Philadelphia Phillies' pitching prospect Griff McGarry has had quite the journey through his major league baseball career. After a good 2021 and 2022 season, the right-hander struggled in his 2023 and 2024 seasons.
The fifth-round draft pick for the Phillies in 2021 reached as high as No. 3 in MLB Pipeline's prospect rankings before just sticking in the Top 30 this season, ranked at No. 30. After bouncing around from starting pitcher to trying to be a reliever, in what is considered his last chance needing a good season, he has returned to the starting rotation in a make-or-break season.
After a down year in 2024, McGarry shockingly started the season with the Reading Fightin Phils, the Phillies Double-A Affiliate, after having a major league non-roster invite to spring training.
Phillies' prospect Griff McGarry finding familiar success ... in Double-A
McGarry has looked sharp, a lot like his old self, through two outings. In his first start of the season, McGarry struck out eight hitters over four innings of work, not allowing a single hit. His second time around, he once more threw four innings, striking out five and not allowing one hit through two outings.
The first start of the season was noticed around the league as in his start back in the rotation, he earned Eastern League Pitcher of the Week.
While it's nice to see McGarry back to his old form, the catch is that it is in Double-A baseball, which has treated him well, as he has pitched very well at that level throughout his career, posting a 2.55 ERA in 95 1/3 innings of work. After his promotions to Triple-A is when his struggles have started, with a 2-5 record and a 9.21 ERA in 43 innings of work.
In these two outings, his numbers have improved, as his K/9 sits at 14.63, his highest since 2021. The major improvement in his early outings has been his strike percentage, which is back up to 62 percent after being under 60 percent and closer to 50 for the last two seasons.
If he continues to throw well with the Fightin Phils, it's going to be interesting to see when the organization decides to promote him back up to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at the next level if he can keep this start to the season.
McGarry will continue to be a name to watch for the entirety of the 2025 season, whether through playing well to be promoted during the season or a potential throw-in to a trade as a last piece if a team wants to take a chance with him.
McGarry’s next scheduled start is Friday against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, the New York Mets' Double-A Affiliate.