Starlyn Caba came to the United States for the first time a few months ago. He turned 18 last December, and Phillies officials believe he is talented enough to play affiliated baseball sometime in 2024. It’s ambitious. But there is something about the Dominican shortstop — Caba had it, a difficult quality to describe.
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Then, someone noticed Caba walking from the Carpenter Complex over to BayCare Ballpark one February morning.
“He was sneaking over there,” Preston Mattingly said, “and watching the infielders take groundballs.”
Caba likes Trea Turner and Bryson Stott. Mattingly, the assistant general manager who oversees the Phillies’ farm system, admired Caba’s curiosity. He told the young shortstop prospect to be an observer — and nothing more.
“He’s like the little brother,” Mattingly said. “He brings his glove just in case they ask him to jump in and take groundballs. That hasn’t happened yet. We’ll see if it does towards the end of spring.”
Caba, in many ways, embodies the current state of the Phillies’ farm system. The big-league team has all nine of its regulars and five starting pitchers under club control through at least 2025. The player-development people have a luxury — time. The Phillies are not blessed with upper-level depth; most of the organization’s best prospects are in A-ball. The club has shifted from a pitching-centric development program to a system with athletic, higher-ceiling hitters. Caba is one.
Many of the younger prospects have been training at the Clearwater, Fla., complex since January. Minor-league spring training officially started this week.
“We brought over some key players from the Dominican Republic, plus we’ve done well in the draft,” Mattingly said. “We went position player heavy. I feel really confident about the position players at the lower levels. It’s just going to take time.”
The club’s best pitching prospect, Andrew Painter, will miss the 2024 season as he continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery. The club’s best reliever prospect, Orion Kerkering, could spend the entire season in the majors. Mick Abel is on the cusp of the majors and Griff McGarry is trying to reinvent himself.
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Outside of them, the system’s talent is contained in hitters — and very few of those prospects are collegiate hitters. This is not a population the Phillies have successfully developed in … decades. The Phillies are convinced they are building something.
Time will tell.
“It’s why we’re here,” Mattingly said.
The A-ball infielders
Aidan Miller went 27th overall in last year’s MLB Draft and, already, he’s appeared on some industry Top 100 lists. He will play shortstop in 2024 at Low-A Clearwater, although rival evaluators see his future at third base. (He’ll start one or two games a week at third.) Miller, 19, has generated hype from inside and outside the organization.
“He’s got a chance to be one of the better guys in our system in terms of raw power,” Mattingly said. “But, honestly, it’s everything. One of the best at-bat takers we have. A chance to make a ton of contact in the zone. He doesn’t chase. He has a pretty good approach. It’s a pretty sound offensive profile. Once he learns pitchers and what they’re trying to do to him, I think this kid’s got a chance to have power, hit, and be just an all-around great player.”
Caba, who signed for $3 million in January 2023, could join him at some point at Low A. Now that he’s in America, Caba counts against the club’s 165-player domestic roster limit. He had Tommy John surgery on his non-throwing elbow; he injured it last August on a slide. Mattingly said Caba is healthy without restrictions in camp.
He profiles as a plus defender at shortstop. He’s working with Luke Murton, the club’s director of hitting, on improving his quality of contact. (This is a theme among all of the younger prospects.) The Phillies admire Caba’s drive to learn.
“He’s got to get stronger,” Mattingly said. “For a young kid who just turned 18 years old, he’s very fundamentally sound. And that’s saying something because he could be flashy if he wanted to because this guy’s special defensively.”
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Bryan Rincon impressed evaluators during his first full pro season. The 20-year-old shortstop was a 14th-round pick in 2022 because he didn’t show enough bat skills in high school. But he had a .368 on-base percentage last year. He’s intriguing.
“People don’t know who he is yet,” Mattingly said. “They’re going to. It’s a chance to be elite defensively. The more you watch him play, he’s really fun to watch. He’s very smart on the field. High IQ. Great baseball player. Really good at-bat taker. Makes a lot of contact. There’s some stuff they’re working on, just making the path a little bit more efficient. Just to help him clean up a few things offensively. When you watch him play, he almost becomes your favorite player to watch because he does everything right.”
Rincon will likely begin the season at High-A Jersey Shore but could reach Double-A Reading by the summer.
The Phillies took Devin Saltiban in the third round last summer and immediately converted him from an outfielder to a shortstop. The Hawaii native is a raw prospect; his play at shortstop might not be “aesthetically pleasing,” as Mattingly put it. But the Phillies believe there is enough upside to continue the shortstop plan. Saltiban is learning from Adam Everett, a defensive whiz who spent parts of 11 seasons in the majors and is now the Phillies’ minor-league infield coordinator.
Saltiban is someone the Phillies have hyped in recent months. Evaluators from other teams have had limited looks.
“It’s pretty low maintenance from a swing perspective,” Mattingly said. “So we can invest a lot of time into the defensive portion of his game.”
William Bergolla, another bigger-bonus international signing, moved off shortstop last season. He profiles better at second base, rival evaluators said. He is a contact-first hitter with athleticism. He hit .255/.351/.287 as an 18-year-old in the Low-A Florida State League. Bergolla turned 19 over the offseason.
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“It’s more about teaching him when to take chances,” Mattingly said. “He makes such good contact that he has the ability early in the count to take a chance to try to hit a ball in the gap. Take a chance and try to hit a ball pull-side. And know that if you swing-and-miss or foul it off, you can hit with one strike. You can hit with two strikes. So it’s just educating him on that.”
The 17-year-old catcher
It’s been a decade since the Phillies pushed a 17-year-old prospect to affiliated ball. Carlos Tocci played a full season at Lakewood, then a Low-A affiliate, in 2013. Eduardo Tait might not break camp with Low-A Clearwater, but the Phillies brought him to the States for a reason, and there is a strong chance he’ll be in the Florida State League sooner rather than later.
That is how high the club is on the Panamanian catcher. He hit .333/.400/.517 in 165 plate appearances in the Dominican Summer League. Tait does not turn 18 until late August.
“We’re excited about the hit-power combo at a position that’s really tough to find offense,” Mattingly said. “We believe in the kid.”
There are questions from rival evaluators about Tait’s ability to stay behind the plate; he is considered a “bat-first” catcher at this point. He’s also only 17. Tait, who signed for $90,000, spent the offseason training in Florida.
He already has a large frame. Mattingly thinks Tait’s future is as a catcher.
“It’s his ability to make adjustments, pitch to pitch,” Mattingly said. “What we’ve seen is very unique with him. You tell him something, it’s not four or five pitches later on the catching side. It’s the next pitch. He picks it up pretty quickly. He has a pretty high aptitude.
“He knows it’s something he really needs to work on. And we’ve made it a point of emphasis with him. Every single day he’s out there working on his craft.”
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The outfielders trying to add more power
Justin Crawford became the first Phillies teenager in 30 years to hit .300 over a full season in affiliated ball. He finished with a .332/.392/.467 slash line in 390 plate appearances across Low A and High A. The Phillies asked him to focus on strength training in the offseason; Crawford reported to camp at 190 pounds, up from his 2023 finishing weight of 178 pounds. More strength, Mattingly said, can clean up aspects of Crawford’s game.
With that, the Phillies are implementing some swing adjustments. Crawford carried a high groundball rate. He has the speed to make that profile viable. But the Phillies would prefer he hit more line drives.
“He’s going to be an impactful player,” Mattingly said, “if he hits a lot of balls in the gaps.” That is what will take Crawford to the next level.
“Everybody’s well aware of the contact ability,” Mattingly said. “The thing that’s been very encouraging is the impact is there. We’ve seen the exit velocity. It’s not going to be a guy that’s like, ‘Oh, he doesn’t hit it hard enough.’ Like, that’s not a question. The power is going to be there. Right now, it’s been a quality of contact (issue). He hits a lot of balls in the ground. We’re well aware of it. Justin’s well aware of it.”
Crawford turned 20 in January.
“With the rise in notoriety and the visibility of prospects, people want them to be major leaguers the second they get (signed),” Mattingly said. “I think people forget that some of the players you see in the major leagues, these elite players, they weren’t the same guy in the minor leagues. They had to make adjustments throughout the way. And with Justin, there’s going to be some adjustments to be made. That’s already going on. We’re really confident in the kid. I think you’ll look up and see the player Justin Crawford is at 23, 24 — it’s not going to be the same player you’re seeing at 19, 20. It’s going to be a different level of player.”
The hitting prospect closest to the majors might be Gabriel Rincones. He’s a corner outfielder whose stock is dependent on hitting for power. Rincones hit 17 homers last year, including two in the Arizona Fall League. The Phillies are looking for more slugging.
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“There’s a lot more power in there,” Mattingly said. “He’s been here training with us all season after the fall league. And he’s worked with Luke all year. We feel like there’s way more game power in there than what he’s shown to this point.”
Strength training has become the highest priority when an amateur player enters the organization, but the Phillies didn’t need to do much work with TJayy Walton. He’s a fourth-round pick who Mattingly said is “probably the strongest player we have in our org.” Walton has posted top-of-the-scale exit velocities, Mattingly said.
But, too often, he hits the ball on the ground. The Phillies believe they can teach him a better swing. Walton, who turned 19 in January, will likely play corner outfield for Low-A Clearwater.
“We’ve done some things to clean up the bat path,” Mattingly said. “Early on, we’re very encouraged with where he’s at. We think there’s a chance to have big game power in there. And he’s a plus athlete with speed.”
Others to monitor
Wen Hui Pan broke the pinky finger on his right (throwing) hand, so he’ll miss the first month of the season. Pan, a 21-year-old who signed for $350,000 last year out of Taiwan, will continue in a hybrid role that has him pitching twice a week — sometimes as a starter, sometimes as a reliever. His fastball has hit 100 mph when pitching in shorter bursts. … The Phillies brought Alexis De La Cruz, a 19-year-old Dominican righty, to America. He’s 6-foot-7 and weighs about 250 pounds. His fastball has reached 95 mph. He’ll likely spend the season pitching at the complex. … Catcher Caleb Ricketts had a strong first two months in 2023, then nagging injuries to his wrist and knee affected his production. He’s healthy now. … Rickardo Perez, a Venezuelan catcher who signed for $1 million in 2021, is back. The Phillies suspended him for the entire 2023 season for detrimental conduct. … Sam Aldegheri has a starter’s build and repertoire and the lefty is throwing harder this spring. … A few relievers to watch: Wesley Moore, Jordi Martinez and Jaydenn Estanista.
(Top photo of Justin Crawford at the 2023 Futures Game: Rob Tringali / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
