Despite the Philadelphia Phillies having a minor league system currently ranked in the bottom third of the league, according to MLB Pipeline, they still have some premium top prospects within the organization that are worth all the hype. One of those top prospects in the system is No. 10-ranked Gabriel Rincones Jr.
The good news is that Rincones recently put on an awe-inspiring display of power. The bad news is that he then landed on the injured list.
Selected in the third round by the Phillies in the 2022 MLB Draft, the 23-year-old outfielder had a solid 2023 campaign in which he posted a .778 OPS with 81 runs scored, 31 doubles, 15 home runs, 60 RBI and 32 stolen bases over 120 games across two minor league levels. As a result, Rincones was hoping to build on his success from his first professional season and be even better this year.
Well, so far he has done exactly that. In 13 games with the Phillies Double-A affiliate Reading Fightin Phils, Rincones has batted .300 with a 1.017 OPS, 13 runs scored, three doubles, four home runs, five RBI and four stolen bases.
Phillies prospect launches massive home run out of stadium but lands on IL
More impressive than those numbers is the power he put on full display recently in a game against the Somerset Patriots on April 24. He helped Reading to a 4-3 victory over the Patriots by connecting on a mammoth home run that ended up traveling completely out of the ballpark.
Yesterday, @PhilsPlayerDev No. 10 Prospect Gabriel Rincones Jr. launched his fourth home run of the season!
— Reading Fightin Phils (@ReadingFightins) April 25, 2024
Many are claiming the ball ended up on the other side of the highway 🤯 pic.twitter.com/FkvKA7M1xK
The ball went so far that it actually traversed the highway located outside of the Fightin Phils' FirstEnergy Stadium. That's certainly quite the sight to admire for Phillies fans, who should start getting excited, knowing that they have a player with a combination of power and speed coming up through the system.
The craziest thing about his massive home run is that X user @phixated measured the distance to the ball's resting location at a mind-boggling 506 feet. Although, as Alex Carr points out, that distance likely includes some bouncing and rolling, not the dinger's actual landing spot.
I'm sure there was bouncing/rolling of some sort involved, but this is crazy.
— Alex Carr (@AlexCarrMLB) April 25, 2024
Phillies prospect Gabriel Rincones Jr's mammoth home run yesterday left the ballpark and ended up on the other side of the highway! https://t.co/qdPam1OA5g
Unfortunately, the bad news is that Rincones landed on the 7-day IL on April 25, just a day after his momentous feat.
Rincones is the Phillies' second-highest outfield prospect behind the speedy No. 2 prospect Justin Crawford. He has drastically improved his batted ball profile this season and increased his line drive rate to 35.3 percent, up from 19.9 percent last season, matching his fly ball rate. Hitting more line drives has led to fewer ground balls, down to 29.4 percent from 40.3 percent in 2023.
Hopefully, Rincones' injury isn’t anything serious, and he will be back and mashing for the Fightin Phils soon to continue his highly anticipated breakout season.