Philadelphia Phillies Trio of Prospects Make Big Top-30 Moves

Three Philadelphia Phillies prospects have made big moves up Baseball America’s Top 30 organizational prospects, released as a re-rank in early June.

The re-rank was based on a variety of criteria, as Phillies prospects moved up and moved down the board. These are prospects who were ranked in the preseason Top 30 and moved up in the re-rank.

Here are the three Phillies prospects that made the biggest jumps in the Top 30 and what factored into their new rankings.

Orion Kerkering, RHP (+19)

Kerkering’s jump is massive when you consider he went from No. 25 in the preseason rankings to No. 6 in the re-rank. That’s in a three-month period. What happened? He went 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in 20 games (all in relief), throwing 22.2 innings and giving up just three earned runs. The strikeout-to-walk numbers are incredible (36 to 5) and batters are hitting just .127 against him. Since being drafted out of South Florida in the fifth round last July, he’s cleared three rungs of the Phillies’ system and is currently with High Class-A Jersey Shore. He started this season in Class-A Clearwater.

Tommy McCollum, RHP (+6)

McCollum was No. 29 in the preseason and is now No. 23. Like Kerkering, he’s with Jersey Coast. Unlike Kerkering, he didn’t come from a Division I school. The Phillies signed him as a free agent out of Wingate College, a Division II school. After playing for Clearwater in 2021 and 2022, he made the jump to Jersey Shore and had a 3.10 ERA in 20 games (all in relief). He hasn’t factored in a decision yet. He has five saves in six chances, with two holds. He’s given up eight earned runs in 20.1 innings and has struck out 37 against 18 walks. Batters are hitting just .157 against him. He’s emerging as a future closer candidate or set-up man.

William Bergolla, SS (+4)

He moved up from No. 13 to No. 9, even though he’s only played a few games at Clearwater. The son of a former Major Leaguer, the Phillies signed him out of Venezuela and assigned him to their Dominican Summer League team, where he batted .380/.470/.423/.893 in 24 games. He just started playing games at Clearwater on June 7, where in his first four games he batted .250. The Phillies paid $2 million for him as an international free agent so they’ll be patient with the 18-year-old.