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Inside The Phillies

Phillies' Top Prospect Can Make Major Impact for Franchise This Year

Gage Wood shined in front of Dave Dombrowski and Phillies brass
Jeff Kerr|
Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

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Philadelphia Phillies

READING, Pa. -- Gage Wood took a look back at the pitch tracker on the massive scoreboard in left field at FirstEnergy Stadium. He thought he delivered a heater, but had to make sure.

The scoreboard clocked Wood's fastball at 99 mph, which was the fastest pitch of the night for the Philadelphia Phillies' top pitching prospect. Wood had a smirk on his face.

Wood was feeling his fastball at that point. He had more velocity in him.

"I tried to throw the next one even harder," Wood smiled and told Phillies On SI . "And it was a lot slower."

On the next pitch, Wood overthrew the fastball. The velocity dipped from 99 mph to 94 mph, going from his fastest fastball of the night to his slowest.


"I thought I could grab it," Wood said. "But I guess I just gotta let it happen."

In Wood's first home start for Double-A Reading, he didn't disappoint. With Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski and members of the Phillies brass watching (they've been in Reading all week), Wood averaged 96-to-97 mph on his fastball in his four innings of work.

Wood hit 95 in the first inning, but that fastball gradually progressed as the night went on. He was hitting 96 in the second inning than regularly was touching 97 in the third and fourth innings.

Then came the 99 mph heater, which had the Reading crowd stunned at how hard Wood could throw. Even Wood had to sit back and contemplate what he accomplished.

"Tonight was a whole mph PR (personal record) from previous years," Wood laughed. "I'm gonna take that and sit on that and enjoy it. I've been stuck on 98 for a while."

Wood threw just four innings in his first home start for Double-A Reading, but the fastball and slider velocity kept going up as the night progressed. That wasn't by accident.

"I feel better as I go," Wood said. "The blood just gets pumping more. I just get more into it, just competing. The body just gets feeling better. Things just start speeding up and the (fastball) just kinda takes another tick. I love it."

How Wood fared in his start for Double-A Reading

Arkansas Razorbacks starting pitcher Gage Wood pitching
Arkansas Razorbacks starting pitcher Gage Wood | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Wood threw four innings in his FirstEnergy Stadium Debut, allowing one run on three hits while starting out four and walking zero. He threw 50 pitches, 33 of which were strikes.

In the first inning, Wood retired the side in order and had two strikeouts, getting Harrisburg Senators first baseman Jack Rogers to strike out on an 85 mph slider and left fielder Sam Petersen on an 96 mph fastball to close the inning.

In the second inning, Wood allowed his first hit to Leandro Pineda to lead off the frame. Wood recovered quickly, has he retired Caleb Lomavita on a 4-6-3 double play -- his 20th pitch of the night. Wood closed the frame by getting Maxwell Romero Jr. to ground out to him.

Wood used just 12 pitches to get through the third in a 1-2-3 inning, the highlight was freezing Kervin Pichardo on a 97 mph fastball to open the inning. The Phillies weren't going to pitch Wood past the fourth inning and had him on a pitch count, so the next inning would be his last.

Wood had his only issues in the fourth, giving up a leadoff double in the inning -- aided by a poor read in left field by Dylan Campbell. He gave up his only run on a single to Petersen before settling in.

On the next pitch, Wood got Pineda to ground into a double play to end the frame -- his 50th and final pitch of the night. Wood earned four strikeouts and four groundouts on the night. He threw five first-pitch strikes to 13 batters.

Wood threw his fastball and slider frequently, admitting he needed to throw his curveball and changeup more as he progresses through Double-A.

"That was the biggest thing this offseason I needed to develop," Wood said of slider. "That's probably one of my better pitches now. I really didn't throw it a lot last year, just mainly the curveball. I'm getting the feel for it and am just throwing it a lot."

Is Wood getting called up to the Phillies this year?

Dombrowski and the Phillies brass were watching Wood for a reason. Wood is the Phillies top pitching prospect, but also may be the best pitching prospect in the upper levels at the moment -- even if he's only made two starts in Double-A.

Wood skipped a level from Low-A Clearwater to Double-A Reading, so the Phillies want to see what he has. This is essentially a two-month evaluation to see where Wood is at before the Phillies take the next step with the 2025 first-round pick.

Wood hasn't been stretched out yet in any of his starts, not going past the fourth inning in all 10 of them. Opposing hitters have just his .205 off Wood this season, as he has 50 strikeouts to 13 walks between Clearwater and Reading -- compiling a 3.24 ERA.

Perhaps Wood could join the Phillies bullpen for the stretch run, but Philadelphia is also thin on starting pitching outside of the regular starters in the rotation. The Phillies will monitor his innings and pitch count this summer, but there is a plan to stretch Wood out as the summer months heat up.

There's also the notion of getting a right-handed power bat at the trade deadline, and Wood could be a strong trade chip to improve the offense. Several scouts were in attendance to watch Wood's start Thursday night.

All Wood can do is go out and pitch. Things will fall into place.

"I just wanna stay where I'm at (right now)," Wood said. "Be where my feet are. Take everything one day at a time and keep executing. I just want to give my team a chance to win each time I go out there and start.

"I just gotta keep working, keep executing. I really can't look that far ahead into things."

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Jeff Kerr
JEFF KERR

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