2026 Phillies Preseason Top 30 Prospects - Welcome to the Club

This next group of prospects is a composite list that more or less comprises of the guys that aren't in the group that I think are high-probability moderate-impact MLB contributors, but have more going for them than the group from 21 on. Here's that group from 9-20:

9. Carson DeMartini

10. Yoniel Curet

11. Wen Hui Pan

12. Devin Saltiban

13. Gage Wood

14. Francisco Renteria

15. Cade Obermueller

16. Matthew Fisher

17. Moisés Chace

18. Ramon Marquez

19. Sean Youngerman

20. Mavis Graves

I wanted badly to be pushing Carson DeMartini up the list after he landed at 7th on my mid-season list last year, but even with two departures ahead of him, he falls off of a miserable 2nd half with Reading. He's a guy who's likely to fall hard if he can't recapture his Jersey Shore form this year. Yoniel Curet is the guy I forgot about listing before making my original list, and I had trouble placing him. A divisive prospect that the Rays gave up on, he's probably not sticking around in the rotation, even with great numbers up through AA in that role, but he could be a very good reliever. Better health is what puts him over Wen Hui Pan, who I really need to stay on the mound after he comes back from Tommy John at some point this season. Devin Saltiban rises largely because of graduations in front of him, but also thanks to a strong ABL run that showed he's not totally lost at the plate. The ceiling is still enticing with him, but he remains very raw. The next group is composed of the better additions the team has made in the draft and international free agency in the past year. Gage Wood naturally leads the way as one of the better arms in the system. If he can stay on the mound and be successful, he can rise quickly, both in the Minors and on this list. Francisco Renteria represents one of the biggest swings the Phillies have made in the international amateur market, and is probably the biggest boom-bust bet on this list. Cade Obermueller and Matthew Fisher are not as heralded as Wood, but are arms with solid polish who have rotation upside. Moisés Chace remains a hard name to rank after Tommy John surgery nixed a chance for him to build on a breakout 2024 season. His future still feels like it resides in the bullpen. Ramon Marquez is very green, but has generated a lot of buzz for his work as a first-year pro last year, one during which he made A-ball before turnng 20. He's a name to watch this season. Sean Youngerman represents the third tier of names from the last draft as a guy who's not quite as exciting as Obermueller or Fisher, but is a better bet to succeed than Cody Bowker. Finally, Mavis Graves hangs on at 20 thanks to a strong finish to last season.

2026 Phillies Impact Prospects - #7-#12 and Honorable Mentions

The 2026 Phillies season presents as one of transition - while the team clearly intends to contend for a World Series, there looks to be several rookies that will play a large role on the team. With that in mind, now might be a good time to see which prospects could have the biggest impact on how well the 2026 season goes.

Honorable Mentions:

There were a few guys that didn’t make my top 12 that I think are worth talking about. First, guys like Keaton Anthony, Wen Hui Pan, and Yoniel Curet could have an impact this year, but I don’t think any will play much or have a massive impact. Names like Dante Nori, Aroon Escobar, Moisés Chace, Carson DeMartini, Devin Saltiban, Cade Obermueller, Mavis Graves, and Griff Burkholder could be potential trade pieces, but didn’t feel as likely to move, or as likely to have big value in a trade as some of the other guys in the system I felt like highlighting.

#12 Matthew Fisher

Very rarely does a team make a 7th round pick and have that guy in immediate top 10 prospect consideration, but that’s where phenom Matthew Fisher sits. Athletic with upside of multiple plus offerings, Fisher, 20 in March, could be a guy who starts strong in the pros and quickly boosts his trade value, or plays his way deeper into long-term organizational pitching plans. It’s not unheard of after all for mid-round HS hurlers to quickly rise up prospect boards, a la Travis Sykora (2023) and Noah Schultz (2022). Fisher probably doesn’t have the same projection as either of those guys, but he has a shot to pop early.

#11 Alex McFarlane

Drafted in 2022, the Phillies tried to make Alex McFarlane work as a SP until midway through last year, before pulling the plug and moving him to the pen, a location most scouts figured he’d end up in eventually. His numbers out of the bullpen weren’t amazing, but he did make his way to AA and onto the MLB roster. McFarlane isn’t MLB-ready right now, but he makes this list because he has a decent shot to be in AAA midway through this season, and his upside could make him more than just a “show-me” arm down the stretch.

#10 Andrew Walling

It’s a bit difficult to get a gauge on Walling as a prospect. Matt Winkelman has him at 36th on his prospects list this year, and he’s really the only one that has him ranked anywhere, which feels odd. The stuff doesn’t pop as much as McFarlane, but he wins the tiebreaker for 10th because of his closeness to the Majors, plus being a lefthander, which should be useful considering the general lack of LHP depth on the team and in the system, especially after the Matt Strahm trade. It’s hard to really expect more than “third lefty” stuff from Walling, at least right now, but on a team whose 4th lefty options are non-roster guys who may not even be in the system by the start of the season, he’s certainly in position to play a role for the team if needed.

#9 Ramon Marquez

It’s been a bit since the Phillies had a nice pop-up prospect, but Ramon Marquez could be that guy. A bargain-basement signing in the 2025 signing period, the 19 year-old hurler advanced directly to stateside ball before finishing the season at Clearwater. Along the way, he turned heads and was named amongst the best prospects in the FCL. He has an athletic and projectable build and good offerings already, which could see him pop expediently. I have him ahead of Fisher here because of having a year of pro experience on him, and he seems like he might have more projection. Similarly to Fisher, Marquez could quickly build up trade interest, or simply make the Phillies more comfortable trading other hurlers in the system.

#8 Alan Rangel

Alan Rangel’s one of the more slow-moving prospects that I can think of that you could also still argue is a prospect to watch. For the most part, his pro career has been nondescript, though it has taken a few turns in recent years, as he went from Atlanta’s 40-man roster, to the Angels system in free agency (where he still generated some prospect attention), to the Phillies 40-man by the end of that same year. His ceiling isn’t that high, but Rangel is MLB-ready right now, and he showed well as a reliever last year - a role he’s long been suggested as a potential plus in. It wouldn’t be shocking if he pops if given a long look in the role.

#7 Zach McCambley

Zach McCambley leads the way amongst presumptive relievers on this list for the obvious reason of being a Rule 5 pick and needing to stick on the roster to stick in the organization, but his offerings certainly play a role too - enough to have him as a member of the top 30 from most prospect boards. His fastball isn’t great, but effective, and his secondary offerings are very interesting. That all is enough to suggest he can be a low-leverage arm right now, but some evaluators believe he could see higher-leverage innings down the line. All of this is enough to suggest he should be given a spot to lose in ST. The Phillies haven’t carried a Rule 5 player this far into the offseason since Noah Song in 2023 (admittedly a bit of a special case), and prior to that, Tyler Goeddel in 2016, so it stands to reason they like him enough to think he’s got a legitimate shot at making the team.

2025 Phillies Top 30 Prospects

I've been sitting on my Top 30 Phillies Prospects list for this year for a bit, but I'm working on getting my mid-season one done, so I have to get this out now if I want it out. Here's the list:Andrew Painter

1. Andrew Painter
2. Aidan Miller
3. Justin Crawford
4. Eduardo Tait
5. Seth Johnson
6. Gabriel Rincones Jr.
7. Moisés Chace
8. Wen Hui Pan
9. Eiberson Castellano
10. Jean Cabrera
11. Otto Kemp
12. Mavis Graves
13. Mick Abel
14. Dante Nori
15. Devin Saltiban
16. Griff Burkholder
17. Keaton Anthony
18. Andrew Walling
19. Casey Steward
20. Daniel Harper
21. Matt Kroon
22. Max Lazar
23. José Rodríguez
24. Michael Mercado
25. Estibenzon Jimenez
26. Tommy McCollum
27. Tristan Garnett
28. Christian McGowan
29. Aroon Escobar
30. Rafael Lantigua

As has usually been the case, I generally lean towards more MLB ready players and higher floor players, even if that's something I've moved away from some. The top 16 were fairly obvious, and itw as a bit more confusing from there. The top 4 were far from surprising, but I did have Seth Johnson at 5, because my belief was his floor as a good RP was quite high, though the results so far this year suggest that may not have been true. Gabriel Rincones Jr. is an intriguing all-around prospect, and, Moisés Chace, Wen Hui Pan, Eiberson Castellano, all have big-league stuff that should see them up eventually. Jean Cabrera was a little lower because he's always been more a floor guy than ceiling. Otto Kemp was a hard rank at the beginning of the year, but his production last year was enough to get him in the middle of this tier. Mavis Graves landed in above Mick Abel, whose slide ended here after an awful 2024. Graves is more a floor guy as well, but there's reason to believe he could elevate that, while Abel's so far made some of the changes that should see him higher on the list in the next version. Dante Nori, Devin Saltiban, Griff Burkholder all sat in the next group, and I gave Nori the edge because of his floor in the OF.

The next group is a fall-off from the first one, and very fungible. Keaton Anthony is the most ineteresting, and would slot in higher were he not of an odd archetype as a contact-first 1B. Casey Steward is an interesting name I clocked in Spring Training (I tend to try not to take too much out of ST, granted, but his stuff was electric) who seems like he could be a great RP or maybe even a SP. Max Lazar was a guy I quite liked last year, but his struggles late had me wondering if he could really be anything more than a fungible RP. The rest of the 30 is composed generally of pitchers who I sit a little higher on that most, and of course Aroon Escobar, who was low on my list simply because I needed to see more (and I have indeed seen more so far).

2024 Phillies Pre-Season Prospect Rankings - Rookie Levels

I neglected to finish my Phillies pre-season prospect lists, so here are my lists for the rookie levels and of unassigned players:

FCL:

1. Devin Saltiban
2. TJayy Walton
3. Junior Marin
4. Mavis Graves
5. Avery Owusu-Asiedu
6. Kehden Hettiger
7. Pierce Bennett
8. Enruque Segura
9. Yemal Flores
10. Micah Ottenbreit

DSL:

1. Eduardo Tait
2. Starlyn Caba
3. Maxwel Hernandez
4. Angel Liranzo
5. Jaeden Calderon

Unassigned:

1. George Klassen
2. Luke Russo
3. Lachlan Wells
4. Jalvin Arias
5. Jake Eddington
6. Ethan Chenault
7. Charles King
8. Marty Gair

The top names on each list here stand out. Devin Saltiban was the Phillies 2nd pick last year and has serious physical tools that saw him draw comparisons to Hawai'i baseball and Phillies legend Shane Victorino. Eduardo Tait had a monster season in the DSL and doesn't turn 18 until August of 2024. He's already well-rounded as both a hitter and catcher. Additionally, Starlyn Caba, who actually outranks Tait on most lists, is a two-way threat as well, playing as an infielder. George Klassen is a project hurler who struggles with walks, but has some of the best stuff out there when he's on.