Philadelphia Phillies Outfield Prospects Considered Among the Game's Best

The Philadelphia Phillies were named as one of the top 10 outfield prospect groups in the game.

Jul 8, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; National League Futures designated hitter Justin Crawford (13) of the Philadelphia Phillies hits an RBI-sacrifice fly against the American League Futures during the second inning of the All Star-Futures Game at T-Mobile Park. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies have rebuilt their farm system into one of the best in baseball.

Despite graduating players like Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott in recent years, the system has continued to get better. After adding to it in this year's draft, MLB Pipeline ranked them among the top 10 systems in terms of outfielders.

The Phillies have three outfielders in their top 10 and nine in the top 30.

The crop is headlined by Justin Crawford, who is the 56th overall prospect in baseball and son of former outfielder Carl Crawford. The 20-year-old was a first round pick in 2022 out of high school and has already reached Double-A this season, where he has continued to flat-out hit.

Over 100 games this year, Crawford is slashing .304/.350/.435 with 23 doubles, eight home runs and 39 stolen bases. The lefty is looking to be very similar to his father and will be a pure hitter and good defender with elite speed.

Philadelphia really vaulted their status in this particular category with their 2024 draft. Their first two picks, Dante Nori and Griffin Burkholder, were immediately placed into their top 10 overall.

Nori was a bit of a polarizing player among scouts, not because of his skill level, but because of his age. At 19 years old, he was considered old for a high school player, however, he has hit the ground running in the minors.

Assigned to Single-A Clearwater, Nori has played in 11 games to begin his career. His OPS sits at .720 and he has driven in nine runs while swiping four bases and having the same amount of walks as strikeouts.

It shouldn't be a surprise if he joins Crawford in top 100 lists in the near future.

Burkholder was the other newcomer to the top 10 of the Phillies' list.

A second round pick taken out of high school, Burkholder shares a common trait with the other two prospects: his speed. He is a plus-plus runner who is a good defender, though he still needs to work on his game in the box.

However, the rest of the depth in the system is what has them as the sixth-best outfield system in baseball.

Just outside of the top 10 sits Gabriel Rincones Jr. and John Spikerman, who have cases to make that leap in their own right.

Rincones, 23, has above average power, hitting 15 home runs last year and 11 so far this season. In 2024, mostly with Double-A Reading, he is slashing .255/.355/.472 with an .827 OPS. While his run grade is a 30 on the 20-80 scale, he has stolen over 20 bases in each of the last two years.

He is another player who could be a riser in the near future.

Spikerman was Philadelphia's third round pick in this year's draft. He was yet another player with a great tool that seems to be a trend with the Phillies: plus speed. Although he does not have much power to speak of with a 30 grade, his blazing speed is what he will be known for.

Philadelphia has emphasized adding speed with their young outfielders, which is definitely the opposite with what they have in a player like Nick Castellanos at the big league level right now.

There is a lot to be excited about in their system and the young outfielders are a huge part of it.