If you're unfamiliar with Philadelphia Phillies pitching prospect Gabriel Barbosa, we forgive you. Barbosa wasn't on many radars when he arrived in the Phillies system after being selected in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft in December of 2024. He last found himself on a top 30 list in 2023 when Baseball America tabbed him as the Colorado Rockies' No. 30 prospect and named him as the hurler with the best control in the system.
The 24-year-old right-hander hails from the baseball desert known as Brazil and was signed by the Rockies back in 2018 as a teenager for an undisclosed amount. He was picked by the New York Yankees ahead of the 2024 season in the minor league Rule 5 Draft, but it was with the Phillies that he began to actually gain traction.
Barbosa began 2025 in Clearwater and had never risen above A-ball in his career up to that point. However, he was promoted twice as the campaign unfolded - first to Jersey Shore, then to Reading over the course of the year. He made 33 appearances (eight starts) and tossed 87 innings while posting an encouraging 3.62 ERA.
That new level of success had Barbosa primed for a big 2026. Not only was he set to pitch for Brazil in the World Baseball Classic and looking forward to propelling his career forward and realizing his big league dreams based on last year's momentum, but he was also expecting his first child with his wife, Pamela.
Then, one day he began feeling ill. When he went to the doctor and tests were run, he got punched in the mouth by a terrifying diagnosis. Barbosa was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer, upending all the plans and dreams he had for the year to come.
As of 2025, the average annual salary for a player in Double-A was just under $31,000. Even with the health insurance from the team, Barbosa is looking at massive medical bills for his treatments and surgeries, not to mention the costs associated with a new baby.
There is a GoFundMe for Gabriel Barbosa, a Phillies minor leaguer who was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer and is expecting his first child with his wife this month. The fundraiser was organized by a Rockies executive who originally signed Barbosa: https://t.co/f74xQ8YYaz
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) September 1, 2026
The Rockies scout who signed him, Rolando Fernandez, set up a GoFundMe for Barbosa complete with a very touching message about the kind of person the young pitcher is. It's gotten traction, and while GoFundMe doesn't release the full names of the donors, a $20,000 donation, which is the highest to date, was made by a "T. Helton," leading some to believe that would be former Rockies star Todd Helton.
Phillies pitcher Gabriel Barbosa could use all the support he can get
Barbosa spoke to a Yankees blog in 2024 and detailed his baseball journey coming out of the small Brazilian town of Bastos. It's all very wholesome.
As the story goes, he was visiting a cousin, playing soccer in the street, when it was time for his cousin to leave for baseball practice. His grandmother instructed him to accompany his cousin so he wouldn't stay home alone, and the coach was a neighbor down the street.
He didn't know much about the game and didn't really have an interest in playing, but that changed when practice began. From there, he fell in love with the game and played as much as he could, rising through the Brazilian ranks before being discovered by Fernandez at the U15 Pan American Baseball Championship in Cartagena, Colombia.
Surely baseball is one of the furthest things from his mind right now, but our thoughts are with him, and we hope he makes a full recovery, gets some time to enjoy with his wife and newborn child, and then gets back on the mound very soon.
If you'd like to donate to Barbosa's GoFundMe, you can do so here. If you're unable to, please share his story with those you know. The more we come together to support him, the better off he and his family will be.
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