The Phillies have gotten off to a bit of a slower start this season than fans were surely hoping for. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper are the only ones really hitting, and the pitching staff is a similar story, with Cristopher Sánchez and Jhoan Duran leading an otherwise middling group. Some of that will change in due time, of course, but it's undeniable at this point that there's sure to be holes for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to fill in by the time trade season rolls around this summer.
That means the front office will need a well-stocked farm system in order make compelling offers to other organizations. That's even more true given that the team won't want to surrender its future by dealing away players like Aidan Miller and Gage Wood, who are already heralded as high-value prospects. Fortunately, some of the team's lesser-known pieces have been hot to start the year, and that could raise their value headed into the summer. Let's take a look at three such players:
3 Phillies prospects who might be transforming into trade chips for Dave Dombrowski
Felix Reyes - Outfielder, Lehigh Valley (Triple-A)
25-year-old outfielder Felix Reyes has never been a high-profile prospect throughout his career, but he's now establishing himself in a big way at the Triple-A level. In his first 75 plate appearances to start the year, Reyes slashed .333/.347/.611 with four homers and eight doubles. His 20.0% strikeout rate is manageable, and while he isn't walking much at all he could still offer some pop as a short-term solution for a rebuilding club looking for outfield help this summer.
Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs briefly discussed Reyes in his overview of the Phillies' farm system back in February. Longehagen compares Reyes to former big leaguer Franmil Reyes in that piece, noting his massive size and considerable power potential are held back by high chase rates. That's a player who had some success in the majors early in his career, and it's not hard to imagine another team being tantalized by a similar skill set even in spite of the red flags.
Mavis Graves - Left-Handed Pitcher, Jersey Shore (High-A)
Teams are always looking for intriguing pitching prospects, and Graves checks that box. The 27th-ranked prospect in Philadelphia's system according to MLB Pipeline, Graves was the team's sixth-round pick back in 2022. The lefty is now 22 years old and turning in an incredible start to the year at the High-A level with a 53.8% strikeout rate and just one earned run allowed across his first two starts, totaling seven innings of work.
Graves has a three-pitch mix that Pipeline suggests could make him a capable starter in the majors if his control improves, and a 7.7% walk rate so far this year is certainly encouraging. While Graves might not be the sort of surefire future starter that often turns into a blue-chip trade piece at the deadline, it's easy to imagine him being the sort of player who can finish off a trade package to push a rival GM into pulling the trigger on an important deal.
Alirio Ferrebus - Catcher / First Baseman, Clearwater (Single-A)
The most well-regarded prospect mentioned here, Ferrebus clocks in at 22nd on MLB Pipeline's aforementioned Top 30 Phillies prospects list. Signed out of Venezuela as an amateur, Ferrebus made his professional debut in 2023 and only just turned 20 back in September. His age-19 season saw him struggle to hit at the High-A level, but he's come roaring out of the gates in 2026 with a phenomenal .370/.485/.519 slash line across his first 33 plate appearances.
It's a small sample, to be sure, but Ferrebus stealing three bases, slugging four doubles, and walking as often as he strikes out (12.1%) shows an impressive level of dominance given his age. Pipeline notes that the Phillies are optimistic about Ferrebus's future behind the plate, and if evaluators with rival clubs feel similarly he could be an extremely desirable piece as a possible catcher of the future for a team Dombrowski is trying to close a deal with.
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