Phillies: 3 prospects who Dave Dombrowski should call up now

There is no question that the Philadelphia Phillies roster needs a shakeup. This season in the National League, the team has scored the sixth-fewest runs while recording the most strikeouts. On the mound, Phillies pitchers have the fifth-worst combined ERA (4.28).

Sitting at fourth place in the National League East, just a half game ahead of the last-place Washington Nationals, the Phillies seem far from contending any time soon — thus breaking their decade-long postseason drought.

Here are three prospects President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski should call up right now to help the struggling team.

Former first-round Phillies draft pick Cornelius Randolph is shining at Triple-A.

Before the Phillies selected Mick Abel (2020, 15th overall); Bryson Stott (2019, 14th overall); Alec Bohm (2018, 3rd overall); Adam Haseley (2017, 8th overall); and Mickey Moniak (2016, 1st overall) in the first round of the MLB draft, the organization did the same with Georgia native Cornelius Randolph at No. 10 overall in 2015.

Randolph shined his first professional season, slashing .302/.425/.442 with 53 games for the Gulf Coast League (GCL) Phillies, however he failed to produce similar numbers at higher levels within the organization his next four seasons. In fact, Randolph slashed just .244/.324/.358 across 220 games at Double-A Reading between the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Refusing to led the pandemic sideline him all of last year, Randolph appeared in 2020 Australian Baseball League action — and doing so appears to be paying its dividends so far this season. Through 15 games and 57 plate appearances, Randolph is slashing a career-best .377/.421/.698 with five doubles, four home runs, and 13 RBI at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. His 1.119 OPS is good for fourth-best in the Triple-A East.

With Randolph set to turn 24 on June 2, the time seems right to give the outfielder a chance to succeed in the majors.

Phillies prospect Adonis Medina could finally be performing up to the hype.

Ranked as the fourth-best Phillies pitching prospect — behind right-handers Spencer Howard and Francisco Morales, as well as left-hander Erik Miller — right-hander Adonis Medina has already received his first taste of Major League Baseball action.

Making a start last December against the Toronto Blue Jays, Medina, 24, suffered a loss after allowing three hits, two runs (both earned), and three walks across four innings. The right-hander struck out four of his 18 batters faced, while tossing 84 pitches (51 strikes).

Similar to Randolph, Medina kept a focus on baseball in the offseason, appearing in five games and 11 innings at the Dominican Winter League. So far, that decision has been a good one for the right-hander — who is 3-0 with a 3.50 ERA, 14-4 strikeouts-to-walks ratio, and 1.056 WHIP through four starts and 18 innings this season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Offseason free-agent signees Matt Moore and Chase Anderson simply have not worked out in the starting rotation, forcing the Phillies and Dave Dombrowski to dig deeper into their depth, such as using Vince Velasquez every five days instead. Perhaps Medina is an arm the Phillies should give a chance to succeed in the majors. His 3.50 ERA is the 22nd-best in the Triple-A East, while his .224 batting average against is the 25th-best.

The Dominican Republic native was once considered the Phillies’ “1B” best prospect in their farm system behind Sixto Sanchez, who they later dealt to the Miami Marlins as part of the trade that sent catcher J.T. Realmuto to Philadelphia.