As the 2025 MLB Draft quickly approaches, the Prospects Live team wants to make your life as easy as possible. In this series of articles, I'll be providing team-by-team analysis of their recent draft trends, their available draft capital for 2025, any areas of the draft they've heavily targeted, as well as a few names in this year's class that might fit into their historically preferred archetype.
Max Ellingsen
This analysis isn't sourced for the upcoming year, nor is it a guarantee the organization won't pivot from what they've done in the past. Simply put, this article aims to provide an in-depth look at teams and their recent draft classes to try and decipher trends that could help uncover players your favorite team might be targeting. It's far from a perfect science, but I've done my job if it makes things easier to follow on draft day.
Philadelphia Phillies
- 2025 Bonus Pool Value - $7,849,400 (26th)
- Top 100 selections - 26, 63, 100
The Phillies find themselves with one of the smaller total bonus pools in the league this season, but that hasn’t stopped them in years past. They’re used to picking in the latter half of the first round and should have a rather fine-tuned approach to similar situations. Obviously every draft is different, but the Phillies should be well equipped for 2025.
2024 Draft Overview
The Phillies got creative in this one, choosing to give each of their first two picks the same exact signing bonus and spreading out their bonus pool a bit. First rounder Dante Nori ($730,000) and second rounder Griffin Burkholder ($1,150,000 overslot) are both strong, toolsy prep hitters that have plenty of upside, though Nori was more of a hit over power profile while Burkholder was the opposite. They followed with OF John Spikerman ($55,000 underslot) out of Oklahoma and Carson Demartini (slot) out of Virginia Tech, then opted to splurge a bit on Indiana outfielder Carter Mathison ($50,000 overslot). The rest of their class wasn’t nearly as loud as the top due to their need to play catch up on their bonus pool, however I liked the Marcus Morgan (slot) pickup as a bet on your pitching development. Early returns are iffy, but it’s far too early to make any long term claims on this class just yet.
2023 Draft Overview
The Phils took long time prep stud but then-injured Aidan Miller ($130,000 overslot) in the first round of 2023, ultimately securing a steal for a player that probably should’ve gone much higher despite the strong draft class. Devin Saltiban ($80,000 underslot) and Tjayy Walton (slot) followed in the third and fourth rounds (they lost their second and fifth rounders due to free agency signings), and they got a really nice pickup in the sixth with George Klassen ($15,000 overslot). Despite not having a full slate of picks nor a large bonus pool, they were able to muster up enough of a bonus to sign high school catcher Kehden Hettiger ($250,000 overslot) in the eleventh, however this class is heavily carried by the top. With the departure of Klassen via trade, it looks as though Miller himself will have to prop up the entirety of this Philadelphia draft class. There’s still time for something to change, but the clock is ticking.
2022 Draft Overview
Leading off this one with the highly touted Justin Crawford ($100,000 overslot) out of the high school ranks, the Phillies forfeited their second round pick due to free agency signings and selected Gabriel Rincones ($30,000 underslot) out of FAU. Following with the trio of pitchers in Alex McFarlane ($80,000 overslot), Orion Kerkering ($45,000 underslot), and Mavis Graves ($35,000 underslot), the Phillies were relatively quiet the rest of the way in large part to them making a splash in the eleventh with Emaarion Boyd ($500,000 overslot). Taking a few shots on upside in a class where you’re relatively hamstrung with capital is something I’ll always commend, and finding Orion Kerkering down the board is a really nice get to help extract value out of the middle rounds. Odds are Crawford will need to carry much of this class’s value, but overall I’d say this draft was a solid effort that took some shots that just haven’t worked out just yet.
Early Round Demographics
Philly has prioritized prep players early in their classes and I’d expect them to continue that trend with as deep as this prep class is this year. They’ve seemed to prioritize players that have some level of toolsiness to them, however there also seems to be a rather large emphasis on the “feel to hit” side of things. After their seemingly inevitable prep pick, they’ll likely need to fall back into the collegiate ranks across the middle rounds in order to save some cash.
Late Round Demographics
Though they don’t have a ton of capital to work with, I’d be surprised if Philadelphia didn’t move at least a little bit of money around and take a flier on a prepster later in this draft. They’ve done it with some degree of consistency in recent years and though the hit rate hasn’t been great and a pivot could be in the cards, there’s several ways they could still be creative with their bonus pool and infuse a little something extra into their class.
Names to Know
Josh Owens, High School SS - A bit of a late riser for the class, Owens has a super projectable frame and a sweet swing from the left side. There’s plenty of tools to dream on here and feels like a player the Phillies would covet.
Sean Gamble, High School OF - Though he’s more Burkholder than Nori, Sean Gamble has massive tools that can carry him as high as his hit tool will allow, but there are some legitimate concerns with the bat to ball, especially against spin. If it clicks for him, this could be a massive steal.
Slater de Brun, High School OF - An undersized outfielder with a similar offensive profile to Justin Crawford, de Brun could eventually become a twitchy OBP machine that could steal you bases left and right. He might even save you some money to get creative with when it’s all said and done.
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