Philadelphia Phillies Young Catcher Now Their Best International Prospect

The Philadelphia Phillies best international prospect is now a promising catcher after a recent trade.
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The Philadelphia Phillies recently traded away their top international prospect, but there is another exciting player waiting in the wings for the designation.

With the Roki Sasaki news in the mainstream and international signings underway, the entire baseball world is focusing on foreign prospects.

MLB prospect analysts Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Sam Dykstra recently came together to find each team's top international player.

For the Phillies, it is now promising catcher Eduardo Tait.

It was previously shortstop Starlyn Caba, who is one of the best prospects in all of baseball, but he was a part of the recent trade package to the Miami Marlins that netted Philadelphia Jesus Luzardo.

Caba was a highly-touted signing from the 2023 international class, receiving a $3 million signing bonus to join the Phillies. He is a plus-plus defender that can also run with 50 stolent bases last season at 19 years old, but he did struggle overall at the plate.

Given that Philadelphia is trying to win now, shipping him away for Luzardo was a palatable move.

Tait was a much less of a highly-touted young prospect and more of a great hidden gem finding. They signed him for just $90,000 out of Panama back in 2023.

He made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League at just 16 years old and hit the ground running. He posted an impressive .333/.400/.517 slash line over those 44 games.

His first campaign in America this past season went similarly well. Tait posted a .302/.356/.486 slash line over 79 games in 2024.

The 18-year-old has shown a lot of promise for contact. While he doesn't have a ton of power, hitting 11 home runs last year, that is more than fine at this stage of his career and has the potential to improve.

Defensively, he has a strong arm but has a ways to go elsewhere. He should at least be serviceable enough, though, especially considering his bat.

It is impossible to think about Tait without Carlos Ruiz coming to mind.

Chooch spent a decade with the Phillies after also being signed out of Panama. He had a career .266/.352/.393 slash line during his time in Philadelphia, which would be a fine turnout for Tait.

The Phillies do also have a former international signing starring for their Major league roster in Ranger Suarez.

Suarez was signed out of Venezuela back in the 2012 class and has grown into another very important player. Philadelphia has recent experience in developing international talent successfully.

Tait's emergence could also be a saving grace as an unexpected heir to J.T. Realmuto, who is already seeing his playing time decrease.


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Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders