Nori Highlights Former Threshers Hitters in Arizona Fall League

CLEARWATER, FL - After a 2025 Arizona Fall League campaign saw Dante Nori help the Phillies-led Surprise Saguaros to a title, Philadelphia's number seven prospect returns to the AFL with eight other former Threshers players and former Threshers Athletic Trainer Marissa Van Hassel for the 2026 fall season. Catcher Luke Davis will be assigned to the Scottsdale Scorpions, while the rest will join the Saguaros, where Van Hassel, who was the Threshers assistant AT in 2023 and head Trainer in 2025, will lead the team's medical staff. The other eight Phillies prospects have worked with Marissa in Clearwater or in Jersey Shore, as she spent the 2026 season as the head trainer for the BlueClaws. The full list of Phillies prospects in the upcoming Arizona Fall League is as follows:

RHP Keegan Batka, C/1B Luke Davis, RHP Ryan Dromboski, INF Aroon Escobar, C/1B Kehden Hettiger, RHP Estibenzon Jiménez, OF Dante Nori, RHP Jose Peña Jr., and LHP Kevin Warunek.

All assignees except for hitting coach Jeff Livesey, who spent the 2026 campaign with the Double-A Eastern League Champion Reading Fightin Phils, have spent time with the Threshers within the last four seasons, with five of the nine players playing in at least one game for Clearwater in 2026. This week, we will focus on the four position players that the Phillies will send to Arizona on October Third, with Luke Davis and Dante Nori having played one rehab game each with the Clearwater Threshers this past season.

Dante Nori - OF 2024-26

A first-round pick in 2024, Dante Nori returns for his second consecutive season in the Arizona Fall League after playing 12 games with the reigning champion Surprise Saguaros in the fall of 2025. After beginning the 2025 season in Clearwater and ending in Double-A Reading, Nori recorded an OPS of .822 in his inaugural fall campaign, driving in seven runs with 25% of his hits going for extra bases for the Saguaros. Nori has continued his tradition of winning in 2026, making the All-Tournament Team in the World Baseball Classic and leading Team Italy to their longest run ever in the WBC, the third-ever top-four finish by a European team.

After driving in one run in a rehab game with the Threshers in August, Nori finished the season in AA with the Reading Fightin Phils, scoring five runs and driving in one in four playoff games for the Fightin's en route to the franchise's first title in 31 years. Despite playing in just 67 games due to injury, missing most of the Double-A season from May through mid-August, Nori's three home runs were one shy of his 2025 output, set in 109 games with the Threshers. The Phillies' second-ranked outfield prospect looks to further unlock his five-tool potential as he attempts to continue his winning ways to cap off his 2026 season.

Luke Davis - C/1B 2025-26

The only Phillies prospect not assigned to the Surprise Saguaros: 2024 non-drafted free agent Luke Davis will play for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the 2026 Arizona Fall League season. Davis drew a walk in a rehab appearance for the Threshers in their final home series of the season this past September, having not played since the end of June for the High-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws. Davis split his time between first base and catcher in 2026, with around 300 innings behind the plate and at first, amassing a fielding percentage north of .980 at both positions and a 21% caught-stealing rate in over 375.0 innings behind the plate.

Davis finished his High-A portion of the season on a tear at the plate as well, hitting safely and scoring at least once in four of his final seven games before a late-June injury sidelined him for the remainder of the BlueClaws' season. He even clubbed his first career triple back on June 13 and homered in back-to-back games to begin the second half. Davis drew a walk in a rehab game for the Threshers back in September, entering Arizona looking to get back on track after missing more than half of both of his first two seasons as a professional.

Kehden Hettiger - C/1B 2024-25

Despite not seeing any game action in two months, 22-year-old backstop Kehden Hettiger is one of the Phillies' most intriguing prospects heading to Arizona for the fall of 2026. After rising to Double-A shortly after his 21st birthday in 2025, Hettiger began 2026 in Reading, catching rehab starts for Phillies All-Star Zack Wheeler as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training and at the start of his first full season in Reading. He caught 24% of baserunners stealing in 61 games with the Fightin Phils before an injury prematurely ended his season at the end of July.

Despite suiting up for 39 fewer games than the 100 he played across three levels in 2025, Hettiger finished with eight home runs, one short of his 2025 total. He matched the eight homers he hit across 85 games in High-A last year for his largest home run total at a single level of the minors. In two seasons with Reading, walks have accounted for 20% of the time Hettiger reached base in 2026, up five percent from the 2025 season. The 2023 Phillies 11th-round pick only topped 100 games in 2025, his first of now three full seasons in minor league baseball. But with a solid half-year in the high minors under his belt, Hettiger has a chance to throw his hat in the ring as a contender to make either the Triple-A or major league roster in 2027 with a big season in Surprise.

Aroon Escobar - INF 2025

One of the Phillies' most electric minor league hitters may have the most to prove in the upcoming AFL season, as 2025 Florida State League All-Star Aroon Escobar will make his fall debut in the Phillies system in October. Escobar was second among all Fightin Phils in OPS during their 2026 playoff run, but he is so far unprotected in the Rule Five Draft that will follow the Fall League in December. He is the highest-ranked prospect named to the initial Phillies Fall League roster, checking in at number six in the organization after a breakout season with Clearwater in 2025. Escobar has an exciting combination of power, speed, and durability, as he has produced 27 home runs and 51 steals in 63 attempts throughout 252 games played over the course of the last two seasons.

While Escobar's productivity dipped compared to his impressive 2025 campaign, his impressive playoff campaign played a big part in Reading's first Eastern League title since Hall of Famer Scott Rolen played in Baseballtown back in 1995. His offensive tools are more refined, but Escobar has shown the ability to play solid defense at both second and third base, with more of his minor league reps coming at second. He will focus on fine-tuning his defense and his approach at the plate, but a solid performance by Escobar could lead to him staying in the Phillies organization for a long time.

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