Phillies could promote top pitching prospect to MLB with risky role change in mind

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Phillies could promote top pitching prospect to MLB with risky role change in mind originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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The Philadelphia Phillies are playing much better baseball in August than they did in July, but they are still behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and don't have a postseason spot locked up just yet.

Once rosters expand to 28 players in September, the Phillies could simply promote someone like Tanner Banks if he's good to go after going through a rehab assignment, or they could make a much riskier but bolder pitching promotion.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report named top prospect and former first-round pitcher Gage Wood as a player the Phillies could promote to have a big impact on their postseason hunt. But not as a starter, but rather in a role change to the bullpen.

Gage Wood could make major impact out of bullpen for Phillies

"However, he spent his first two seasons at the University of Arkansas pitching almost exclusively out of the bullpen, and that's where he could make a bigger impact for the Phillies," Reuter writes.

Using Wood as a reliever wouldn't be too shocking, as the Phillies are likely to use Andrew Painter out of the bullpen if they make the postseason and all of Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler are healthy.

Painter has already been pitching in the big leagues, and he's even looked good lately. Wood, on the other hand, is 22 years old and has not once pitched in Triple-A, let alone the Majors.

Calling him up to the Major Leagues from Double-A wouldn't be unprecedented, but it would come with a lot of risk, as Wood could struggle against much better hitters.

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Plus, he wouldn't be utilized in a normal starting pitcher role like he has been during his career with the Phillies' organization since being drafted in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft.

Wood could join the bullpen with the hope that his elite fastball and solid complementary pitches work well in smaller sample sizes.

The theory makes sense, but there's a lot of risk, and in reality this could backfire. There is also the concern about how calling him up to join the big leagues and having him struggle out of the bullpen could hurt his development.

But this is an all-in season for the Phillies, and even if it entails a risky promotion and role change for Wood, it's the kind of high-upside move that could help the Phillies in a big way down the stretch, and maybe even into the postseason.

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