Paying attention to the Arizona Fall League

I am no scout, though I'm pretty sure by this point I can tell the difference between a good baseball player and a bad baseball player. Projecting which players will be good, though, simply by watching workouts and game action and coming away with knowing what I'm talking about is still a science I don't full grasp. It's every season where I hear about something that still makes me appreciate those that can do it and do it with pretty good accuracy.

Rarely have I watched the Arizona Fall League at any point in a season, mostly because my baseball focus was solely on the Phillies and how they were faring in the playoffs. That has of course changed with the Phillies currently at home for the offseason and some of their better prospects getting some run down Arizona. It's because of those prospects that more attention should be given to those games as they are going to have some say in how the Phillies approach their offseason plans. Maybe they aren't going to chart the ultimate course of action the team decides to take, but several of the players that are there will have some bearing on what the Phillies plan to do.

The highest profile name the Phillies have sent there, Miller's performance is likely going to play a part in several decisions the team makes. As you already know, Miller did miss most of the 2026 season with a back injury that needed some kind of procedure done, but he returned healthy enough to get a week's worth of games in at the end of the regular season before helping Reading win the Eastern League championship. When he did return, there was rust on his frame, but there were glimpses!

How he performs in Arizona will probably not determine if he makes the major leagues out of spring training or not, but it will likely influence the roster on the fringes. He's on a team that also includes Sebastian Walcott on the roster, arguably the top hitting prospect in the game today, so getting Miller every day at bats in Arizona will be a challenge. Let's say he shows that he's still one of the better hitting prospects in the game in these few weeks. Does the team decided to prop open the door for him to win a spot in Clearwater? Do they move Trea Turner in deference to his impending arrival? Do they sign someone as a stopgap in order to not block him at shortstop? Is shortstop even his final home or is a move to third base already in the cards? He's played only one game so far and that came at third to make room for another shortstop there, Welbyn Francisca from the Guardians system.

Of course, the entire thing will depend on how Miller ultimately holds up healthwise. The team is likely just hoping he has a good, solid six weeks of health and plate appearances to make up for some of the time he lost this year. It wouldn't surprise anyone if he was held back a bit by the team to make sure there is nothing going wrong. You can imagine that the slightest tweak of anything and he is going home for the winter.

Realistically, it would be unfair to place too much stock in how he performs and let that influence the team's decision making. He just needs to get the work in, not worry about how it'll set his place for 2027. He's going to make his debut next year at some point. It'll just depend on next year more than anything he does in Arizona. Still, he's easily the most interesting watch they have.

Escobar was arguably the team's best hitting prospect besides Miller coming into 2026 and he flat stunk the joint up. Pretty much everything that he was good at took a step backwards this year, lowering his stock within the organization quite a bit. There was a time when his name would come in trade discussions about how he was the best prospect the team could move at the deadline while getting something real back in return. Now, that idea seems too foreign to actually occur.

The team will need to make a decision on whether or not to place him on the 40 man roster this offseason, a decision that was pretty easy prior to this year. It still is thanks to the dearth of hitting prospects this team has, but if he isn't going to take some steps back in the right direction, the team may want to think twice before taking the plunge on the roster spot. He needs to have a good showing in Arizona to show that he is worthy of a roster and/or worth another team taking a shot on him in a deal this offseason.

Neither Nori nor Hettiger would be something teams would classify as a "top prospect". Pay no mind to the fact that Nori is a first round draft pick. He wasn't considered one then by people on the outside and really hasn't done anything to sway that opinion since.

Yet within the Phillies farm system, he is still seen as someone who might potentially fit a role with the team. That speaks more to their lack of actual hitting prospects than anything else, but finding competent role players from within the organization is one of the biggest reasons the Phillies have started to show more cracks in the armor at the major league level. Nori's performance in Arizona won't go very far in determining if he can earn a starting position as that's not really on the table. His ever being penciled into a big league lineup with regularity is likely off the table. But consider that Felix Reyes was batting cleanup at one point this year. Gabriel Rincones was given lots of chances to see what he could do. Heck, even Otto Kemp was touted as an option in the outfield for the team. The chances are there for minor league players to earn playing time in this outfield. Nori needs to start putting things together if he wants to be among the many that are given that chance.

The very same could be said about Hettiger. The team has very few catching prospect in their farm system and willingly gave playing time to Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchan. They are begging for players within the organization to take a step forward to claim a backup role on the team. There might even be some chances to start games!

Stubbs was on a playoff roster…on purpose!

Opportunities abound if only players take it and seize it. Hettiger finished the year in Reading, making it unlikely that he's going to reach Philadelphia any time soon. Yet good performances can sometimes springboard a player into having a good season the following year. Perhaps he can gain a better standing with the team by showing that there is still a good prospect in there, somewhere.

The Arizona Fall League isn't the greatest baseball being played. Pitchers don't pitch long, players leave at the slightest sign of injury and generally, it's played during the MLB playoffs, meaning our focus is elsewhere. Yet the Phillies have some interesting guys at play this year. How they do can help answer some questions about this team's future.