In most farm system rankings around the industry, the Philadelphia Phillies are featured in the lower half of the league. Their farm system is far from in what you'd call "bad shape." But the reality is that this is an organization that's pretty top-heavy. Most (but not all) of the top talent in the system is already suiting up at the big-league level.
That's not to say that there's no talent down on the farm. Despite the fact that MLB Pipeline put the Phillies 17th in the league and Baseball America put them in 20th, this is a quietly decent system.
Earlier this week, news broke that one of the Phillies' top pitching prospects, Christian McGowan (No. 21 on MLB Pipeline's latest Phillies ranking), is out for the rest of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. For the young right-hander, this is the second time he's gone under the knife for this procedure in a career that's starting to look more like an injury-plagued one than anything else.
Some not great news on the #Phillies farm front: RHP Christian McGowan, who was No. 21 on the @MLBPipeline Top 30, has undergone Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career, out for 2025.
— Jonathan Mayo (@JonathanMayo) March 31, 2025
Phillies prospect Christian McGowan undergoes second Tommy John surgery
Originally selected in the seventh round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Phillies, McGowan made his pro debut later that year. To this point, his career-high in innings pitched is just 40 1/31 (2024), which is certainly far from ideal. He's battled injuries left and right, and the unfortunate truth is that when he's taken the mound, it hasn't always been pretty.
Coming up on four years since he was drafted, McGowan has only made a combined 29 appearances (23 starts) in the Phillies organization. He's topped out at Double-A and has a cumulative 4.48 ERA through 78 1/3 innings of work.
It's been a frustrating few years for both player and team. This is only highlighted by the fact that while his surface-level numbers like ERA aren't pretty, McGowan has actually been a strikeout machine. He's also been stingy when it comes to surrendering the long ball (0.9 HR/9) while simultaneously allowing less than nine hits per nine innings in his pro career.
Having the 25-year-old miss yet another season is going to be tough, as he's now going to have to wait at least another calendar year to even reach the Triple-A level. Crazier things have happened, but it feels like the clock is ticking on this young hurler's ascent up the organizational depth chart over in Philadelphia.
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