Down on the farm: A look at how some of the newest players in the Phillies’ system are faring

The Phillies have a fresh batch of players playing for the Clearwater Threshers and the FCL Phillies — which is a good thing, at the rate that former Threshers players are being promoted. In the past month, Justin Crawford, Bryan Rincon, Cade Fergus, Felix Reyes, Otto Kemp, Wen Hui Pan, and Sam Aldegheri have been called up to single-A Jersey Shore.

Threshers manager Marty Malloy likes to tease Phillies farm director Preston Mattingly about this.

“Every time we send somebody up, he says, ‘Do I get to go to Jersey, too?’” Mattingly said. “‘Do you need me to go to Jersey and manage?’ He’s just kidding, of course. He’s enjoying the new draft kids.”

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how some of the new guys are coming along:

Miller, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound shortstop who was taken in the first round of the 2023 draft, was the only high school player promoted from the FSL Phillies to the Threshers this season. A few weeks after the draft, he was named to MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospect list and currently is No. 95. Miller hit .414/.528/.483 with a 1.011 OPS through 10 games in rookie ball and was promoted to Clearwater on Aug. 24.

“I think he was rearing to go, after missing time with his hamate injury in the spring,” Mattingly said. “He was ready to get out there and get playing. We probably even slowed him down more than he wanted.”

Miller hasn’t just impressed with his bat, but also with his defense.

“Good defender, good hands, strong arm,” Mattingly said. “Obviously, he’s a really big kid. We’re going to give every chance to stay at shortstop. We think he’ll stay there.”

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Saltiban, a 5-10, 180-pound, 18-year-old center fielder from Hilo, Hawaii, was taken in the third round of the draft with the 98th overall pick. The Phillies took him as a shortstop, which was interesting, since Saltiban didn’t play shortstop in high school. In fact, the last time Saltiban played shortstop in a game was at age 9.

Nevertheless, the Phillies see potential there. West Coast crosschecker Shane Bowers saw him work out and take ground balls and thought it might be worth a shot. A few more Phillies scouts agreed. They saw Saltiban’s movements and athleticism as more like an infielder than an outfielder. They knew he could always play outfield if the shortstop plan didn’t work out, so whether or not he was able to play shortstop didn’t change their evaluation of him.

“We just thought it’s a chance to get a premium athlete at a premium position,” Mattingly said. “I know that center field is, too. But we really liked his actions at shortstop, and he has plenty of arm and really good hands. So it was like, ‘Hey, let’s give this a shot at shortstop,’ and it’s been better than we even thought.

“The game comes naturally to him. He hadn’t played shortstop, and he goes out there the first day and the ball is in his mitt. He doesn’t drop anything. Everything you ask him to do, whether it’s an adjustment he needs to make in the cage, or on the bases, or in the infield, he just reacts and takes it in stride.”

Saltiban and Miller were alternating games at shortstop when they were both playing rookie ball, but now that the Florida Complex League’s season is over — and Miller has been promoted to Clearwater — it is a moot issue. The plan for now is to have Saltiban spend most of his time in the infield so he can familiarize himself with the position. In the future, it’s possible he plays a little bit of center field and shortstop.

» READ MORE: Phillies 2023 MLB draft tracker: Meet every pick from Days 2 and 3

Walton was taken in the fourth round of the draft, at pick No. 130. The first thing that sticks out about the outfielder is his size. He stands at 6-3 and 225 pounds. Mattingly said he is one of the strongest players in the organization (and Walton is just 18 years old).

But despite Walton’s size, he moves well.

“He’s a really good athlete for his size,” Mattingly said. “Honestly, he looks like a football player playing baseball, he’s so big. But plays good defense, can run, can throw, is a good all-around player.”

Hitting the ball hard will not be an issue for Walton, who has already recorded exit velocities of 110-111 mph. The biggest obstacle for him will be learning not to hit the ball on the ground.

“We’re working with him to get more balls not necessarily in the air, but on the line,” Mattingly said. “Luke Murton, our director of hitting, is working with him to talk through different things, contact points, whatever it might be to make those adjustments.

“He’s a little late to pitches at times, and that’s part of the reason he doesn’t swing and miss and strike out much. He sees the ball so deep, but that also causes you to hit the ball deeper, which makes you get a flatter path, so it goes on the ground more. So we’re trying to work on that without sacrificing his plate discipline. It’s a fine line. If you get too far out in front, you swing and miss more.”

For Walton, it’ll be about finding the right time to make contact.

Bryce Harper was penciled into the DH spot again on Friday afternoon. Manager Rob Thomson said that he talked to Harper on Thursday, and Harper would like one more day at DH before seeing if he is able to play first base. Harper, who has a history of back pain, was feeling some soreness a few weeks ago. Thomson described the decision to play him at DH as “more precautionary than anything.” ... Ranger Suárez (right hamstring strain) threw a bullpen session on Friday. If that goes well, he will do fielding practice on Saturday and throw another bullpen on Monday. … Cristian Pache (right elbow irritation) was supposed to go back on a rehab assignment in Lehigh Valley on Saturday but instead will be with the Phillies throughout the weekend. “There’s a little swelling on the knee so we want to knock that out before we give him to Lehigh,” Thomson said.