3 under-the-radar Phillies prospects who are excelling this season

We hear about the Philadelphia Phillies' top prospects almost continuously it seems. However, with a farm system starting to burgeon with talent after the front office's hard work over the past few years, there are plenty of other names to take a look at in the minors that we don't hear enough about.

We're not interested in the Aidan Millers, Justin Crawfords or even the Starlyn Cabas of the world. Okay, we're obviously still interested, but we’ve had plenty of updates about them thanks to their impressive play this season.

For this endeavor, we wanted to explore some lesser-known names, so we picked three of the more under-the-radar prospects with whom some fans may not be as familiar.

3 under-the-radar Phillies prospects who are excelling this season

These players are all in the Phillies Top 30 prospect rankings from MLB Pipeline, but none of them are in the Top 10. What do they have in common besides being Phillies draft picks or international signings?

All three players are excelling this season at their various levels. So, let's jump in to see how the future of the Phillies franchise looks.

Nikau Pouaka-Grego, 2B/3B

Infielder Nikau Pouaka-Grego is back in action after missing all of 2023 with a torn ACL. The 19-year-old is making the most of it in Single-A with the Clearwater Threshers.

Ranked as the Phillies No. 29 prospect, Pouaka-Grego is slashing an impressive .293/.404/.439 in 26 games. He has just one home run but has shown off his bat-to-ball skills and quality of contact with seven doubles and a triple. He has struck out just 16 percent of the time while walking at a 13 percent clip.

Pouaka-Grego was picked as a Phillies prospect breakout to watch this season and is showing why. Despite the missed season, he has picked up where he left off in the Florida Complex League in 2022 when he slashed .301/.424/.466 in his first pro season.

Hendry Mendez, OF

You may not be familiar with this name, as Hendry Mendez was originally signed out of the Dominican Republic as a 17-year-old in 2021 by the Milwaukee Brewers. Now 20, the corner outfielder came over to the Phillies organization in the offseason Oliver Dunn trade.

Playing in High-A Jersey Shore, Mendez is having his best season since his time in Rookie ball. He's slashing .297/.435/.352 with three doubles, a triple and a pair of steals in 29 games for the BlueClaws. The Phillies No. 22 prospect hasn't popped a home run yet, which isn't really surprising, as he isn't known for his power stroke.

He does have a good eye at the plate though, and makes lots of contact. His 22 walks to 17 strikeouts bear that out. Mendez uses the entire field at the plate, with 42.9 percent of his batted balls going the opposite way.

Per his MLB Pipeline scouting report, he has some raw power and bat speed, with strength to come as he matures. However, he'll need to, "... learn not to pound the ball into the ground."

There's where the left-handed hitting Mendez can vastly improve his stock this season. He's running a 67.2 percent ground ball rate and needs to get that down and learn to get the ball up in the air.