Thought it might be fun to check out what is going on with my Top 20 Prospect list to see how they have fared in the month of August.
Andrew Painter, RHP
24 IP, 31 H, 22 R, 21 ER, 16 BB, 27 K, 3 HR
It hasn’t been pretty for Painter this last month, but as always you can’t scout the box score. Painter is coming off essentially two missed years of throwing professionally AND has been reported working specifically on refining both his old pitches and using new ones. Most importantly, his velocity and stuff
look to all be there. Is he still a future #1 ace? You can certainly debate that now, but he is still easily the Phillies top pitching prospect and still can be a top of the rotation starter.
Aidan Miller, SS
108 PA, .348/.454/.629, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 13 BB, 18 K, 5 HBP, 13 SB, 3 CS
The downfall and “bust” proclamation from earlier this season (you know who you are) were greatly exaggerated. The 21 year old has adjusted nicely to AA and is putting up great numbers (including another HR yesterday, not included in the stat line). Miller is also now up to 50 stolen bases.
Justin Crawford, OF
113 PA, .369/.414/.553, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 8 BB, 21 K, 12 SB, 2 CS
Justin Crawford doing Justin Crawford things. Its hard to imagine him not winning a spot in the 2026 lineup. He is batting .335 overall on the season with 7 HR, 49 SB and OPSing .865.
Eduardo Tait, C
Well, Tait is no longer in the org as he was sent over the Minnesota as part of the Duran deal. In August with the Cedar Rapids Kernals, Tait is slashing .255/.298/.418 with 3 HR, 6 BB and 26 K in 104 PA.
Aroon Escobar, 2B
106 PA, .258/.358/.360, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 12 BB, 25 K, 3 HBP, 8 SB, 1 CS
It was a rough start for Escobar after his promotion to Jersey Shore, but he is now rounding into shape after a solid August. Escobar blasted off and into the top prospect talk with his scorching April/May before tapering off in June/July.
Mick Abel, RHP
The other key piece in the Duran trade. Mick Abel provided some much needed innings for the Phillies that certainly boosted his trade value at the deadline. Since joining the Twins, he got crushed in his starting debut giving up 6 ER in 3 innings off 7 hits and 2 walks. Abel also had a bullpen appearance last week in which he gave up 5 ER in 1 inning of work. Woof.
Gage Wood, RHP
Nothing to note as of yet for the Phillies 2025 1st round pick. It was noted he would go to Clearwater for some work, but has not appeared in a professional game yet and likely won’t this season. Even with that, he could be moved aggressively through the system in 2026.
Alex McFarlane, RHP
7 G, 11.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 7 K, HR
Much of the season McFarlane had been a starter and besides his 3 inning start on 8/7, he has been moved to the bullpen. I hadn’t seen exactly why, but I’d speculate McFarlane had been closing in on a pre-set innings limit and wanted him to pitch out the season. Though, I could be wrong! All 3 earned runs in August were given up in one appearance (1.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R). Perhaps his future role is a reliever, but I’d be pretty surprised (and disappointed) if they didn’t give him another shot at a starting gig in 2026.
Dante Nori, OF
93 PA, .227/.366/.373, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 16 BB, 12 K, HBP, 9 SB (Clearwater)
30 PA, .458/.567/.500, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 6 BB, 4 K, 11 SB, 1 CS (Jersey Shore)
Nori has quietly had a pretty good season. In his last 90 days (67 G) he is slashing .305/.414/.438 with 3 HR, 32 RBI and 36 SB. Like Crawford, he too is at 49 stolen bases on the season overall. It is encouraging to see the jump to High-A has stifled Nori’s production.
Matthew Fisher, RHP
Nothing to note yet for Fisher as he hasn’t made his professional debut yet. Signed for way over-slot as a 7th rounder, there is a bit more hype around him because of how far he fell to get to the Phillies.
Carson DeMartini, 3B
119 PA, .196/.269/.271, 0 HR, 8 RBI, 9 BB, 31 K, 2 HBP, 13 SB, 5 CS
To say DeMartini has been struggling since being promoted to AA would have been an understatement. The promotion certainly was warranted as he proved he was likely good enough at High-A (229 PA, .284/.402/.474). Lets hope he can turn it around to close out the season.
Jean Cabrera, RHP
5 G, 24.2 IP, 21 H, 13 R, 13 ER, 9 BB, 21 K, 5 HR, 1 HBP
Cabrera’s up and down season has been mostly that in August, up and down with bad starts sandwiching the good ones. Overall on the season (127 IP), he is holding down a 3.83 ERA with 120 strikeouts to 56 walks. It would certainly be nice to see the free-passes get cut down.
Hendry Mendez, OF
Mendez was the big piece that went over to the Twins in the Bader trade. Since joining the Twins org, in August, Mendez has been slashing .324/.446/.432 with 2 HR, 13 RBI, 16 BB, 14 K, HBP, 2 SB, 2 CS. He was having a great season for the Phils which I’m sure caught Minnesota’s attention.
Cade Obermueller, LHP
The Phillies 2025 2nd round pick hasn’t made his debut yet, but it will certainly be an anticipated one after the University of Iowa star’s fantastic 2025 season. Is he the Phillies best LHP prospect?
Seth Johnson, RHP
1 G, 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 5 K (Phillies)
8 G, 8.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 7 K
Johnson had a mixed 2025 debut with the Phillies, but ended on a high-note against Orioles. Since rejoining the IronPigs he has mostly been fine outside two bad appearances (which accounted for and combined for all 7 runs noted above). Johnson still certainly has a future as a major league reliever.
Avery Owusu-Asiedu, OF
97 PA, .225/.340/.363, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 15 BB, 23 K, 6 SB, 1 CS
Owusu-Asiedu has handled the jump to Jersey Shore fairly well, batting .256/.352/.381 since joining back in late-June. You’d certainly like to see more power, but there is still plenty to like about his game and upside going forward.
Gabriel Rincones, Jr., RF
64 PA, .327/.406/.709, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 6 BB, 13 K, 2 HBP, 2 SB
Easily Rincones best month of the season even with the missed time due to injury in the middle of the month. The season though may have cemented that Rincones likely isn’t more than a platoon bat as he has showed he can’t hit left-handed pitching. Looking at his splits, he has certainly been much better in the second half of the season and has been tremendous at his home park.
Moises Chace, RHP
Nothing to note for Chace as he had Tommy John Surgery back in June. We likely won’t see him again until late next season.
Griffin Burkholder, OF
Poor guy can’t stay healthy and after a brief rehab appearance for the FCL Phillies that ended on 7/17 was then placed on the 60-Day IL. We are now up to two lost seasons since being drafted in the 2024 2nd round.
Anderson Araujo, C
46 PA, .286/.348/.452, 0 HR, 7 RBI, 4 BB, 10 K, 1 SB, 1 CS
This was more of my swing for the fences ranking as Araujo is still just 17 years old in the Dominican Summer League. He has made the most of it and OPSing .905 on the season overall with 7 HR and 11 SB. A guy to watch and hopefully see stateside in 2026.
BONUS!
How are some of our 2025 draftees/undrafted players who have actually made their debut faring?
Gabe Craig, RHP (5th Round)
1 G, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 2 K
Matthew Ferrara, 2B (9th Round)
54 PA, .130/.259/.217, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 20 K
Will Vierling, C (11th Round)
52 PA, .205/.327/.318, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 7 BB, 10 K
Jack Barker, OF, (13th Round)
25 PA, .167/.400/.167, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 6 BB, 5 K
Robert Phelps, SS (18th Round)
53 PA, .231/.415/.282, 0 HR, 7 RBI, 12 BB, 8 K, 5 SB, 1 CS
Tyler Pettorini, UT (UDFA)
81 PA, .250/.346/.309, 0 HR, 9 RBI, 9 BB, 13 K, 3 SB, 3 CS
Nathan Humphreys, OF (UDFA)
89 PA, .205/.292/.308, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 10 BB, 32 K, 3 SB, 1 CS
Keegan Batka, RHP (UDFA)
1 G, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Jonathan Hogart, OF (UDFA)
96 PA, .306/.469/.472, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 16 BB, 23 K, 0 SB, 1 CS
