The MLB trade deadline is 10 calendar days away, and MLB Pipeline just released its updated Top 30 Prospect Lists for each club just in time to get the trade rumors hot and the gears turning.
For the Phillies, there were some notable changes within their top 10, including a new number one overall prospect in the system along with some big risers.
With his blistering fastball and plus command, Gage Wood has leapfrogged the injured Aidan Miller as the club’s top prospect in the recent rankings.
Wood, who pitched in the Futures Game, has been on the fast track in his first full season as a pro, starting the season in Low-A Clearwater before bypassing High-A and going to Double-A Reading.
With the Fightins, Wood has been solid, posting a 3.58 ERA in nine starts while racking up 48 strikeouts in just 32 ⅔ innings of work. Opponents are hitting .215 against him. Although the Phillies have discussed increasing Wood’s workload over the final month-plus of the season, the former first-round pick has made the most of his typical four-inning allotment.
For now, the team intends to continue to develop Wood as a starter. It remains to be seen if he will be included in a trade to get an impact bat or starting pitcher, but he is one of the few big chips Dave Dombrowski could push in the middle of the table.
There are three prospects in the newly appointed Top 10 that fans should keep an eye on.
First, and the obvious one, is Francisco Renteria, the teenage phenom out of Venezuela who was one of the top international prospects in this year’s pool. The 17-year-old has impressed early in the Dominican Summer League, making the team’s decision to sign him for $4 million.
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In 35 games, the outfielder has an impressive slash line of .366/.455/.603 with a 1.058 OPS, five homers and 29 RBI to go along with 17 stolen bases. He also has just 23 strikeouts to 22 walks.
Phillies fans are tired of hearing about “untouchable” prospects after seeing what has transpired with Andrew Painter and Miller, but the third-ranked prospect certainly belongs in that category at this point.
Righty hurler Ramon Marquez perhaps has made the biggest jump of any prospect in the organization this season. A 20-year-old out of Mexico is starting to garner the attention of evaluators across the sport, finding himself on plenty of top prospect lists.
With a devastating changeup he pairs with his fastball, Marquez continues to work on spinning the baseball. While still developing, the results have been superb, boosting him inside the top five in the system after being ranked ninth previously.
On the season, he boasts a 2.02 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 49 innings pitched and an impressive 0.86 WHIP.
Another player who skyrocketed in the rankings is Alirio Ferrebus. The catcher/first baseman went from #21 on the list to #7 thanks to a breakout year at the plate.
The 20-year-old is hitting .328 with a .909 OPS, 11 homers and 56 runs batted in across 70 games. He recently returned to the Clearwater lineup after missing some time due to an injury.
Ferrebus was part of the 2023 international signing period where the Phillies also signed Starlyn Caba (traded in the Jesús Luzardo deal), Eduardo Tait (traded for Jhoan Duran), and Wen-Hui Pan, who pitched in the Futures Game.
The Phillies have their fair share of injured prospects, with multiple being ranked inside the Top 10 according to MLB Pipeline.
Most notably, shortstop Aidan Miller, who was diagnosed with discogenic pain and facet inflammation in the lumbar spine.
According to The Athletic’s Matt Gelb, the 27th overall pick in 2023 will not meet the initial 6-8 week timeline the team had set for their prized hitting prospect to return to game activity, with Gelb reporting that Miller has resumed baseball activities, but he has not swung a bat.
Gelb also reported that Dante Nori, who made headlines with Team Italy during the WBC, has a stress fracture in his hip. Nori has not played since June 6 and has struggled all season at the plate with the injury affecting his production.
In 52 games, the outfielder is slashing .245/.306/.361 with a .667 OPS, with two homers and 20 RBIs with 12 stolen bases.
Right-handed pitcher Moises Chacé, who came over to the Phillies with Seth Johnson in the Gregory Soto deal in 2024, is working his way back from Tommy John surgery. According to a team official, Chacé is in a side progression that has been going well.
The 23-year-old is the tenth-ranked prospect in the system and, before the elbow injury, was touching 98 mph with his fastball.
The Phillies have been getting backlash from fans unhappy with how the farm system, which has been consistently ranked towards the bottom half of the league over the last few years, has been unable to produce homegrown talent that can help the big league team in an impactful way.
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Aaron Nola, Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm are the three prominent players on the roster that have been brought up through the system. Orion Kerkering is also in that mix.
However, none have panned out to be superstars, let alone consistent contributors. Nola (2018) and Bohm (2024) were named to just one All-Star Game so far, while Stott has not been able to take that next big step forward.
The Phillies' farm system is quite bottom-heavy as it stands, with no true options in the upper levels to provide a boost to the team or be used as near-ready MLB bait to dangle to other teams.
Yet, Dombrowski doesn’t believe the notion that the cupboards are as bare as outsiders believe.
“There is plenty of interest in players in our system,” Dombrowski told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon. That’s not a concern at all.”
The next 10 days will indicate if that is the case.
