Phillies Farm Report: Prospects Carlos De La Cruz, Orion Kerkering, CFs Among Standout Prospects In First Half

It may not be quite to the halfway point of the season for the players in Philadelphia, but for those in the minor leagues, the halfway point of the season came and went last week.

With that in mind, Phillies fans may want to take a look down at the farm to see what players are shining.

There’s many ways things could go for players who standout like this. Of course, the Phillies would love to have them just make it to the big leagues in the next few years and become key pieces with a cost-controlled salary. That’s simply not going to be the case for every player, however.

For some, their production right now might be more than what the franchise foresees at the MLB level and that or organizational depth could lead to players being looked at as ideal trade-chips for the Phillies when they look to round out their roster for another World Series shot.

For some, the conundrum of whether they need to be put on the 40-man roster is coming sooner than later.

Some players standing out in the Phillies minor leagues so far this year are:

P Wen Hui Pan – Clearwater

Can anyone remember another time that the Phillies have had such an electric Asian prospect?

Pan signed out of Taiwan with the Phillies during the international signing period and 2023 is his first season in the minors. While he does have one start during the season, the Phillies seem to be looking to get some length out of him, most often working him in two-three inning stretches rather than the one-inning stints usual for relievers.

Across 38 innings, Pan has an ERA of 2.13 and has a strong WHIP of 0.87 with opposing batters hitting just .159 against him. He’s also got an incredible walk/strikeout ratio with 46 strikeouts (1.2 per inning) compared to just 12 walks.

Perhaps even more impressive than that is that Pan has only allowed a single home run so far this season, something that is an issue for many highly effective relievers. At this point, he should be in at least High-A to end the season if he doesn’t make it to AA this year. How quickly he can move up those levels will determine when he could impact the major league club, but the Phillies have three more years before he’s even eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft (2026).

CF Justin Crawford – Clearwater

Crawford was the Phillies pick in the first round of last year’s draft and has certainly produced like one so far in his first full professional season.

He has speed. His defense in center benefits greatly from that as does his baserunning (33 stolen bases in 37 attempts). That, combined with, an eye-popping .342 average at the plate, make him a handful for pitchers, too.

The power is a bit of a concern, however. Despite an average near .342 in 199 at bats, Crawford is slugging just .452 – something lower than you’d be expecting from a player who has the blazing speed that could leg out more than the 10 doubles he currently has this season. He also has yet to record his first professional home run (Note: Crawford recorded his first home run on July 5 after this section was written).

Those concerns may keep him in A ball longer than some other prospects as they try to iron that out – plus the fact that the big league club, AAA and AA all feature everyday center field prospects who aren’t going to cede playing time at this point. That means he isn’t someone fans should expect to be an impact player at the major league level anytime soon, but his ability to make contact and speed has been impressive this season nonetheless.

P Rodolfo Sanchez – Jersey Shore

Sanchez may be the name on this list that is the most unfamiliar to Phillies fans.

Not originally signing with the Phillies in the international signing period back in 2016. Sanchez became the player to be named later that the Phillies received from Tampa Bay in exchange for pitcher Edgar Garcia back in 2020.

Following a lost 2020 season, Sanchez reached high-A last season. This season, his first full one at the level, he has been a reliable pitcher in Jersey Shore transitioning between a starter, high-leverage guy and a middle innings guy. He has a concerning amount of walks (18 in 30.1 innings), but he’s getting strikeouts (35) and has worked his ERA down to 2.67 following a rough opening to the season where he gave up 5 of his 12 allowed runs (4 of 9 earned) in his first three outings in early April.

Sanchez might not be someone who would garner much in a trade but for an organization that is running low on effective bullpen arms at the AA and AAA level, Sanchez is a player to watch and could find himself in the upper levels sooner than later.

P Orion Kerkering – Jersey Shore

After being selected in the fifth round of the 2022 draft and tossing only seven innings in the minor leagues last season, Kerkering has quickly vaulted to the team’s most effective reliever in the minors so far this season, at least statistically.

Though he started in the Florida Coast League, he’s already jumped two levels in essentially half of a professional season.

After spending the first month of the season in Clearwater and not allowing a single run (only two hits and a single walk in over 10 innings), he’s seemingly become the most reliable reliever in Jersey Shore following his promotion.

Since his promotion, he’s pitched 20.1 innings and has allowed only four runs across, good for a 1.77 ERA. Three of those have come on the only two home runs he’s allowed this season. He’s already got an incredible 27 strikeouts in High-A and has walked just six.

If he can continue to keep the walks down and stay away form home runs, he figures to be in at least AA by the end of the season and could be a wild card for a spot on the major league roster sooner than later.

Editor’s Note: Kerkering was promoted to AA Reading while this article was written.

OF Carlos De La Cruz – Reading

Carlos De La Cruz has seemingly become a favorite among the fanbase as of spring training. If he makes the majors, he’ll become the tallest position player in the league.

After spending three and a half seasons in the minors as an unknown to many fans, De La Cruz was promoted to AA Reading in the middle of last season and quickly became one of the team’s most reliable hitters.

Following a spring training stint, De La Cruz played most of the first half of the season at first base but has once again started playing in right field. Through over 300 at bats, he seems to have a bead on AA pitching with a slash line of .290/.363/.495. He’s been hitting third in the order for much of the season because, in addition to his hitting, he’s provided a solid amount of walks (28) and power (15 home runs, tied for fifth in the league). His incredible 38-game on base streak was ended this past week.

One might guess that, if there wasn’t several overperforming outfielders/first basemen in Lehigh Valley already, De La Cruz might already be there.

He’s been a solid player for the Phillies and someone that fans would certainly like to see pan out. The problem with De La Cruz for the Phillies, however, is that he is now producing at the upper levels of the minor leagues and is already Rule 5 eligible; He’s seemingly a player that the Phillies will need to choose to clear a 40-man spot for after the season or lose him in the draft for potentially nothing. That could lead to De La Cruz being a name the Phillies are willing to part with if they don’t expect to have the roster spots this offseason.

CF Johan Rojas – Reading

Rojas, unlike his counterpart De La Cruz, did not start out the season well. It took him until May 3 to finally get to and stick above .250.  For Rojas, this is history, however. He’s now brought his season average up to fifth best in the league among qualified batters, slashing .308/.365/.479.

While his stop in Reading toward the end of last season was marred by some errors in the field, that has been far from the case in 2023. Rojas has been making incredible plays in the field and was even featured on Sports Center for his defense.

That speed has also made him a terror on the base paths. When Rojas gets on base, he clearly has an effect on pitchers concerned about his potential to steal. It makes the job of hitters following him easier. He’s tied for fourth in the Eastern league with 28 steals this season (though it should be noted he’s tied for the lead with eight times caught stealing). Often there are baseball players who are fast and that’s what makes them a prospect, but there are a great deal of these prospects that aren’t good baseball players. The speed doesn’t help if they can’t get themselves on base or they can’t read fly balls. Rojas is doing both of those things in AA and that’s something teams around the league should be taking notice of.

Rojas is blocked from moving up at the moment because Lehigh Valley has their own standout center fielder. With Justin Crawford coming up at the position, Rojas shining and his path being blocked the rest of the way, center field prospects may be something the Phillies look to move at the trade deadline to try and free up some space.

Rojas is already on the 40-man roster.

CF Simon Muzziotti – Lehigh Valley

It’s tough to believe that it’s been just over a year since Muzziotti was in Philadelphia playing for the major league team.

Not ready to face major league talent, Muzziotti was called upon to aid a franchise that had no other center fielder depth. Just 15 months later, the Phillies now have two center fielders on the 26-man roster and that’s blocking Muzziotti from moving up.

Simon has had a rather rough career. He had originally signed as an international free agent with the Red Sox, but after the league discovered that Boston had been cheating the rules, he wound up needing to sign again – this time with Philadelphia. He spent 2016 and 2017 growing but was set back by a finger injury that cost him nearly two months in 2018. He rebounded well in 2019, but the pandemic made it so he had no place to play and develop in 2020.

In 2021, he lost three quarters of the season to a visa issue and he was only able to get 71 at bats by the time he could get back to the United States. With his sudden call to the majors and another injury, Muzziotti struggled at the start of the 2022 season, but by late July he looked comfortable. After July 26, he was hitting for an average of .377 across both AA and AAA. He appeared confident and faced no struggle even as he was promoted. Then a knee injury ended his season in mid-October.

Understandably, this left many fans unaware the Muzziotti was still with the team and many did not consider him a prospect to watch, but he’s continued his success this season. While he’s not a power hitter, he plays center well and has brought himself to fourth among qualified hitters in the International League with an average of .347. He has 36 runs and RBIs and, perhaps more impressively, has become a rather tough strikeout. In 295 plate appearances, he’s struck out just 38 times. That’s good for a 12.89% K rate (the MLB average is over 22%) and he’s worked 27 walks (9.7% BB% – MLB average is 8.2%).

Like Rojas, Muzziotti finds himself already on the 40-man roster, which means that the Phillies are carrying four center fielders and may look to move one should they make a trade and need the roster spot.

OF Jake Cave – Lehigh Valley

Muzziotti may have the fourth-best average in the international league for qualified batters, but Cave is third.

After an incredible spring, Cave had a rather disappointing start to the season in Philadelphia, slashing .222/.286/.619. Since his demotion to AAA, however, he’s been tearing it up and currently slashes an eye-popping .351/.433/.697.

Way back in 2011, the Yankees drafted Cave in the sixth round. He got only one at bat in before he lost the entire 2011 and 2012 seasons to injury. After three seasons of highly-productive ball that saw him reach AAA, he was a Rule-5 selection of the Reds in 2015. He appeared in parts of the 2018-2022 season for the Twins but was waived this offseason where the Orioles picked him up and then the Phillies did the same when the Orioles waived him two months later.

While he may not be considered a “prospect” at this point, that waiver claim has given the Phillies incredible organizational depth and yet another outfielder on their 40-man roster that is outperforming expectations.

Cave’s presence could go one of two ways. He could give the Phillies confidence to deal one of their other outfielder prospects knowing that they have some immediate depth or he could give the Phillies a “major-league ready” bat in a deal where that’s what a team may be looking for. While he’s been around the league for a while now, Cave still has another option to be sent to the minors and is only in arbitration for the next two seasons, meaning he’s a cost-controlled asset for the near future of whatever team he’s with.