Draft Prospect Preview: Pitchers

Every baseball season brings something new to the diamond between the first pitch of Spring Training and the final out of the postseason. Whether it's a new favorite player, a new stadium visited, or a new milestone seen at the ballpark, there will always be a new development in any baseball season that distinguishes each year from the last. For the players, they see new levels of the game, with many beginning their professional careers with the Threshers in Clearwater. Typically, towards the end of any given season, newly drafted players report to a major league facility for the first time and pitch as professionals for the first time. The Phillies drafted 14 new pitchers in the 20 rounds of the 2025 MLB Draft, and three of those new Phillies hurlers made their professional debuts for the Threshers in the final two months of the minor league season. Here is a look at how first-rounder Gage Wood, fifth-rounder Gabe Craig, and tenth-rounder Cole Gilley looked in their first taste of pro ball with Clearwater:

RHP Gage Wood, First Round Draft Pick (Arkansas)

The most anticipated debut of the trio, Gage Wood, became the first pitcher selected by the Phillies in the first round since they drafted Andrew Painter in 2021 and their first college pitcher taken in the first round since Aaron Nola in 2014. He joined Clearwater before the final weekend of the regular season, making a short start in the regular season as well as in the Florida State League Division Series in Lakeland. Though the Threshers were 0-2 in Wood's starts, it was plain to see the elite stuff and potential that Wood possesses. Wood garnered a lot of national attention after his 19-strikeout no-hitter in the College World Series this past June, and lived up to his billing as a strikeout pitcher with five punchouts in his first outing as a professional, surrendering one hit in 2.0 innings at BayCare Ballpark. His fastball is the centerpiece of a solid four-pitch arsenal, topping out at 99 miles per hour between his regular-season and postseason outings. Wood will turn 22 before Spring Training, on the younger side of collegiate draft picks, and already possesses solid command of the pitches he offers. Despite taking a loss in each of his first two starts, he already has very polished mechanics and is quite advanced in his development compared to many others in his draft class. He pitched exclusively as a starter in his final season with the Razorbacks, but has experience as a late reliever and an anchor in the back end of a bullpen. His stuff can play out of the rotation and the bullpen, and Wood may see a fast rise through the Phillies system once his role as a starter or a closer is determined.

RHP Gabe Craig, Fifth Round Draft Pick (Baylor)

Of all Phillies pitchers drafted or signed as non-drafted free agents in 2025, fifth-round pick Gabe Craig was the only one who didn't make a start out of the rotation in college. The All-American and First Team All-Big 12 right-hander surrendered just three runs all season for the Bears, racking up a team-best ten saves in 32.0 innings pitched without allowing a run in the final 12 of his 24 relief appearances. After becoming the second Baylor pitcher ever to be nominated for the National Stopper of the Year Award, Craig became the first pitcher in the Phillies' 2025 draft class to join the professional ranks with a late-August call-up one month after signing his first professional contract. He finished with the most appearances of any pitcher in the 2025 Phillies draft class, tossing 3.0 shutout frames over three regular-season appearances with more than one strikeout per inning in his four relief appearances (including the postseason). Craig is likely the only pitcher who joined the Phillies in 2025 who has already carved out his role in the organization, coming out of the bullpen in the seventh inning or later in all four of his appearances with the Threshers. In addition, his two-pitch arsenal is well-suited for late relief, combining an upper-90s fastball with a wipeout slider that produced 43 of his 51 collegiate strikeouts in his final season. The last clear-cut reliever that the Phillies took in the fifth round was Orion Kerkering in 2022, who rode a similar fastball/sweeper combination to a professional debut within one year of his draft date. Could sixth-year Baylor senior and fifth-round Phillies draft pick Gabe Craig follow a similar path in 2026?

RHP Cole Gilley, Tenth Round Draft Pick (Indiana)

The Phillies drafted a serial winner in the tenth round, selecting one of the 11 pitchers in the NCAA with ten or more wins during the 2025 season in right-hander Cole Gilley. Though he came out of the bullpen twice this past September, Gilley started two-thirds of his 18 appearances with the Hoosiers this past season, finishing with a 3.54 ERA that was the best by an IU starter since 2021 and eighth-best in the NCAA among qualified pitchers. He pitched three innings out of the bullpen in two games for the Threshers, allowing one unearned run and fanning four batters in two relief appearances. Gilley converted from a reliever to a starter in college, cutting down his walk rate from 21 percent to 7 percent over his final three NCAA seasons, and doubled his inning total in 2025 from 2024. It seems likely that the Phillies will begin to throw Gilley as a starter during his first full season in 2026, as Gilley demonstrated elite control on all four of his pitches. In fact, Cole had a strike rate of over 60 percent on all four of his pitches with the Hoosiers before the Phillies selected him in the tenth round of the 2025 draft. He was one of the final 2025 draftees to debut in 2025, and could be an early rotation starter at the beginning of the minor league season next year. Gilley was a three-sport athlete in high school, and drastically improved in his graduate year at Indiana after a solid, but injury-shortened career at Indiana State. Gilley threw for more innings with the Hoosiers (68.2) than he did in three seasons at Indiana State (41.2), and will likely see an even bigger innings total in 2026.

There is much more to come for the 2025 Phillies Draft Class, mostly comprised of pitchers who combined for around 10.0 innings of work in the final month of the 2025 season, with half of the Phillies Draft Class still yet to make their professional debuts. Each of the pitchers who have debuted already averages at least one strikeout per inning, but all have also allowed at least one run within their first three innings of work. With some ups and downs inevitable in the beginning of any player's career, it's not easy to predict the future success of these players or even how they will be used down the road across the Phillies organization. One thing is very clear for these players after the Phillies spent over 61 percent of their 2025 draft class (including non-drafted free agents) on pitching: that the Phillies have a talented and motivated group of hurlers joining their minor league system ready to make waves in 2026.

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