Per The Athletic, who is the Phillies player most likely to be traded?

As the MLB trade deadline rapidly approaches, the Philadelphia Phillies will be looking to add to their roster to compete for a playoff spot in the next couple of months in the tight race in the National League. To do so, they will probably need to give up a top prospect or two in the process.

According to The Athletic (subscription required), the Phillies players most likely to be traded at the deadline is outfield prospect Simón Muzziotti.

Muzziotti was originally signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela by the Boston Red Sox back in 2015. However, when MLB found that Boston had violated international signing rules, Muzziotti was declared a free agent in 2016. That was when the Phillies quickly jumped in to sign the promising international prospect to recruit him into the organization. Despite a lack of power, he has displayed good contact skills, as well as providing some speed on the basepaths, along with strong fielding with his above-average throwing arm and outfield routes to the ball.

He would spend the next six seasons in the Phillies’ minor league system, before making his MLB debut last year at the beginning of the season with the big league club. In nine games, Muzziotti went 1-for-7 with two strikeouts, as he was mainly used as a pinch runner or defensive replacement late in games, before being sent back down to the minors for further seasoning and development. Later on in the year, he would end his 2022 campaign on the IL with a partially torn right patellar tendon.

For 2023, Muzziotti has come back strong from his injury, playing for the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate Lehigh Valley IronPigs and has hit .334 with an .842 OPS, with 44 runs scored, 17 doubles, three triples, four home runs, 43 RBI, 22 stolen bases, and close to a 1.5 to 1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 81 games. In doing so, he is currently ranked 10th on the Phillies’ MLB Top Prospects list, which has been approximately his ranking for the past four years in the organization.

With his progression to the major leagues being blocked by the likes of Brandon Marsh, Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, Cristian Pache, and now Johan Rojas as well in the outfield, along with the fact that his prospective rankings haven’t really changed the past few years with regards to his development, Muzziotti becomes a prime trade asset for the Phillies to utilize at the trade deadline to address the needs for the ballclub.