Philadelphia Phillies Breakout MLB Prospects For 2025

Entering 2025, we’re projecting a number of Phillies prospects to have the potential for a breakout season.

To qualify, a player must rank outside the organization’s Top 10 prospects entering the year. All scouting reports are from Baseball America’s 2025 Prospect handbook, which you can purchase here.

You can find Top 10 prospect rankings for all teams here and all breakout candidates here.

Devin Saltiban, 2B

Preseason Rank: 11
BA Grade/Risk: 45/High

Track Record: Saltiban leapt up draft boards during his senior season of high school in 2023 thanks to an eye-opening set of tools. The Hawaii native went in the third round and signed for $602,500. Saltiban was an outfielder in high school, but a Phillies crosschecker saw him taking infield grounders before a game and was intrigued enough to give him a chance to play second base as a pro. He spent the entirety of his first full season at Low-A Clearwater, and his 17 homers ranked third in the Florida State League.

Scouting Report: From the moment the Phillies signed Saltiban, they knew his development would be a slow burn. Toward the second half of the 2024 season, he started to catch fire. From July 1 onward, he hit .263/.381/.504 with nine home runs. Scouts praised Saltiban’s ability to find the barrel but noted that he needed to improve the consistency of his at-bats and work to improve his weaknesses on fastballs up and offspeed away. They were also impressed by the amount of thump—he produced a max exit velocity of 110 mph—he generated from a smaller frame. Reviews on his defense on the infield were mixed, but evaluators believe his plus speed would serve him well if he moved back to the outfield. Center field would be his likeliest home if that were the case thanks to his average arm.

The Future: If Saltiban can maintain his second-half momentum in 2025, he could be one of the system’s bigger breakout prospects. He has the upside of an everyday center fielder with table-setter skills.

Scouting Grades: HIT: 50. POW: 55. RUN: 55. FLD: 50. ARM: 50.

Alex McFarlane, RHP

Preseason Rank: 19
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme

Track Record: McFarlane was a 25th-round pick of the Cardinals out of high school but elected to head to Miami. Three years later, he’d upped his stock enough to become the Phillies’ fourth-round pick n 2022 and sign for $575,000. He was used near-exclusively out of the bullpen in Coral Gables but spent his first pro season as a starter at Low-A Clearwater. He missed the entire 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Scouting Report: One of the current trends in baseball is to take pitchers out of Miami, tweak their stuff and then reap the results. In 2023, the Phillies got McFarlane to swap his four-seamer for a two-seamer. The move was designed to help the righthander get more groundballs without sacrificing his mid-90s velocity. He was still getting used to the pitch before getting hurt. McFarlane’s slider showed promising analytical traits but needed plenty of polish before it could get near its ceiling. Even in its current form, the slider garnered a miss rate of 54% in 2023. The third pitch in his mix is a high-80s split-changeup with plenty of running life. It projected as a below-average offering. McFarlane walked 16.3% of hitters at Clearwater, a mark that suggested well below-average control.

The Future: By the end of 2024, McFarlane had advanced to throwing live batting practice sessions. He should be ready for spring training and could fit as a high-leverage reliever with further refinement, a ceiling which will hinge on whether his stuff re-emerges with the same quality it showed before the surgery.

Scouting Grades: FB: 60. SL: 60. CH: 40. CTL: 30.

Alirio Ferrebus, C

Preseason Rank: 20
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme

Track Record: The Phillies signed Ferrebus in 2023 out of Venezuela and then watched as he put forth a strong debut season in the Dominican Summer League which included his first career home run. He returned to the DSL in 2024 and slammed three home runs in his first two games. Ferrebus moved stateside at midseason and showed well over the final 10 games of the Florida Complex League.

Scouting Report: Ferrebus is a strong, physical player with big-time bat speed who can put a charge into a baseball. Between the DSL and FCL, he produced a 90th percentile exit velocity of 103 mph and did a great job making contact. His zone-miss rate of 12.4% was particularly eye-opening. Scouts were impressed by Ferrebus’ combination of strength, contact skills and willingness to use the whole field. There are bigger questions about his ultimate defensive home, and he missed time in his first pro year with an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament and then missed some more in 2024 with a sprained ankle. He’s an athletic player, but his hands and footwork need serious improvement if he is to stay behind the plate. Scouts inside the organization also praise his willingness to work hard.

The Future: Ferrebus will make his full-season debut at some point in 2025. If he can improve his catching, he has a future as an offensive-minded backup with upside for a bit more.

Scouting Grades: HIT: 45. POW: 50. RUN: 40. FLD: 50. ARM: 45.