Phillies Prospect Weekly: Rincon's August Tear Rolls On, Rincones Jr. Heats Up at Triple-A
By Clint Rivera ·
Phillies Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Phillies farm system.
Rincon's August Won't Stop
Bryan Rincon (AA, SS, Rank: 19) went 9-for-23 with two home runs and three RBI across 23 plate appearances this week, adding three walks to a line that counters the skeptics. The 22-year-old switch-hitter has now posted a .344/.478/.600 slash line over his last 30 days at Double-A Reading, with five home runs, eight doubles, 22 walks, and a strikeout rate of 22.1 percent across 113 plate appearances. His contact rate over that stretch sits at 80.7 percent, which is a meaningful uptick from the season-level 76.6 percent and suggests his timing has sharpened as summer has worn on. A year ago, he was batting .181 in High-A with 103 strikeouts. The player on the field this August looks like a different profile entirely.
The grades say 45 hit and 45 power, with the projection landing at utility infielder, and those grades are cautious given what the scouting history showed. But Rincon is up to 21 home runs on the season with a BB% of 16.7 percent across 473 plate appearances, numbers that exceed the floor those grades would suggest. His swing rate of 39.2 percent is among the most selective in the system, and that patience drives his on-base production. The 60 arm and 60 field grades have always been the foundation, and the defense at shortstop remains a genuine asset. The question now is less about whether the bat can play at all and more about how much of this is sustainable against better pitching. The gains in contact quality and walk rate look real enough to force a re-evaluation of the offensive ceiling, and at 22 years old with two months left to make a push, Rincon is not done making his case.
Rincones Jr. Shines at Lehigh Valley
Gabriel Rincones Jr. (AAA, RF, Rank: 11) went 6-for-14 with two doubles, a home run, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch across 14 plate appearances this week, continuing a strong stretch in the organization. Over his last 30 days at Triple-A, he is slashing .342/.405/.658 with two home runs and six doubles across 42 plate appearances. He was optioned back to Lehigh Valley from the Phillies' major league roster in early August after struggling at the big-league level, where he posted a .167/.202/.286 line across 89 plate appearances with a 32.6 percent strikeout rate. The swing-and-miss against MLB pitching, particularly on secondary stuff, has been the documented concern with his profile for some time.
At 25, Rincones carries a 60 power grade and a 50 hit tool, and the Triple-A numbers show those tools playing. The last-30-day OPS above 1.000 at Lehigh Valley reflects form that typically nets another Major League opportunity, though his 50.0 percent swing rate over that stretch with a 70.4 percent contact rate means he is not working deep counts the way he does when he is at his best. The real separator for him will always be how he handles left-handed pitching and quality breaking balls, the same vulnerabilities that limited his MLB role to a platoon or pinch-hit option. A second-division projection and right-handed platoon ceiling are still the honest read on where this ends up, but the power is genuine and the AAA production is hard to argue with. Another call-up before the season closes seems likely, and what he does with it will matter.
Quick Hits
Carson DeMartini (AA, SS, Rank: 16) · had a week to remember, going 6-for-20 with two doubles, a triple, a home run, six RBI, and five walks across 20 plate appearances. His walk rate over the last 30 days has been exceptional: 25.4 percent BB% across 71 plate appearances at Double-A, with a .264/.451/.547 slash line, three home runs, and 18 walks against 18 strikeouts. The 55 power grade is showing up in games this summer in a way it did not during his first Double-A stint a year ago, when he hit .202/.291/.288 across 292 plate appearances at Reading. The swing rate of 35.0 percent over the last 30 days is the most selective in the system, and the combination of power and patience gives him a genuine argument to revisit the projection as something more than a utility bat if this continues.
Cody Bowker (AA, RHP, Rank: 26) · threw five innings in his second Double-A start, allowing one earned run on three hits with zero walks and four strikeouts across 19 batters faced. He also generated seven swinging misses. Through two Reading starts, his ERA sits at 1.80 across 10 innings with zero walks and 10 strikeouts. The command that graded at 40 and generated a 5.90 ERA at Low-A Clearwater earlier this year has become the best version of his profile: over his last 30 days at High-A before the promotion, he posted a 2.78 ERA across 22.2 innings with a 3.3 percent BB%. The fastball at 93-95 with deceptive movement from a low arm slot is the carrying pitch, and the changeup tunnels well enough to produce consistent whiffs. The cutter and slider still overlap and grade below-average, but when Bowker works with the fastball-changeup combination, the results look like a potential rotation piece rather than a long reliever.
Devin Saltiban (A+, SS, Rank: 20) · drove in four runs on five hits, including a double, while drawing three walks in 16 plate appearances this week. He is hitting .308/.410/.431 over his last 30 days at Jersey Shore, a meaningful uptick from his season-long .248/.311/.371 line. The strikeout rate has dropped to 23.1 percent over that span after sitting at 27.2 percent for the year, and his swing rate has come down from 50.7 percent to 44.1 percent, which might be the most encouraging development in his numbers. A 55 speed grade and solid defensive tools give him a floor at utility, and if the approach refinement from the last month is real, the path to an everyday role at short or second opens up a little more.
TJayy Walton (A+, OF, Rank: 25) · went 6-for-20 with two doubles, a home run, and four RBI in 20 plate appearances this week. Over his last 30 days at High-A Jersey Shore, he is posting a 19.7 percent BB% and a 22.4 percent strikeout rate, both significantly better than the walk and strikeout numbers he posted in Low-A and the rookie level earlier in his career. The contact rate of 70.1 percent over that span is still a concern for a profile graded at 40 hit, but the power (50 grade) is starting to flash in games, and his three-homer season at High-A is modest progress for a player coming off hamate bone surgery in March 2025. The quad-A projection reflects real contact-rate risk, but the recent walk rate improvement is worth tracking.
Dante Nori (AA, OF, Rank: 10) · returned from the injured list on August 25 after dealing with a hip issue that had kept him out since early June. In his first two games back at Double-A Reading, he went 2-for-7 with a home run across nine plate appearances. His season line at Reading before the IL stint sat at .247/.311/.372 with three home runs and 13 stolen bases across 245 plate appearances, a serviceable but unspectacular showing. The return is the news here; how he moves and how the hip holds up over the final weeks of the season will matter more than the two-game sample.
Sean Youngerman (A, RHP, Rank: 22) · gave Clearwater five innings of one-run ball this week, scattering four hits and one walk while striking out four across 20 batters faced. He also generated 13 swinging misses, his best whiff total in recent outings. The season ERA sits at 5.23 across 75.2 innings at Low-A, and the 10.9 percent walk rate for the year reflects the mechanical inconsistencies that have shown up throughout his first full professional season. The fastball sitting 94-98 gives him a clear carrying tool, and the 13-whiff outing hints that the changeup and slider are capable of generating deception when the delivery is clean. A #5 starter projection is still reasonable given the fastball characteristics, but the secondaries need to develop before that ceiling becomes reachable.