Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Major League Baseball announced the rosters for the Arizona Fall League on Tuesday, and eight Philadelphia Phillies prospects will take their talents to the highly regarded circuit, which opens up its season on Saturday, October 3.
Featuring 12 of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects and 75 of the organization's Top 30 prospects, the AFL is a place where teams send several prospects to continue to hone their skills against some of the best competition.
The Phillies had eight representatives initially announced Tuesday afternoon that will take the field for the Surprise Saguaros, which is composed of prospects from the Phillies, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians and the New York Mets.
Joining them will be the team's top hitting prospect, Aidan Miller, who confirmed he will also continue his season out in the AFL.
Here is a bit more on each prospect who will represent the Phillies:
It has essentially been a lost season for the talented shortstop due to a lingering back issue which turned out to be caused by a damaged or degenerated intervertebral disc in his spine. He went for a procedure called a radiofrequency ablation of the facet joints back on June 5 and missed the following six to eight weeks.
Now, the highly touted prospect is back and is staying in Double-A Reading during its postseason run. Miller has played in just four games this season and is 4-for-12 at the plate overall with three doubles and two RBIs.
Last season, after a slow start, he caught fire over the final two months of the season and ended up slashing .333/.429/.583 with a 1.012 OPS, mostly with Reading, but did finish the year playing in the final eight games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Overall, it's a great sign for the Phillies to see one of their top prospects back on the field.
One of two top 30 prospects for the Phillies, Escobar will continue his season out in the desert. The infielder is currently with Double-A Reading who embark on a quest for an Eastern League title with the first game of their first round playoff series getting underway on Tuesday night.
The 21-year-old Venezuelan native had a down year in 2026 compared to his 2025 where he increased his stock. In 132 games, all at the Double-A level, Escobar slashed .230/.332/.347 with a .679 OPS with 12 homers and 69 RBIs.
He did draw a career-best 67 walks this season while striking out 92 times, lowering his strikeout percentage to 16.2%, his lowest in a full season since 2024. His 11.8% walk rate also is his highest mark since that same season.
Last year, Escobar spent time at three levels, ending the year in Reading. Overall in 120 games, he hit .270 with a .361 on-base percentage to go with a .774 OPS.
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Not too many farmhands in the organization had more hype around them than Nori after his improbable performance in the World Baseball Classic where he hit .400 for Team Italy. Unfortunately, a stress fracture in his hip derailed Nori’s season and he was limited to just 72 games which included a rehab stint in the lower levels.
In 67 games in Reading, the outfielder hit .244 with a .678 OPS across 306 plate appearances. He hit three homers and drove in 26 runs while swiping 17 bases. He is playing alongside Escobar with the Fightin’ Phils in the postseason.
The toolsy outfielder who stole 52 bases a season ago has a chance to be an elite defender in centerfield with a chance to hit 10-15 home runs on a year.
The Phillies do not have much depth at catcher in the farm system, so sending Hettiger to the AFL shows, at least on the surface, they want the 22-year-old to get more seasoning both at the plate and behind it ahead of making decisions on who would make the 40-man roster next year.
Hettiger, who closed out last season on the organization’s Top 30 list had raw power coming out of Sierra Canyon High School, but it hasn’t translated yet to the pro level.
Spending the season in Double-A, the former 11th round pick hit just .191 in 61 games with eight home runs and 20 RBIs. Despite the low batting average, the backstop has shown his keen eye at the plate since becoming a pro, posting a .317 on-base percentage this year and owning a career .334 mark in over 800 at-bats.
Signing with the Phillies in late July of last year out of the Draft League, Batka wrapped up his second season in the organization, having stints at three levels between Low-A Clearwater, High-A Jersey Shore and one appearance in Double-A Reading.
Overall, Batka put up solid numbers, posting a respectable 3.14 ERA in 35 relief appearances while notching seven saves in eight chances. In 51⅔ innings he allowed just 18 earned runs on 32 hits while striking out 69 and walking 25. He held opponents to a .175 batting average.
The 24-year-old pitched collegiately at Central Michigan.
The former Penn Quaker and 2023 Ivy League Pitcher of the Year will look to get some more work in during his time in the AFL after he found his way on the IL two different occasions, including one stint that forced him to miss nearly six weeks of the season from late June to early August.
Signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2025, forgoing his senior year at Penn, the righty put together a solid first season last year, posting a 2.69 ERA in 22 appearances, with 13 being starts while striking out 76 batters in 80 ⅓ innings.
Dealing with the injuries this season, the success has not been the same in year two for the righty. He had a 5.56 ERA in 19 games with 18 being starts but did average nearly a punchout per inning. However, he did finish the regular season strong, yielding a 1.72 ERA in four starts that spanned 15 ⅔ innings and is on the Reading postseason roster.
A 24-year-old who signed as an international free agent back in 2019, the righty converted to the bullpen full-time after dealing with some injuries that landed him on the IL to start the season.
Once he returned, he held his own in Reading as a back end reliever putting up a 2.84 ERA in 31 ⅔ innings in 28 relief appearances while earning seven saves. He will be a free agent at the end of the season so Jimenez’s trek to Arizona will serve as an audition of some sort to earn a new contract with the Phillies or perhaps with another team.
Selected by the Phillies out of Tampa Prep High School in the sixth round back in 2021, the 2026 campaign was spent mostly on the IL being placed on the 60-day injured list on August 10 after initially going on the shelf on June 22 after pitching in his final game of the regular season on June 21.
Pena spent the season with High-A Jersey Shore and in 19 appearances, had a 2.59 ERA in 24 ⅓ innings of work with a solid 34 strikeouts to just 13 walks while limiting opposing hitters to a .136 contact clip.
An 18th round pick by the Phillies in 2024 out of Longwood University, the southpaw lost a good chunk of the season being on the IL with shoulder discomfort. He made some rehab appearances in May after missing the first month of the season before landing back on the IL in both June and July.
The 6-foot-4 hurler was activated in early August and impressed in the final full month of the season thanks to a 1.93 ERA in seven appearances with 16 strikeouts to just five walks.
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