Phillies 2023 Draft Pick Blossoming into Future Star at Jersey Shore

One of the Philadelphia Phillies’ selections from Day 2 of last year’s draft is having an incredible season at High-A Jersey Shore.

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. / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

A year ago at this time George Klassen wasn’t sure where he was headed next. Now? He’s emerged as a Philadelphia Phillies pitching prospect to watch.

The Phillies made the former University of Minnesota right-hander their sixth-round pick last year. In 11 starts in his first professional season, he is 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA.

He’s coming off an incredible game for High-A New Jersey, where he was promoted from Class-A Clearwater on June 11.

In that start he threw five no-hit innings against Brooklyn, a New York Mets affiliate. He struck out eight and walked two.

George Klassen (@Phillies 2023 sixth-rounder) fans eight batters over five no-hit innings in his second outing for the High-A @BlueClaws. pic.twitter.com/K7VjU6bldz

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 23, 2024

He’s been dominant all season, as the ERA would suggest. Batters are hitting .143 against him. He’s struck out 70 and walked just 17. He’s allowed just five earned runs.

He is now the Phillies No. 28 prospect, per MLB Pipeline.

“You show what you got and that’s all you can really do,” Klassen said to MLB.com recently. “[You] just keep on moving forward and just trust in everything you got.”

Last year with Minnesota (he redshirted his freshman year in 2021) he was the team’s Saturday rotation player and did not post a record to write home about — he went 1-7 with a 5.72 ERA in 14 games/13 starts.

His redshirt freshman season was actually worse — 0-2 with a 14.09 ERA with eight strikeouts and 12 earned runs in 7.2 innings.

In spite of the numbers, he earned a spot in the 2022 Northwoods League MLB Dreams Showcase Selection.

But scouts loved what they saw in Klassen in terms of raw ability, including a fastball that could hit triple digits at the college level. Going into the 2023 season he was considered a Top 5 Big Ten MLB Draft Prospect by both DI Baseball and Perfect Game. He was Perfect Game’s No. 47 junior overall.

Going back high school at Port Washington (Wis.) he was Perfect Game’s No. 1 pitcher and No. 2 overall player in Wisconsin and was also ranked by PG as the No. 23 right-handed pitcher in the country and No. 77 overall player nationally. But he went undrafted.

His time at Minnesota is part of the reason why his performance at last year’s MLB Scouting Combine was so important. He solidified his draft stock by consistently throwing a fastball near 88 miles per hour.

After he was shut down last year — something teams are doing now with college pitchers since the season ends in May or June — he’s cruised through two levels of the Phillies’ system and may be pitching his way into a call-up sooner than expected.