Phillies Top Prospects in 2026 And Where They'll Likely Start Season

The Phillies' Top 30 prospect rankings were updated this week at MLB.com, but the Phils are hoping two of the top three are no longer considered "prospects" by midseason.

Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford will be important pieces of the big-league roster in 2026.

Aidan Miller, ranked as the team's top overall prospect, would have been behind those two this year in MLB readiness even if he wasn't sidelined in camp by lower back soreness.

The Phillies' Top 10 includes players up and down the farm system. Let's take a look at where they might begin the 2026 season:

SS Aidan Miller, 21

Miller rose from 32nd in MLB Pipeline's Top 100 league-wide prospects list to 23rd this year. He enjoyed a massive final two months last season, hitting .363 over his final 39 games with an OPS just under 1.100. He also walked (34) more than he struck out (32) over that span.

Miller ended the season with a strong showing at Triple A but missed the final weekend and then the Arizona Fall League as he dealt with lower back soreness. It went away during the offseason then crept back up as spring training 2026 began.

He hopes to get into a game by the end of camp but the Phillies will obviously move slowly with him. It's not the end of the world if he misses the first week of the Triple A schedule ramping up for the regular season.

Miller, if he performs this summer, could find himself up in the majors as a September call-up ahead of potential starting third-base duty in 2027.

While he's a near lock to start his season at Triple A Lehigh Valley, Miller could also be a candidate to stay back in Clearwater for additional reps if he's not game-ready by the IronPigs' opener on March 27.

Where he'll likely start season: Triple A

RHP Andrew Painter, 22

Painter threw two scoreless innings in his first spring training start in three years this past Sunday. His next outing is scheduled for Saturday against the Blue Jays.

The Phillies' top pitching prospect will begin the year at the back of their rotation. The uncertainty comes over whether he'll remain in the bigs all season. The Phillies could have ace Zack Wheeler back by mid-to-late April, and if Wheeler returns to a healthy rotation, someone would have to be booted eventually.

The Phillies' three options in that scenario would seem to be moving Taijuan Walker to the bullpen, optioning Painter to Triple A for a week or two to skip a start while preserving an active roster spot, or temporarily going to a six-man rotation. A six-man rotation in April would not be ideal because the Phillies are already off five times in their first 29 games.

Teams often try to bring a top prospect to the majors when he is ready to stay, but the rotation could get crowded at points in 2026. The simplest solution would seem to be shifting Walker to the 'pen, though it also seems unlikely that the Phillies would want Painter to pitch 160 innings or make 32 big-league starts his rookie year. He set a career-high last season with 118 innings.

Where he'll likely start season: MLB

CF Justin Crawford, 22

Crawford is quite obviously the Phillies' centerfielder, and he will get a chance to play every day. The Phils have not mentioned him as a platoon candidate. Crawford hit .376 off lefties last season at Triple A.

Crawford figures to bat ninth, at least to begin the season. He and Trea Turner should provide the most dynamic 9-1 combo, at least speed-wise, the Phillies have had in the DH era.

Where he'll likely start season: MLB

RHP Gage Wood, 22

The Phillies' first-round pick from a year ago is more ready than a high school arm after three seasons at Arkansas, which included a no-hitter with 19 strikeouts against Murray State in the 2025 College World Series.

Wood made only one two-inning appearance at Single A in the Phillies' system after the draft last summer, which makes him likely to begin the year with the same Clearwater Threshers team. He could, however, quickly find himself at High-A Jersey Shore if he gets off to a fast start or the Phillies feel he's ready for the next challenge.

They will give him the rope to start in the minors, knowing that if it doesn't work out, they could have an effective late-inning reliever on their hands.

Where he'll likely start season: Single A

OF Francisco Renteria, 17

The most notable addition to the Phillies' updated prospect rankings was 17-year-old Venezuelan outfielder Francisco Renteria, rated as the No. 3 international prospect by MLB Pipeline before the Phillies signed him for $4 million in January.

"I would say he probably has the best mix of tools that I've seen doing this over the years, when it comes to the athleticism, power, the hand-eye coordination and feel to hit," international scouting director Derrick Chung told MLB.com last month.

"When we’re talking about the five tools and maybe the sixth tool of makeup ... this is the best mix of tools I've ever seen since I started doing this."

Renteria is already 6-foot-3 and 216 pounds. This will be his first pro season, so he's obviously a ways away. He's a candidate to spend the summer on the Phillies' Dominican Summer League team, which plays from June through August.

Where he'll likely start season: Rookie ball

2B Aroon Escobar, 21

Escobar is in big-league camp with the Phillies after making the Florida State League All-Star team last season with Single A Clearwater. He hit .285/.377/.452 for the Threshers, placing in the top five in the league in batting average, slugging and OPS among players with at least 300 plate appearances.

Escobar was promoted to High-A Jersey Shore the second week of July, then promoted to Double A the second week of September. He finished up with Reading and could begin there in 2026.

He started 107 games last season and 104 were at second base, so that seems to be the spot the Phils have settled on for him.

Where he'll likely start season: Double A

CF Dante Nori, 21

The Phillies' 2024 first-round pick was in big-league camp until leaving to play with Aaron Nola for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic.

Nori's confidence is high after a successful stint in the prospect-rich Arizona Fall League, where he hit .308 with a .386 on-base percentage in 44 plate appearances.

That capped off Nori's first season as a pro, during which he hit .261 with a .361 OBP, walking 75 times with 85 K's, as he spent time at Clearwater, Jersey Shore and Reading.

Nori started 102 games last season and 98 came in center field, the other four in left. With how difficult it has been for the Phillies to find long-term answers in the outfield, Nori represents a chance for stability if he can hit enough.

Where he'll likely start season: Double A

OF Gabriel Rincones Jr., 25

Rincones had a shot to potentially start this season in the majors if he showed the sort of power in spring training he did a year ago, but lingering soreness in both knees has kept him from participating.

Rincones has dealt with knee tendinitis in the past and received a PRP injection over the winter that didn't seem to alleviate the pain.

He and the Phillies will move slowly as there's no reason to rush. The world doesn't end if Rincones is not in the majors in April or May. A role may not have materialized for him, anyway.

Rincones does figure to help the big-league club at some point, though, even if it's as a lefty bat off the bench with the capability to pop one.

Where he'll likely start season: Triple A (or extended spring training)

9. LHP Cade Obermueller, 22

The lefty was the Phillies' second-round pick in 2025 out of the University of Iowa. His draft stock soared after a junior year in which he corrected some of the control problems that plagued him in the past. He walked 60 batters in 81⅔ innings his first two years at Iowa before cutting that rate nearly in half as a junior, from 6.6 per nine innings to 3.5.

Obermueller did not pitch in the Phillies' system after the draft last summer, so he could begin this year in Rookie ball at the Florida Complex League, or perhaps Single A if the Phillies feel he's ready for that level.

Where he'll likely start season: Rookie ball

10. RHP Moises Chace, 22

Chace underwent reconstructive elbow surgery last June. This season for him is more so about rehab and the eventual recapturing of velocity and command.

Chace is on the Phillies' 40-man roster and might have been a key starting pitching depth piece if not for the injury. He still could be in a year or two, he just needs to get healthy and keep his body in better physical condition than he showed up in to begin 2025.

The return in the Phillies' 2024 trade deadline deal of Gregory Soto to Baltimore, Chace has pitched well in 10 starts at Double A Reading with a 3.47 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 36⅓ innings.

Where he'll likely start season: Double A (or extended spring training, or IL)

Chace's absence has helped push No. 15 prospect Jean Cabrera even higher on the organizational starting pitching depth chart. Cabrera, 24, starts for the Phillies on Friday in Bradenton against the Pirates and might be their Opening Day starter at Triple A this season.