Phillies prospect update: OF Tjayy Walton works to lift the ball; Devin Saltiban learns to play shortstop

For this week’s prospect update, we’ll focus on two players in the 2023 draft who were selected out of high school.

Devin Saltiban, an 18-year-old shortstop from Hilo, Hawaii, was taken by the Phillies in the third round (98th overall pick), and Tjayy Walton, an 18-year-old outfielder from Emporia, Va., was taken in the fourth round (130th overall).

The Phillies believe both players have high upside, but Saltiban in particular comes with a bit of a risk. He took an atypical path to professional baseball. He didn’t play in the showcase circuit, and in Hawaii, finding the highest caliber of high school pitching was difficult.

Nevertheless, the Phillies are bullish on his future.

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“There’s risk in all of these players, right?” said Preston Mattingly, assistant general manager for player development. “But we think from a swing standpoint, from an IQ standpoint, from a mechanical standpoint, every part of his game, really — he’s good at all those areas. So we’re not as worried about him not playing against high-level competition because we value the skill set that he currently has. We think this is a guy who has five-tool potential.”

Both players are in the Phillies’ high-performance camp and in the mix to start at single-A Clearwater this season. Here’s a look at what Walton and Saltiban are working on, and why Mattingly expects big things from them this year.

The first thing that sticks out about Walton is his height. He has a football player’s build, standing at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds. But perhaps more impressive than his sheer athleticism is how hard he hits the ball. Last year, Baseball America reported that Walton recorded the fourth-highest exit velocity on Day 2 of the MLB draft combine. His hardest hit that day clocked in at 111.4 mph.

In 2024, Walton has continued to hit the ever-living daylight out of the ball, but with a different focus. When he made his debut in the Florida Coast League, he put up eye-popping numbers — .385/.529/.692 through a small sample of just five games — but struggled with barrel accuracy. His hands would beat his barrel out front, so he’d hit the ball on the ground more than he should.

Since last year, Walton has been working with hitting development director Luke Murton to address that. Murton said Walton has a good approach and swing but needed a “small swing adjustment” to help him get the barrel on the ball consistently.

“Tjayy hits the ball very, very hard,” Murton said. “He’s got a good idea of what he wants to hit at the plate. To this point, he’s not hit a ton of balls in the air, which is completely fine, from our perspective. We’re not telling him we need him to hit more balls in the air. All we’re working on doing is getting his barrel behind the baseball. And if he successfully gets his barrel behind the baseball, then he’ll naturally get more balls in the air without having to try to do that.

“There are some specific drills that we’ve done — and are planning to do — that help with that. There are different ways to do it, different types of toss we could do in the cage. … We haven’t started this process yet, but we are going to start giving him bigger 12-6 breaking balls, that will help him get his barrel on plane a touch sooner.”

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Walton, who was ranked No. 19 on MLB.com’s 2023 list of top 30 Phillies prospects, worked diligently on the drills Murton gave him all offseason. He is an above-average runner and a good defender. Mattingly said he will work at all three outfield positions this season, so they can keep all options available.

“He’s big,” Murton said. “He’s strong. He hits the ball hard, and, for the most part, he swings at the right pitches. So I see a guy who is going to get on base with walks, and he’s going to drive the baseball. And, I think, ultimately, when he learns to get behind the ball a little bit more, he’s going to hit a lot of home runs.

“I’m really excited about him. I’m really excited we got him. Obviously, we’ll see what happens, but I think he’s done a great job, and I’m expecting a big year out of him.”

A few hours after he was drafted by the Phillies in July, Saltiban received a call from an unknown number. He picked up the phone and quickly recognized the voice on the other line.

“It was Shane Victorino,” Saltiban said. “He told me he was super excited for me, that the fans were awesome, and that I’m joining a good organization. He said to keep working hard and stay humble.”

It is easy to draw comparisons between Saltiban — who played outfield throughout high school — and Victorino, but for now, the Phillies do not expect him to be another Flyin’ Hawaiian. At least, not in center field.

Instead, they envision him playing shortstop. They like his actions at that position and think he has good hands. It will be a big transition from the outfield, but Saltiban is putting in extra work to make sure he’s ready for 2024 and beyond.

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Since last year, he’s been working with minor league infield coordinator Adam Everett, minor league field coordinator Kevin Bradshaw, and Florida Complex coordinator Keith Werman on a daily basis.

“They started from the basics,” Mattingly said. “Just learning to read hops. Where to be on the cutoff. On this slow roller, you go to first; on this one, you turn two. Basically everything that goes into playing that position. We’re trying to get him up to speed quickly.”

Beyond that, Saltiban has been doing drills on his own in his apartment after high-performance camp. He likes to watch YouTube videos of his favorite infielders — often Padres third baseman Manny Machado and Phillies shortstop Trea Turner — and emulate what they’re doing with a tennis ball.

“I’ll simulate what they’re doing,” Saltiban said. “I’ll just throw the tennis ball against the wall, and I’ll try to do what I see in the video. I try to toss it 10 times in a row and catch it perfectly. If I do it 10 times perfectly, I’m satisfied. If I don’t, I’ll start over.”

The work is starting to pay off. Saltiban said he feels like he’s creating muscle memory at the position. The footwork is coming to him more naturally. He’s able to better read different hops. It’ll take time, but he and Mattingly are confident he’ll get there.

The other emphasis for Saltiban is facing high-caliber pitching. In 10 Florida Coast League games, he hit .333/.391/.452. As was the case with Walton, it was a small, but impressive, sample size. The Phillies are trying to get him up to speed by having him use the Trajekt pitching machine as much as possible.

“He’s naturally got a very good swing,” Murton said. “So we’re just having him spend time on getting up to game speed.”

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Added Mattingly: “He has a high-level swing and has a pretty high-level understanding for the game and what he needs to do to get better. I think he has real tools that’ll play in the minor leagues and eventually in the major leagues.”

Saltiban is ranked No. 18 on MLB.com’s 2023 list of top 30 Phillies prospects and No. 20 on Fangraphs’ list of top 26 Phillies prospects.