The Phillies have improved their winning percentage for five consecutive seasons, reaching 96 wins for the first time since 2011, the final playoff season of the Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Ryan Howard run. The 2025 Phillies were similar to the 2011 version in that they were made up of veteran stars who were about to enter their mid-30s. On that team, Utley (32), Rollins (32), and Howard (31) were the offensive core while Roy Halladay (34), Cliff Lee (32), Roy Oswalt (33), and the youthful Cole Hamels (27) were the pitching stars.
Comparatively, in 2025, Bryce Harper (32), JT Realmuto (34), Kyle Schwarber (32) and Trea Turner (32) were the offensive core while Zach Wheeler (35), Aaron Nola (32), Ranger Suarez (29), Cristopher Sanchez (28) and Jesus Luzardo (27) comprised one of the more formidable starting staffs in baseball. The biggest difference between these two clubs is that the 2011 team already had a title under its belt (2008) while the 2025 version fell to the Houston Astros in the 2022 World Series, their closest opportunity to hoist the Commissioner's trophy.
Despite an aging offensive core, the Phillies are ready to run it back once more after re-signing the 56-homer bat of Schwarber to a 5-year deal in the offseason. He is flanked by another left-handed-swinging slugger, Harper, and offensive catalyst Turner, who changed his approach to more closely align with his Washington Nationals days. The supporting cast of Alec Bohm, Adolis Garcia, and Bryson Stott can provide enough length in the lineup to keep this team in the playoff hunt.
As already alluded to, this starting staff is a contender for top rotation in the game as long as Zack Wheeler is able to get through the health challenges that cost him the end of his season in 2025. Not many have come through Thoraic Outlet unscathed, but Wheeler will attempt to prove it can be done. In his stead, Cristopher Sanchez rose to the occasion, accumulating 6.4 bWAR and turning himself into one of the better lefties in the game. Jesus Luzardo, another talented southpaw, is back for another season, while the Phillies' stalwart Aaron Nola looks to bounce back from his worst season as a professional. The bullpen is in good shape with Jhoan Duran entering his first full-season as Philadelphia's closer. Jose Alvarado, free agent signing Brad Keller, and Orion Kerkering will attempt to set Duran up for many a save.
This farm system has a few MLB-ready studs who we should get long looks at in 2026. Andrew Painter is now fully healthy and ready to fulfill the potential many saw in him two seasons ago, before his elbow injury. Justin Crawford has already been told by his POBO that he will get a shot to hold down centerfield this season. Perhaps the most exciting prospect the Phillies currently have is Aidan Miller, who has gone through some growing pains during his prospect development, but was as good as any hitter in the minors in the second half of 2025. Aroon Escobar was a prospect that popped early in the season, but upon promotion, fell back to reality. Gage Wood, the Phil's first-round pick last summer, is another exciting arm that could be a contributor sooner rather than later, with his outlier fastball leading a loud arsenal.
All told, there are a large number of players who will provide dynasty value both in the major leagues and minors, so make sure you pay attention to the Philadelphia Phillies!
In the 2022 season, Andrew Painter dominated Double-A hitters at the age of 19, solidifying himself as one of the top pitching prospects in recent memory and putting himself on the radar to win a rotation spot in 2023. A UCL sprain and subsequent Tommy John Surgery sent those plans spiraling and cost him all of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Still just 22 years old when he took the mound again in full-season ball this past year, Painter was unable to break into the majors in 2025, ultimately accumulating 118 innings in the minors with a 5.26 ERA and a 23.4% K rate. These pedestrian numbers, certainly when compared to the pitcher Painter has been in the past, present an ideal buying opportunity in dynasty leagues. Painter should begin the 2026 season in the rotation, and still has all the makings of a top-of-the-rotation arm. Now a full year removed from TJ and fully recovered, this could be the best chance to pry Painter away from an owner who may be worried that the 6’7 righty won’t reclaim his earlier form.
Aaron Nola
To put this simply, Aaron Nola is still a much better pitcher than he showed in 2025. Even for a player known to alternate good years with bad ones, Nola’s age-32 season was one to forget as the righty went 5-10 with a 6.01 ERA, the highest ERA of his career by a wide margin. The season was marred by several injuries that cost him three months and limited him to just 94.1 innings, his lowest total since his rookie season, except for the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. The good news is there is plenty of reason to think this was simply an aberration, and that Nola is in store for a bounce-back campaign in 2025. For starters, Nola saw a major reduction in his left-on-base percentage and HR/FB rate, two indicators of batted-ball luck. His xERA was also a much more reasonable 4.20, and his 17.1% K-BB rate was just below his 2024 mark. Pitchers in their 30s can often be had at a discount to begin with, and this could be a great chance to buy in on a veteran, workhorse arm to stabilize your pitching staff into his mid-30s.
Dynasty Sells
Justin Crawford
There is an adage that a prospect’s value is never higher than just before his debut, and this will likely hold true with Justin Crawford. Coming off a stellar Triple-A season where he hit .334 with 7 home runs and 46 stolen bases, Crawford has already been named a starting outfielder for the 2026 Phillies by President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski. The excitement around Crawford is undeniable, which is why he could fetch a significant return, but there are questions about his profile that are worth considering. First, while he possesses average power, he is not able to access it consistently, as he hits 60% of balls on the ground and 43% to the opposite field. His .334 batting average was also sustained by an extremely high .407 BABIP, a number that will certainly go down along with his batting average in the big leagues. It’s not to say that Crawford can’t succeed in the big leagues; in fact, he could very well be a serviceable big league regular for years to come. It wouldn’t be surprising if he struggles to hit the ground running, even if he’ll do plenty of running when he does get on the base paths. Unless you’re in love with the player or the profile, now is a great time to sell.
Zack Wheeler
One of the hardest parts of dynasty baseball is knowing when the right time is to say goodbye to a player who has been a major factor in your success for years. With Zack Wheeler, now may be that time. Wheeler was 3/4ths through another stellar season in 2025, posting a 10-5 record to go along with a sparkling 2.71 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and a career high 33.3% K rate when he was sidelined with a blood clot and subsequent thoracic outlet decompression surgery in August that ended his season. While Wheeler is expected back in the first half of 2026, pitchers rarely return the same after thoracic outlet surgery. This makes Wheeler, who without the surgery would again be a top-10 starting pitcher this season, a wildcard moving forward. Add the fact that he’ll turn 36 in May, and it may be time to say goodbye to this Phillies ace.
Top Fantasy Prospects
Players are in order of their fantasy prospect ranking from our September end of season list.
Having lost essentially all of the 2023 and 2024 seasons to an elbow injury and subsequent Tommy John surgery, Painter came into 2025 looking to reclaim his status as the premier right-handed pitching prospect in baseball and contribute at the major league level. As is often the case when an arm injury is involved, however, the road back to prime form has been a winding one for the Phillies’ 2021 first-round pick. The good news: Painter logged a career-high 118 innings this past season, a promising sign for a pitcher coming off of reconstructive surgery. The bad news: he looked less than dominant in his return to the mound. Painter’s walk rate increased (6.2% → 9.0%) while his strikeout rate plummeted (38.7% → 23.7%), and his stuff proved to be quite hittable, as opposing Triple-A batters posted a .277 average against him. Underwhelming though his performance may have been, Painter will still be just 23 years old next season, and he was added to Philadelphia’s 40-man roster in November, so he seems set to challenge for a rotation spot with the big league club at some point in 2026. He remains a top-30 dynasty prospect overall, thanks to his frontline starter upside. - Lucas Morel
Miller showed off his five-category fantasy potential in 2025, hitting 14 HR and stealing 59 bases while walking more than 15% of the time and striking out less than 25% of the time en route to a .264/.392/.433 slash (.825 OPS) as a 21-year-old who spent time in the two highest levels of the minor leagues. It was a brief 8-game sample in Triple-A, but he posted impressive metrics. His max EV wasn't spectacular at 107.9 mph, but his 90th percentile EV of 106.3 mph tells a different story that better aligns with his stellar hard hit rate (45%), barrel rate (10%), and air-pull rate (25%). He rarely swung and missed or chased out of the zone and posted a 90% zone-contact rate. He'll be knocking on the door to the bigs in 2026 and could be up by mid-season if he continues to impress. He's a borderline top-15 prospect for some here at Prospects Live, but his consensus rank sits closer to 25; if you can get him for top-25 prospect value, he's a tremendous buy. - Kyle Sonntag
Crawford appears poised to begin the 2026 season as a starting major league outfielder after hitting .334 with seven home runs and 47 stolen bases over a full season at Triple-A in 2025. Crawford has been a buzzy prospect, but also a confounding one in some ways. He boasts strong exit velocities and hard hit rates that point to exciting power potential, but also hits the ball on the ground nearly 60% of the time and to the opposite field 43.4% of the time, an approach that severely limits his ability to consistently access the power he does have. While Crawford has always hit for a very high average in the minors, this has been boosted by a very high BABIP that is likely to regress in the big leagues. When he does get on base, there is no question that Crawford is a force to be reckoned with, and 40+ stolen base seasons are a realistic expectation over a full season. At times, Crawford has been compared to fellow speedster Chandler Simpson, but it is an unfair comparison. Crawford’s double-digit walk rate in Triple-A suggests he could be a boost in OBP leagues, and if he can elevate the ball more at the plate, he could eclipse double-digit home runs to go along with those exciting stolen base numbers. - David Gofman
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
A Giants fan living in San Diego, been playing fantasy baseball since 2005 and dynasty since 2021. Started the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast in June 2023 and joined Prospects Live in March of 2024.
Dynasty player of 10+ years. Helping you find the building blocks of your championship rosters as a co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023, joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
