Just like we all drew it up. The Phillies first 3 picks in the 2025 MLB Draft are in the books and the results are college pitcher, college pitcher, college pitcher. After years of investing in high schoolers, the Phillies went with some advanced arms this draft. It sure as hell feels like the team is going to try to draft its way out of the bullpen issues. Let’s get to know each of them.
Gage Wood – P – Arkansas
First of all, what a name! Second, if you are wondering why you may have heard that wonderful name, its because Wood became the first pitcher in 65 years to throw a no-hitter in the College World Series. His 130 pitch, 19 strikeout monster was blemished only by a hit batsman. That guy probably wishes he hadn’t been hit either because Wood has a tremendous fastball.1 It’s in the mid-90s but can get up as high as 99. It’s the crazy movement that makes it so elite though. MLB Pipeline has it graded out at a 70 on the 20-80 scale which is damn good and best in the class.
Wait a second, if this guy is a pitching celebrity with this crazy good fastball, why was he picked 26th? Oh, so you want the negatives huh? Fine. He has 2 main issues. First, before throwing that gem in the CWS, he missed about 2 months of the season due to shoulder issues. As you would imagine, shoulder issues on a pitcher are bad news. The Razorbacks didn’t help anything by shoving him out there for 130 pitches either. Second, he uses that great fastball about 70% of the time. That’s a lot. His secondary pitches are just okay. If he wants to be a starter, he obviously needs more than that.
Just like most college pitchers, he began his time in Fayetteville as a reliever. This experience could become his calling card as early as September when the Phillies are in the stretch run. The Phillies denied it last night, but there is a strong sense that Wood’s fastball could be utilized by the Big Club immediately. He can’t be worse than what they have up there now.
With that previous relief experience and the shoulder injury, his innings so far have been limited. One thing that should be on everyone’s mind for pitching prospects is their workload. After throwing 36 innings his freshman season and bumping it up to 59 last year, he only has 37 so far this year. You could take that to mean that his arm is still fresh but it simply needs more work.
In those 37 innings, he managed 69 strikeouts and only 7 walks. That’s an overwhelming ratio. Of course, those gaudy K numbers came with the CWS game where he set some records. The 19 Ks broke the previous record of 17 and his personal record of 14.
One final note. Apparently, his nickname growing up was “Fathead” which leads me to believe he cried himself to sleep every night on his gigantic pillow.2
Cade Obermueller – P – Iowa
Obermueller is the left-handed son of former big leaguer Wes Obermueller. His arm slot is almost sidearm which means that it is damn near impossible for a lefty to get a good read on it since it starts basically behind the hitter. That fastball comes in at the low 90s but can get as high as 98. Sounds like another possible bullpen weapon to me, at least in the short term.
I’m obviously no scout, but Obermueller has some interesting traits that make him a nice pick. He was drafted in the 19th round last year by the Rangers and turned them down, betting on himself. It clearly paid off. He was better across the board this season including adding velocity and cutting out previous walk trouble. He had a roughly 4:1 K/W ratio. Throw that in with the funky delivery and he seems like a high floor kind of prospect who could be a very effective reliever right now.
Obermueller gave up only 5 homers in 83 innings this year, striking out 117. Those innings were a nice boost from the 59 the previous year. His workload is much the opposite of Wood. You want the year over year increase in innings around 30. This gives him a little room to pitch in the minors this season.
Cody Bowker – P – Vanderbilt
What would you get if you combined Wood and Obermueller? Probably someone like Cody Bowker. He has a crazy good fastball that comes so low that it looks like it rises toward the plate. His other pitches aren’t nearly as ready, but the mid-90s fastball can play right now.
Bowker was a two-way player at Georgetown before transferring to Vanderbilt to pitch full time. His ERA actually went up with the Commodores, but the peripherals were solid: In 72 innings, he struck out 99 and walked only 28. The problem was the homers. He gave up 14. That’s some Aaron Nola nonsense. He seems like someone with all the tools to really respond to the Phillies quality pitching system. A little coaching and more dedication to pitching alone could make him a quick riser in the system.
Bowker has pitched a lot so far in his career. Including the Cape Cod league, he has gone from 68 innings two years ago, to 84 innings last year, and only 72 innings so far this season. That means he will likely jump into a minor league rotation and get those innings up to around 100 or so.
More
The draft continues today at 11:30 with the Phillies making 17 more picks. They are probably under-slot right now based on 3 college signings, so look for them to take a few flyers on high schoolers with questionable signability. You also have to expect some college outfielders and catchers to fill up a system lacking in depth at those positions.
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