Highly-Rated Philadelphia Phillies Prospect Gets Huge Chance at Arizona Fall League

The Philadelphia Phillies have a ton of top prospects heading to the Arizona Fall League, but Bryan Rincon is the one to watch.

May 26, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a Philadelphia Phillies hat and glove on the bench against the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies probably don’t need a succession plan at shortstop for a while. After all, All-Star Trea Turner has nine more years left on his contract, one the Phillies gave him to make him a cornerstone of the franchise for years to come.

Bryan Rincon hopes that, one day, he can lock down a deal like that. For now, the Phillies shortstop prospect is out to enhance his status in the organization as the Arizona Fall League starts on Monday.

Rincon is the Phillies’ highest-rated prospect headed to the AFL, ranked No. 10 by MLB Pipeline.

Philadelphia picked him up in the 14th round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Shaler Area in Pittsburgh. But, the Venezuela native moved stateside for high school.

Opting for pro baseball instead of college, he went immediately to the Phillies’ Florida Complex League team and got in 12 games. For the past two years he’s been toggling between Class-A Clearwater and High-A Jersey Shore as his bat has been slow to come around.

This year, he also had to deal with an injury. He missed part of the season with a hamstring issue, which limited him to 35 games as he finished with a slash line of .198/.331/.322/.653 with two home runs and 15 RBI.

The trip to the AFL not only gets him more reps against some of the top prospects in the game. It also allows him to make a case to start next season at Jersey Shore and position himself for a promotion to Double-A Reading at some point.

At 20 years old, he has plenty of time to develop. Right now his best asset is his glove and the AFL may give his fielding ability that showcase.

The Phillies are sending a constellation of star prospects to Arizona. In addition to Rincon, five other Top 30 prospects are joining him — outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. (No. 11), right-handed pitcher Wen-Hui Pan (No. 20), right-handed pitcher Griff McGarry (No. 21), right-handed pitcher Christian McGowan (No. 22) and infielder Otto Kemp (No. 28).

The other prospects headed for the AFL are catcher Jordan Dissin, left-handed pitcher Tristan Garnett and left-handed pitcher Wesley Moore.

AFL action starts on Oct. 7 and since it was founded in 1992 more than 3,000 players have participated and moved on to the Majors at some point.

The Fall Stars game is set for Nov. 9 at Sloan Park, with the annual home run derby set for Nov. 8. When the season concludes on Nov. 14, there will be a play-in semifinal game between the second- and third-place finishers in the standings on Nov. 15 at Scottsdale Stadium. The championship game is held the next day at Salt River Fields.