .202/.336/.333 with a 31% strikeout rate, an uncharacteristic issue getting the bat to the ball. The 20-year-old was the club’s 14th-round pick in 2022.
After the org’s top arms Painter and Abel is a crop of non-traditional upside plays such as Jean Cabrera, a right-hander with mid-90s heat and two projectable secondaries. It’s tremendous arm speed for Cabrera, who carries some reliever risk due to size (6-0/145), and some struggles versus right-handed batters thanks to glove-side command and an inconsistent slider. In a bullpen role, Cabrera likely sits 95-100 mph and sees the big leagues in 2025.
Griff McGarry‘s stuff projects well, but his ability to throw strikes has held him back from Day 1. He spent all of 2024 coming out of the bullpen but issued 36 bases on balls in 30 outings (31.2 IP). He has two breakers that work and he’s thrown a cutter to help him pitch in on lefties, but it’s a lot of deep counts that favor hitters.
Christian McGowan, 25 in March, is in a similar boat. He’s battled through injuries to get back on the field the last two years, but since the Phillies took him in Round 7 in 2021 he’s made only 29 appearances, 26 in a starting role, but it’s been limited workloads, covering just 78.1 innings.
Arm strength is not a problem, and his slider has flashed for whiffs, but it may be time to see what happens in a more conventional reliever part in order to increase the chances he can provide some value.
Moisés Chace, 21, on the other hand, has progressed each of the last three seasons, missing bats and increasing his strike-throwing ability as the club builds up his arm strength and ability to go deeper into games. He’s likely a bullpen arm, there’s time to take another step or two with control and command and offer a back-end opportunity. Whether or not his low-90s fastball plays up enough in a full-time relief role remains to be seen.
| LEVEL | TEAM | W-L | TOP PROSPECT |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Lehigh Valley | 68-78 | Mick Abel, RHP |
| AA | Reading | 59-78 | Andrew Painter, RHP |
| A+ | Jersey Shore | 74-58 | Aidan Miller, SS/3B |
| A | Clearwater | 64-63 | Starlyn Caba, SS |
| R | Phillies | 33-25 | Aroon Escobar, 2B |
| DSL | White | 26-29 | Victor Cardoza, OF |
| DSL | Red | 21-34 | Alexander De Los Santos, RHP |
ADDITIONS & SUBTRACTIONS
After a couple of minor deals during spring training — 2B Marco Soto to Texas, RHP Zac Houston acquired from Tampa Bay, RHP Ezequiel Ventura to Minnesota, RHP Jason Ruffcorn to Seattle — the Phillies acquired lefty Benony Robles from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for RHP Connor Brogdon.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Robles is a projectable southpaw with velocity upside and arm-side run on his fastball.
The club also made the signing of international free agent Adrian Garcia official in April.
Catcher Jorge Mendez was swapped for cash in June (COL), as was C William Simoneit (CHC), and SS Casey Martin landed in Milwaukee. Philly stayed busy down on the farm claiming Freddy Tarnok from the Oakland Athletics.
Philadelphia shipped RHP George Klassen and LHP Samuel Aldegheri to the Los Angeles Angels for RHP Carlos Estevez in July.
Continuing their deadline moves, the club swapped SS William Bergolla for LHP Tanner Banks, and LHP Gregory Soto (BAL) for RHPs Seth Johnson and Chace.
In the 2024 Draft, the Phillies focused on positional talent, selecting one in each of the first seven rounds, headlined by Nori and Griffin Burkholder.
Third-round pick John Spikerman has plus-plus speed and a frame that may allow him to add playable power to this game.
In Round 4 the Phils selected left-handed hitting SS Casey DeMartini from Virginia Tech, hoping his hit tool can at least catch up to his above-average raw power and let a bunch of average tools play into an everyday option.
Ninth-rounder Marcus Morgan is a projectable right-hander with big-time athleticism and an above-average fastball.
GRADUATIONS
Weston Wilson, OF
Cal Stevenson, OF
Orion Kerkering, RHP
Wilson and Stevenson combined for just 125 plate appearances, but Kerkering was one of the best relievers in the National League, posting 1.5 fWAR, a 2.29 ERA, 3.17 xERA, 2.42 FIP, 2.94 xFIP, 28.8% strikeout rate and a shiny walk rate of 6.6%.
BIG-LEAGUE RADAR (yet to debut)
Painter, RHP
Miller, SS/3B
Crawford, OF
Abel, RHP
Gabriel Rincones Jr., OF
Cabrera, RHP
McGarry, RHP
McGowan, RHP
Caleb Ricketts, C
Carlos De La Cruz, OF/1B
Chace, RHP
Otto Kemp, 2B
SCOUT SAYS
“This is a team that takes chances, and they can do that because they’ve gone out and used their payroll to cover the core of their club. Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott came from within, and (Aaron) Nola has been in the org longer than anyone, but they went outside to get (Bryce) Harper, Trea Turner, J.T. (Realmuto), (Nick) Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, and (Zack) Wheeler, too. I think ideally though some of the risks with the young talent start to pay off in the big leagues pretty soon.”
“They have really been hit with injuries and Mick (Abel) hitting a snag was tough. I think the next two years will tell us a lot about their process and the way they prefer to go about things with (Justin) Crawford and Aidan (Miller), and both those kids have a chance to be pretty good.”
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