Much has been said about the Philadelphia Phillies' top prospects heading into the 2025 season. Among Phillies prospects, Andrew Painter headlines the Phillies in MLB Pipeline's Top 100 list, as the soon-to-be 22-year-old right-hander looks to make an impact in the Phillies' rotation this summer after missing the entirety of 2023 and 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
After Painter is a trio of young bats, with shortstop Aidan Miller, outfielder Justin Crawford, and catcher Eduardo Tait giving the Phillies four prospects in the Top 100. These young players are well known among Phillies fans, with Miller and Crawford seeing playing time in spring training. After gaining some exposure of his own in this year's Spring Breakout game and Grapefruit League action, it's time that fans get familiar with another prospect, Aroon Escobar.
Phillies prospect Aroon Escobar could 'barrel' his way into Baseball America's Top 100 this season
Escobar is a 20-year-old infielder whom the Phillies signed out of Venezuela in 2022 for $450,000. He split time at second and third base for the Phillies' Florida Complex League team, but his selling point is his offense. Escobar put up gaudy numbers at the plate in his third professional season in 2024, posting a slash line of .338/.495/.481 and recording three home runs and 17 RBIs.
This performance allowed him to break into MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Phillies prospect rankings at No. 13 for the first time. Although it was a short sample size over just 77 at-bats, it was a significant improvement over his first two seasons, earning Escobar some high praise and expectations of joining another top prospects list in 2025 with Baseball America.
Geoff Pontes from Baseball America has high praise for the young prospect and projects he will find his way into the Top 100 rankings (subscription required) in just a few months.
"Based on early looks, Aroon Escobar might hit his way into the back end of the Top 100 by the middle of the summer," Pontes writes. Escobar's ability to barrel the ball with ease is why an even bigger breakout could be in the cards for him in 2025.
"This spring, Escobar has been catching barrels seemingly at will, as he showed in the Phillies' Spring Breakout game and during early play on the backfields. Escobar's underlying data in 2024 suggests potential for a major breakout with Clearwater early this season," according to Pontes.
Potential @Phillies breakout prospect to watch 👀https://t.co/yqVOYiu5uj pic.twitter.com/EoZVIBD2l6
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) March 19, 2025
The data says that Escobar had a 15.8 percent zone-whiff rate and a chase rate of just 17.6 percent, showing that he boasts high bat-to-ball skills and plate discipline — both quality skills for a player of his age to have. His exit velocity was tracked at 104.4 mph, which was ranked in the 90th percentile in 2024. This suggests that his power is sure to increase as he gains more strength and further grows into his 5-foot-10, 180-pound frame. Having the familiarity of playing spring training games and even the Spring Breakout game in his future home stadium of BayCare Ballpark shouldn't hurt, either.
The 2025 spring training season could not have gone any better for Escobar, as he performed well in the Phillies' Spring Breakout game and also got the opportunity to get some playing time with the big club after being called up from minor league camp. In the Spring Breakout game against the Pittsburgh Pirates' prospects, he went 1-for-2 with an RBI double in the Phillies' win. He had only two Grapefruit League plate appearances, but showed off his offensive potential with a two-run homer on March 9 against the Baltimore Orioles.
20-year-old @Phillies prospect Aroon Escobar homers in his first Spring Training game! pic.twitter.com/ckH3DJXzGq
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) March 9, 2025
That's big time power. The ball traveled 385 feet and left the bat at 108.2 mph, all while Phillies manager Rob Thomson watched on while on the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast. The homer nearly cleared the Frenchy's tiki bar in left field, and it's safe to assume Escobar will be looking to do that quite a few more times with the Clearwater Threshers in 2025.