Phillies Minor Leagues - Winter/Spring 2025-26

[andyb]

The Phillies not having many RH bats has little to do with any protection decision. That is much more about readiness for the majors and whether other teams would have a spot for him. And if he were LH he'd be more valuable especially if he is limited to 1B which he may be. Your previous obsession, Keaton Anthony, is almost certainly ahead of Reyes for a 2026 callup as well.

[fish]

Milb used to maintain a webpage that tracked winter player stats by org but I can’t find anything like it now- does anyone have such a resource?

I also want to complain about mlb’s team stat pages that only show player stats grouped by top performers one stat at a time- - they might as well just provide a link to baseball reference.

[andyb]

Some early roster speculation::

12/29/25 : Depth and Potential - an early look - upper levels 👀

12/30/25 : Depth and Potential - an early look - lower levels 👀

[andyb]

Wen-Hui Pan among the pitchers throwing side sessions today in High Performance camp. Good to see that he looks ready to go at the beginning of the year. They will probably start him in warm weather in Clearwater but imagine he'll get to Reading by June if he pitches well. He is probably a bullpen sleeper assuming they do the conversion (but still more 2027 ETA than 2026).

1/27/26 : High Performance Camp - Day Seven

[Austinfan]

I'm less interested in whether he can contribute in May than August.
Injuries are inevitable, especially pitchers, and having 1 or 2 live arms in AAA that can give you 20 appearances down the stretch is invaluable.
Phillies didn't do well with retreads last season, so you'd like to see some young arms make that jump.

[andyb]

That missed the point completely on Pan.

The news is that he is healthy and throwing. Couple that with his age and what he showed pre-injury gets you a reliever that COULD move fast if he is healthy. He also threw too many different pitches so a common theme in his scouting reports was simplifying his repertoire which also could be done with a relief transition.

Nobody is penciling him in for anything. But he really does fit the Seranthony Dominguez profile from almost a decade ago of a reliever who might move quickly if healthy and pitching well.

[Austinfan]

That is my point. They need one or two guys to emerge by August as bullpen insurance.
Could be Wood, Pan, McFarlane.

[andyb]

The only point was to note Pan's recovery is on track and that he is the type of pitcher with a relief conversion that could move quickly. You keep wanting to pencil in players that are clearly not ready and that is a completely different thing. I have no idea if Pan is even a major league pitcher. Rincones should not be on anyone's plans unless he improves dramatically. Teams don't make assumptions on questionable prospects.

[zambonir]

It's far more likely they find another Jose Ruiz/Jeff Hoffman, or make another trade, than a Kerkering emerges (and arguably he wasn't even really ready that year). The 40 is packed with bottom-of-the-pen options, especially if spring training is chalk (I.e. if the Rule 5 guy and the one without options get the first look).

[andyb]

Latest report has the minor league spring schedule plus some notes on pitchers in the high performance camp. Looks like 12th round pick Tyler Bowen from last year is throwing even harder this Spring (95-98).

2/5/26 : High Performance Camp - Day Fourteen

[andyb]

Remember when most minor league teams had a manager, 2 coaches, and a trainer as staff? One certainly cannot fault the organization for not investing in development staff. Guessing the Dodgers did this first, but we are now following them completely.

2/6/26 : Phillies Player Development Staff

[Austinfan]

Doesn't count against the luxury tax, and the relative cost is small compared to the potential benefit, every prospect you develop, even high picks, can save you $10-20M a year compared to filling that role with a veteran FA.

I'm not talking about guys like Miller, but players like Kemp, or young RPs who you might be able to turn from replacement level or below to 1-2 WAR players. Turn one or two marginal prospects into solid major league depth or decent starters and you get a huge return on your investment.

[andyb]

Anderson Navas is now a pitcher. He really did not have much of a hit tool so good they did this early in his career though his rule 5 clock is now on year 3.

2/9/26 : High Performance Camp - Day Sixteen

[Austinfan]

Shades of Sixto Sanchez, who was a SS when Phillies signed him.

"The Philadelphia Phillies happened upon Sánchez when they saw him throwing batting practice at a workout for a Cuban catcher the Phillies were scouting in 2014."

Though Navas has a pitcher's frame, if he is really throwing 95+ at his age and no coaching, he could be something special, especially if he already has an average slider.

[andyb]

Sanchez never played the field other than pitcher though. He might have been a SS but he was signed because of his arm and guessing the Phillies were going to convert him from almost day one.

Navas on the other hand was just a good athlete with a plus arm. He was always tall for a catcher but this conversion is much more about his hitting ability not being there. He has got a shot and imagine he'll be in the upper 90s at some point, but he'll be at FCL or DSL in year 3 and will really have to move quickly.

[Austinfan]

They might use him as a starter initially so he can get more IP, but I'm sure they project him as a RP given the clock ticking.
If you throw upper 90s with at least an average slider, you got a shot.

[andyb]

Not sure there is enough for a Spring Training dedicated thread before the season, but we can start roster speculation time:

2026 IronPigs Roster Projection 2.0

[andyb]

Among the interesting outings over the weekend was Chuck King throwing 95-96 in his initial outing. Started at Reading last year after a year in relief in 2024. Odd story who was a 5-year college player who retired to work as a sports science intern and then for the Padres who the Phillies signed at a Driveline showcase. He is 28 in his 3rd minor league season.

https://www.milb.com/news/chuck-king-gave-up-baseball-at-23-years-later-he-s-solidifying-reading-s-rotation

[Squire]

Hettiger with a HR in today's Spring Game

[andyb]

Some nuggets in today's off day minor league report. The annual Griffin Burkholder is healthy notice plus thoughts on the likely AAA rotation. Minor league camp now open.

3/2/26 : Today in Spring Training