Phillies Draft Polished College Pitcher in New MLB First-Round Mock Draft

The Philadelphia Phillies are hopeful that this college pitcher could give them a quick boost to their minor league system.

Matthew Postins | Apr 3, 2025

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

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Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies last selected a collegiate player in the first round in 2019, when they took Bryson Stott out of UNLV.

The year before, in 2018, the Phillies went back to school and took Alec Bohm in the first round out of Wichita State.

That’s half of the Phils’ starting infield. That’s not a bad haul.

Philadelphia has spent significant draft capital on prep players the last five years, knowing that they have a fairly set roster at the Major League level and lead time to let those players develop.

The Phillies could go in many directions with their first-round pick this July, which is No. 26 overall.

So, what will the Phillies do? Baseball America attempted to figure it out.

The site’s prospect analysts did their own mock draft earlier this week and made selections for the first 40 picks on behalf of those teams that had a pick.

With the pick, the site believes the Phillies will take a college pitcher, Alabama’s Riley Quick.

The right-hander is part of a group of college pitchers the site is high on going into this draft. He’s the No. 29 overall prospect. Baseball America scouts write that he has one of the best fastball/slider combinations among the collegiate prospects.

The Phillies last went with pitching in 2020 and 2021. In 2020, the pick was Mick Abel, then a prep star in Oregon. Abel is still in the Phillies’ minor-league system but inching closer to an MLB call-up.

In 2021, the pick was Andrew Painter, a prep pitcher out of Florida. Painter adapted quickly to pro baseball and entering the 2023 season he was nearly a Major League debut before he suffered an elbow injury, which led to Tommy John surgery.

Painter is back in the minors this year and the Phillies have him on a pitch plan to enable him to help them in the second half of the season.

In the last three years, the Phillies have gone with position players, all from high schools — Justin Crawford in 2022, Aidan Miller in 2023 and Dante Nori in 2024.

Crawford is at Triple-A while Miller is close behind him at Double-A. Both have played in the MLB Futures Game.

The 2025 MLB draft will be held Sunday and Monday, July 13-14, during All-Star Weekend in Atlanta.

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