Phillies keeping options open heading into Draft with 26th pick

SAN FRANCISCO – The Phillies will have the 26th overall selection in Sunday’s MLB Draft, which isn’t a great place to be, although it means the organization is winning and playing in the postseason.

It beats the alternative.

But the 26th pick is a challenge. There are more misses than hits late in the first round. The most notable 26th overall pick in Draft history is Hall of Fame shortstop Alan Trammell (70.6 bWAR), whom the Tigers selected in 1976. Dave Henderson in 1977 (27.6 bWAR) and Dan Plesac in 1983 (16.9 bWAR) are second and third in WAR, respectively.

They are the only No. 26 picks with better than 8.6 career WAR.

Then, there is just trying to figure out who might be available, so the Phillies can make the best decision possible. A couple weeks ago, the organization probably had 30-40 players it thought might be available by the time it picks on Sunday.

That pool will be narrowed to five or six players by Draft day.

“You just don’t know what’s going to happen in front of you,” Phillies assistant general manager Brian Barber said recently. “It just whittles its way down as you find more information.”

This will be Barber’s sixth Draft with the Phillies.

In his first, he started with right-hander Mick Abel (15th overall pick) in 2020. He continued with right-hander Andrew Painter (13th overall) in 2021, center fielder Justin Crawford (17th overall) in 2022, shortstop Aidan Miller (27th overall) in 2023 and outfielder Dante Nori (27th overall) in 2024.

Abel made his MLB debut in May.

Painter could make his MLB debut after the All-Star break.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Crawford in the big leagues this year, either.

Painter, Miller and Crawford are Top 100 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline. Abel was a Top 100 prospect at one point.

All four could be pieces of the Phillies’ future. Or they could be used in trades before the July 31 Trade Deadline. (Painter is probably the only prospect in the organization who is considered untouchable.)

• Day 1 picks: 26, 63, 100
• Bonus pool allotment: $7,849,400 (26th out of 30 teams)
• Last year’s top pick: Dante Nori, OF, pick 27 … Nori is the Phillies’ No. 8 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Nori, 20, has good knowledge of the strike zone, posting a solid on-base percentage in each of his first two seasons in Single-A Clearwater. He has good speed and is considered a strong defender.
• Breakout 2024 pick: Carson DeMartini, 3B/SS, fourth round … DeMartini is the Phillies’ No. 15 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He started making more contact once he turned pro, which had the Phillies immediately encouraged. He batted .284 with eight home runs, 30 RBIs and an .876 OPS in 229 plate appearances with High-A Jersey Shore before earning a promotion to Double-A Reading in early June.

Barber said the strength of the 2025 Draft is probably high school position players, particularly middle infielders.

That’s noteworthy because Barber has selected a high school player first in each of his first five Drafts.

Maybe he makes it six in a row Sunday.

“In one aspect, you are what you do, and we’ve taken high school players for the last five years,” Barber said. “But some of that has been, we were at the mercy of who was there as well. We were very happy with who we were able to select, but there were plenty of college players that were on our boards in really good spots, but they just happened to go in front of us.

“Especially when we took Mick and Andy, I thought the high school pitcher crop was really de-valued in the industry. So that just gave us an opportunity to pick players that otherwise wouldn’t have been there. The high school position player crop isn’t quite as risky industry-wide as the pitchers have been. But I don’t know what’s going to be there this year when we pick. I really don’t.”