Phillies Farm System Remains Low In Latest Rankings

The Philadelphia Phillies have young talent, but it's not as highly respected as other organizations in baseball.

The Philadelphia Phillies were ranked in the bottom half of baseball in MLB Pipeline’s latest farm system rankings, a place the Phillies have occupied for a while.

Philadelphia’s preseason ranking was No. 22, even though the system has four Top 100 prospects.

This preseason ranking is only slightly better than the Phillies’ No. 23 ranking at midseason last year, and only slightly worse than the Phillies’ No. 21 preseason ranking in 2023.

Back in 2022, the Phillies were No. 25 at midseason and No. 26 in preseason.

So president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and his staff have put a bit more juice in the system. But given that the Phillies went to the World Series in 2022 and the NL Championship Series last year, they’re working to maximize low draft positions.

The Phillies four Top 100 prospects are familiar to most observers — pitcher Andrew Painter, (No. 27) pitcher Mick Abel (No. 49) infielder Aidan Miller (No. 61) and outfielder Justin Crawford (No. 77).

Painter is out for the season after Tommy John surgery and will resume trying to reach the Majors in 2025. Abel will probably start this season at Triple-A. Miller and Crawford, the Phillies’ last two first-round picks, should be ready in the next two to three seasons.

Crawford is the son of former Major League star Carl Crawford.

MLB Pipeline noted that the system is top-heavy right now, with the aforementioned Top 100 prospects expected to help the Phillies at some point while the prospects behind them have some work to do in order to be ready for the Majors, with one notable exception.

Intriguing young shortstop prospect Starlyn Caba was ranked No. 5 in the system, followed by pitcher Orion Kerkering, who joined the Phillies in September and pitched in the postseason. He is expected to make the Phillies’ Opening-Day roster.

Infielder Devin Saltiban, shortstop Bryan Rincon, catcher Eduardo Tait and outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. rounded out the Top 10.

The next set of prospects included pitcher Griff McGarry at No. 11, infielder William Bergolla at No. 12, outfielder Carlos De La Cruz at No. 13, pitcher Wen Hui Pan at No. 14, pitcher Alex McFarlane at No. 15, pitcher Christian McGowan at No. 16, outfielder Emaarion Boyd at No. 17, outfielder TJayy Walton at No. 18, outfielder Simon Muzziotti at No. 19 and outfielder Raylin Heredia at No. 20.

Catcher Caleb Ricketts, catcher Kehden Hettiger, outfielder Hendry Mendez, pitcher Samuel Aldegheri, pitcher Alexis De La Cruz, infielder Robert Moore, outfielder Jalvin Arias, outfielder Ethan Wilson, pitcher George Klassen and infielder Nikau Pouaka-Grego rounded out the Top 30.