The Phillies are counting on their investment in a Dominican academy to pay off. Here are seven players to watch.

When Preston Mattingly was hired by the Phillies to oversee their farm system in 2021, one of the first things he did was visit their academy in the Dominican Republic. Mattingly already had his work cut out for him in the United States — the Phillies’ farm system had reportedly been described as “toxic” by employees — but he saw the academy as another area of growth.

Since 2010, 361 players who played in either the Dominican Summer League or the Venezuelan Summer League have reached the big leagues. Sixteen of those have come through the Phillies’ system, and three of those players ended the 2023 season on the their active roster: Ranger Suárez, Seranthony Domínguez, and Johan Rojas.

The top teams — the Yankees and the Astros — have produced 23 and 22 big-leaguers over that time frame, respectively. While the Phillies didn’t rank toward the bottom of the league, Mattingly felt there was untapped potential.

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Over the past few years, the organization has made a point of investing more in the academy, with the goal of replicating the team’s facility in Clearwater, Fla. The 70 Phillies minor league players in the Dominican Republic now have three full baseball fields at their disposal, remodeled bullpens, an agility turf field, a plyo wall, and almost the same technology as their counterparts in the United States, with the exception of a pitching lab.

They’ve hired three full-time strength and conditioning coaches to work under Latin American strength and conditioning coordinator Jose Salas, and three-full time staff members on the medical team. They’ve upped player salaries to $225 a week — which assistant director of player development Edwin Soto says ranks at the top of all 30 MLB teams.

“We have to make it a priority,” Soto said. “It’s going to be harder for players to graduate from the Dominican and come here, so we have to invest more in both the staff and resources, salaries, to expect the best out of those players there, so we can make more educated decisions on who to promote and who to not promote.”

Now that MLB’s Domestic Reserve List — which designates the maximum number of players for an organization in the United States — has dropped from 180 to 165, it’s as hard as ever for Dominican players to come to the U.S. Teams have to be more selective. With that in mind, the Phillies have emphasized their strength and conditioning programs abroad. The goal, for Mattingly, is to make sure all of his players have the same access to the same team resources.

“Honestly, this is a big passion of mine,” Mattingly said. “I just want our DR players to get the same opportunities the kids in the States do. Whether that’s resources from strength and conditioning, medical, camp opportunities — they should get the same opportunities that players in the States do. I personally feel like sometimes they don’t. So the Phillies have made a real emphasis on — they’re going to get treated the exact same ways our players in the States do.

“At a young age, baseball is obviously really important. But so is getting them stronger, right? So, now at the end of the DSL season, they’ll have instructional league for about a month and then a 10-week strength and conditioning program. And then, in January, they’re right back into another 10-week strength and conditioning program, with some baseball mixed in, but it’s a heavier focus on getting guys stronger. Because you see the guys in the big leagues — they’re humongous. And they’re strong. Even the young kids who come up. The Julio Rodriguezes ... they are just massive human beings.”

Mattingly and Soto see last year’s DSL team in the same vein as last year’s single-A Clearwater Threshers team. He believes this recent wave of players at the Phillies’ Dominican academy can set a new culture for future players coming through the DR.

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Here are seven players who have impressed the Phillies and have a legitimate shot of playing in the States in 2024.

Caba, an 18-year-old switch-hitting shortstop, was signed in January to a $3 million deal. He was ranked at No. 13 on MLB’s top 50 international prospects list at the time. Sal Agostinelli, the Phillies’ senior adviser of international scouting, said Caba was the best defensive shortstop prospect he’d ever seen.

Since then, Caba has shown good control of the strike zone and an ability to make consistent contact. The Phillies think the power will come as he gets stronger. Caba played in only 38 games last season because he needed elbow surgery, but he impressed in that small sample. He slashed .301/.423/.346 with 28 walks. Caba has been rehabbing his elbow in Clearwater and should be ready to go by spring training.

“To me, the biggest thing that jumps off the chart about Starlyn is the athleticism and the defense,” Mattingly said. “He’s a premium, premium shortstop defender at a young age. Honestly, one of the best I’ve ever seen. And so I think when you combine that with the athleticism, the speed, the contact ability, he’s a really exciting player.”

Tait, 17, is a left-handed-hitting catcher who hails from Panama City, Panama. He was signed to a $90,000 contract in January at age 16. As one of the youngest players signed this year, he played 44 games in the Dominican Summer League, hitting .333/.400/.517 with a .917 OPS and three home runs.

The Phillies are very high on him.

“This kid has chance to be a special bat,” Mattingly said. “It’s a hit/power combination. He’s got a chance to stay behind the plate, and he’s got at least a plus arm. You see the offensive profile, like the ability to not only hit but hit for power. Usually, behind the plate, it’s hard to find the offense. So he’s a guy that we think can do both.”

The Phillies would like to see Tait chase less, but he has shown so much power that he has a chance to start his season in Clearwater next year.

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De La Cruz, 19, is right-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic. He is 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds, with a “Taijuan Walker” type of build, according to Mattingly. The Phillies say his velocity is up to 96 mph. He throws three pitches: a fastball, slider, and changeup.

“He’s enormous for a 19-year-old kid,” Mattingly said. “The strike-throwing ability, with the velocity he has now, and the ability to spin a ball is very unique for a kid that age and that size.”

De La Cruz was signed in January and posted a 4.31 ERA in 31⅓ innings in his first DSL season. An area of improvement would be his command of the zone — he had a walk rate of 12.7% — but his stuff was good enough that he stuck out hitters at a 32.1% clip.

“He’ll just continue to focus on the stuff development,” Mattingly said. “And then you can always be a better striker thrower, right? Command the zone versus command parts of the zone — we’re always looking to fine-tune that with him. But yeah, he’s a guy we’re really excited about.”

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Beltran, 18, is a left-handed-hitting middle infielder out of Barranquilla, Colombia. He was signed in January 2022 and has hit .257/.373/.331 over his last two DSL seasons.

“He’s another guy that makes a ton of contact,” Mattingly said. “Good high-IQ guy, similar to Caba. A guy that has gotten bigger and stronger over the last couple of years; I think he’s added close to 10 or 15 pounds. I think the thing we’re buying here is the bat — we think this is a guy who has a chance to hit. He’s a good guy to pair up the middle with Starlyn.”

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Escobar, 18, is a right-handed-hitting third baseman out of Caracas, Venezuela. He has a good pedigree — Escobar is a cousin of Braves star Ronald Acuña — and the Phillies believe he can hit for power. Escobar has hit .225/.370/.324 over his last two DSL seasons with four home runs. He has done a good job of controlling the zone, increasing his walk rate to 14.9% last season and dropping his strikeout rate to 9.7%.

Escobar had a back injury in 2023 that limited him offensively, but he is healthy now.

“Really strong-bodied kid who controls the zone and makes a lot of contact, so we’re excited about him,” Mattingly said.

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Blanco, 19, is a right-handed pitcher who was signed in 2021. He has good carry on his fastball and is up to 95 mph already. He posted a 2.80 ERA last season with 47 strikeouts in 45 innings.

The next step in his development will be improving his command and developing his breaking ball. Blanco is too reliant on his fastball and only has two pitches (fastball and breaking ball). But the Phillies are excited about him.

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Mata, 18, is a right-handed catcher out of Cumana, Venezuela. Unlike Tait, he profiles more as a defense-first catcher, but the Phillies believe he has some power, too. Over his last two DSL seasons, Mata has hit .269/.364/.352 with a .716 OPS.