Pitchers and catchers for the Philadelphia Phillies have reported to Clearwater, Florida, for spring training. Some young players in the Phillies’ farm system have been invited as non-roster invitees. Andrew Painter, Griff McGarry, Aidan Miller, Justin Crawford, Gabriel Rincones Jr., Paul McIntosh, and Caleb Ricketts are among them. Mick Abel, Jean Cabrera, and Moisés Chace are prospects on the 40-man roster, but none are expected to remain with Philadelphia for Opening Day.
The Phillies’ development system has not been among the league’s best in years. They do have some talented and intriguing prospects. However, most of their top-ranked young players will not be ready to contribute to the club in 2025.
The Phillies have a talented veteran core that has attempted to win a World Series the last three seasons. However, having top-ranked young talent ready to be promoted to the majors could benefit the organization. The franchise is going to need to exhibit more youth in their lineup at some point over the next few seasons.
Baseball America still ranks Phillies’ farm system in bottom half of league
Baseball America lists the Phillies as having the 20th-best farm system in MLB at the start of spring training, and lists Painter as their best prospect.
“Even after two years away, Andrew Painter remains one of the best overall pitching prospects,” according to Baseball America staff. “He leads a strong top end that also includes upstart infielder Aidan Miller and slugging catcher Eduardo Tait. There’s balance up and down the organization even after trades jettisoned Starlyn Caba, Sam Aldegheri and George Klassen.”
Baseball America previously listed the Phillies as having the 26th-best prospect system in 2020, followed by 27th in 2021. Philadelphia’s ranking improved slightly to 23rd in 2022 and 19th in 2023. At the beginning of spring training in 2024, the publication listed the farm system as the 21st-best in baseball.
While Baseball America gave the Phillies the lowest farm system ranking compared to The Athletic (No. 11), FanGraphs (No. 13), MLB Pipeline (No. 16) and ESPN (No. 17), the publication had sufficient reasons to do so. There are few top prospects, aside from Painter, in their developmental system close to being ready to contribute to Philadelphia in 2025.
Many of the Phillies’ Top 30 prospects from MLB Pipeline’s 2024 rankings are at the Single-A or High-A levels, with some at Double-A. Once more young players on the list develop further and are promoted to Double-A with the Reading Fightin’ Phils or the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Triple-A, the club will see a bit of a boost in their prospect rankings.
Trading three players (Caba, Aldegheri, and Klassen) who were ranked previously in the Top 30 prospects negatively affected the club’s rankings. Once Painter is promoted to the majors by mid-season as planned, it could further lower the farm system ranking. Regardless, top prospects Miller, Tait and Crawford are all anticipated to continue developing positively in the minors this year.
Abel was one of the three players Philadelphia added to their 40-man roster in the offseason to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft. The right-hander had a challenging year as he finished with a 3-12 record, a 6.46 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP in 24 starts with the IronPigs.
The Portland, Oregon, native allowed 119 hits last season, a large increase from the 78 he surrendered in 2023. Abel’s walks increased from 65 to 78, and his strikeouts decreased from 132 to 117 in the last two years. The 23-year-old can put the 2024 season behind him, beginning in spring training, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. If there are multiple injuries to the Phillies’ starting rotation over a short period this year, he could be promoted to the majors. If he does not appear with the club this year, he has a better chance of making the club’s Opening Day roster in 2026.
Other young players who could improve the Phillies’ farm system ranking with good seasons include Devin Saltiban and Chace. Alex McFarlane is a potential breakout candidate among Philadelphia’s top young prospects. He injured his elbow in July 2023 and needed Tommy John surgery, missing all of the following season. Even though he has been a starting pitcher in the minors, he may have a future as a reliever.
