After coming out on the wrong end of a late-inning homer fest on Tuesday against the Cubs, the Phillies sunk to a new low, well below .500 in the early going. With the major league squad struggling, let’s turn our attention to the Reading Fightin’ Phils, who have won three straight. Though top prospect Aidan Miller has moved on to Triple-A (and sits on the IL) after spending most of last season in Reading, the Fightin’ Phils still have plenty of players finding success in the first month of the season.
Here are three prospects at the Double-A level for Philadelphia fans to dream on while they wait for the major league Phillies to figure it out.
3 Double-A Phillies prospects fans can dream on amid early skid
Alex McFarlane
After spending the majority of the last two seasons as a starter, McFarlane was moved to a bullpen role in August of last year. McFarlane’s first six appearances of 2026 have come out of the Fightin Phils' pen. The right-hander has responded well to the move, working to a 1.69 ERA and showing why he was one of three prospects protected by the Phillies from the Rule 5 draft this past offseason.
Though McFarlane struggled for much of last season while returning from Tommy John surgery, he’s reached triple-digits out of the bullpen and has seemingly found his best chance at making an impact in the major leagues.
In his time as a reliever, the 24-year-old’s command has taken a slight step in the right direction. After walking a batter every 1.83 innings as a starter, that number has improved to one walk every two innings as a reliever. While just a small improvement, it's a difference that will become more apparent over time.Â
More importantly, the 2022 fourth-round pick has excelled at keeping runs off the board. McFarlane didn’t allow a run until his sixth appearance, also the only outing in which he hasn’t recorded a strikeout. Three of his appearances have resulted in multi-strikeout performances.
Dante Nori
Nori gained a lot of attention for leading Team Italy on a deep run in the World Baseball Classic, earning him a spot on the all-tournament team in the outfield. Though the attention on the 21-year-old has understandably waned some since leaving the international spotlight, his production with the bat has remained steady.
After batting .400 with a whopping .750 slugging percentage in his six games representing Italy, the Canadian national has maintained a .317/.348/.524 triple slash for Reading while mostly DHing.
What’s more, after swatting just four long balls across over 100 minor league contests in 2025, the left-handed swinger has already hit two home runs through 14 games in 2026.
The 2024 first-rounder played just 11 games at High-A last year before a late season promotion to Double-A for a five-game cup of coffee. While Nori understandably struggled at both levels, if he can continue to put the ball in play and mix in a little bit of pop to go with his plus speed and defense, he could be an option to push Justin Crawford to a corner and shore up what has long been a rotating cast of underwhelming options.
Raylin Heredia
Like Nori, Heredia has seen an uptick in power to start 2026. After doubling nine times across 60 minor league games in 2025, the outfielder is already up to eight at higher level in one fourth of the games this season.
After slashing .285/.343/.467 in a 50-game High-A debut last season, Heredia’s numbers have gone up across the board to .316/.355/.596 over his first 15 contests, good for a .951 OPS.
While the outfielder isn’t a top prospect and has an overall hit tool that grades out as below average despite the production, Heredia could work his way into the Felix Reyes realm of prospects as a guy who continues to hit despite prospect evaluators not valuing him highly.
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