The outlook of the Philadelphia Phillies farm system has rapidly improved over the last few seasons as the front office has done an impressive job of bringing talented young players into the organization.
While many Phillies fans continue to follow the development of recent first-round draft picks Aidan Miller and Justin Crawford as they terrorize Single-A pitching, another young position player is starting to make a name for himself in the Florida Complex League.
Phillies top prospect finally gets into MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospect rankings
The meteoric rise of 18-year-old Starlyn Caba as an organizational top prospect has been impressive to watch. Signed in January 2023 during the international signing period, Caba has established himself as a player to keep an eye on thanks to his stellar defense and advanced approach as a hitter.
Caba's 2023 numbers at the DSL level were enough for scouts to rank him No. 5 on MLB Pipeline's rankings of Phillies top prospects. Caba recently hit his first professional home run in his FCL debut.
Since debuting in the Florida Complex League earlier this month, Caba has done nothing to quiet down the hype train. In 55 at-bats, the switch-hitting Caba is batting .309 with 17 hits, one home run, and seven RBI in addition to nine stolen bases and 13 runs scored. That early season production was enough to crack MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospect rankings, at No. 100.
The #Phillies' Starlyn Caba joins the Top 100 Prospects list following the graduation of the Dodgers' Andy Pages.
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 26, 2024
Scouting report and more on the 18-year-old shortstop: https://t.co/SrbmggzUk8 pic.twitter.com/9U4HtIzzIH
Phillies now have five prospects ranked in the Top 100
Caba's inclusion in MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospect rankings seemed likely after his hot start in the FCL, but he now joins four other talented Phillies prospects as being one of the best.
In the latest update, injured Phillies right-hander Andrew Painter remains ranked at No. 19, despite having not thrown a baseball in close to a year. Aidan Miller is the only other Phillies prospect to crack the Top 50, and finds himself ranked No. 48. It seems inevitable that the slugging Miller will find himself ranked somewhere in the Top 30 before the season's end.
Ranked No. 61, Mick Abel has seen his prospect status take a hit in 2024 due to a tough start to his season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Still only 22 years old and getting his first extended taste of Triple-A hitters, there's plenty of time for Abel to turn around his fortunes and reestablish himself as one of MLB's best pitching prospects.
Justin Crawford is ranked two spots behind Abel at No. 63. Currently hitting the cover off of the ball at High-A Jersey Shore, the dynamic young outfielder is probably close to getting his first taste of Double-A sometime this summer.
With Caba now considered a Top 100 prospect, the Phillies have finally started to earn respect for a farm system that was ranked among the bottom for minor league talent just a few seasons ago. It's a promising development for an organization that is starting to create a sustainable approach to infusing young talent into a veteran core at the big league level.
Could right-handed pitcher George Klassen join these Phillies prospects when the next Top 100 update is released later this summer?