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EspañolDante Nori headlines Phillies' farmhands to know in Clearwater originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
It’s been a breath of fresh air in Phillies camp. For the first time in several years, the big-league club is shaping up to include some youthful faces when late March rolls around.
Andrew Painter is expected to break camp as the fifth starter. Justin Crawford is slated to be the everyday center fielder. And the Phillies’ top prospect, Aidan Miller, could reach the bigs in 2026, but is dealing with lower back soreness, with no timetable for his return.
While all eyes are on the headliners, there are other names worth tracking as the Grapefruit League rolls on.
Dante Nori, OF
The Phillies’ first-round pick in 2024 hasn’t generated much buzz yet, but his tools are hard to ignore. For a 5-foot-9 frame, Nori carries a stout, physical build — FanGraphs has drawn comparisons to Milwaukee’s Sal Frelick — and he has elite speed, swiping 52 bases in 2025. His .733 OPS last season at Single-A Clearwater wasn’t eye-catching, but his plate discipline stands out. He posted a 19.3 percent swing-and-miss rate at A-ball per Prospect Savant, and across 537 professional at-bats, he has drawn 91 walks against just 99 strikeouts.
The 20-year-old finished the year at Double-A, tore up the Arizona Fall League and will represent Italy in the World Baseball Classic. He’s not a power threat, but if he stays gap-to-gap and builds on his contact approach, the havoc he can cause at the top of a lineup is there. Nori scorched a double Thursday for his first extra-base hit of the spring.
Keaton Anthony, INF
Anthony has been a hit-machine in the minors, and he’s done it using the entire field. Last season between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, 40.2 percent of his batted balls went the other way. He posted a .402 batting average on balls in play, making him one of just 16 qualifiers out of 1,079 batters (minimum of 300 plate appearances) to eclipse that mark.
The undrafted Indiana native — a similar overlooked path to Otto Kemp — has slashed .324/.402/.467 across 738 career at-bats. He’s not a power hitter by trade, with just 16 professional home runs, but he tallied 31 doubles in 82 games in 2025, which suggests the raw power is there. His chase rate will be something to monitor as he enters his fourth year in the organization and faces more advanced pitching.
Felix Reyes, 1B/OF
Like Anthony, all Reyes did last season was hit. The 6-foot-4 corner bat slashed .331 in 2025, a jump of nearly 100 points from the year prior, with his slugging climbing 200 points. He struck out just 66 times on the year, making him one of six hitters in all of minor league baseball to post a sub-16 percent strikeout rate, a .300-plus average and a .900-plus OPS with a minimum of 400 plate appearances.
The Eastern League batting champion isn’t ‘athletic’, and the Phillies have already begun giving him consistent reps at first base. If he keeps hitting for average and slugging at this clip, Philadelphia will face a decision — whether that’s using him as trade bait or finding a way to get his bat into the lineup in a corner outfield spot.
Dylan Campbell, OF
Campbell’s name surfaced last offseason when the Phillies sent international pool money to the Dodgers in exchange for the outfielder, helping Los Angeles fund the Roki Sasaki signing. A fourth-round pick out of Texas in 2023, his offensive numbers haven’t stood out yet, but his athleticism and baserunning have. He’s posted back-to-back 30-steal seasons.
Strikeouts have been a concern — consecutive 110-strikeout campaigns — but there are reasons for optimism. He’s put together 32-plus extra-base hits and 50-plus walks in each of those seasons, and a swing adjustment carried into the Arizona Fall League with strong results. He blasted four home runs, half his hits went for extra bases, and he posted a team-leading 1.044 OPS. He also appeared at five positions in the Fall League which gives him real utility value on a big-league roster down the line.
Jean Cabrera, RHP
With the Phillies still searching for starting pitching depth, Cabrera will have his share of opportunities this spring. The 6-foot-4 right-hander threw a career-high 137 innings at Double-A Reading in 2025, posting a 3.81 ERA across 26 starts. Command was a concern — his walk rate climbed to 4.0 per nine after consecutive seasons under three — but the underlying stuff is intriguing.
His fastball sits in the mid-90s and touches 97. If the command issues were simply an adjustment to Double-A competition, a strong spring could put him in a position to be called on if the Phillies need a rotation arm. He threw two clean scoreless innings in his first spring start on Friday.
Alex McFarlane, RHP
The Phillies thought enough of McFarlane to protect him from the Rule 5 draft by adding him to the 40-man roster alongside Gabriel Rincones Jr. (injured this spring). The University of Miami product returned from Tommy John surgery last season, moved to the bullpen and touched 101 mph.
He leaned almost exclusively on his fastball-slider combination, using those two pitches 92 percent of the time per FanGraphs, with his splitter sprinkled in at just 8 percent. His starter’s background gives him some versatility, but the Phillies are focused on letting him hone his command in a full-time relief role at Double-A to begin the year.
Seth Johnson, RHP
Acquired from Baltimore in 2024 in exchange for Gregory Soto, Johnson got his first taste of the big leagues shortly after the trade. Last season, he made ten appearances out of the Phillies’ bullpen, striking out 17 and walking just four across 12 2/3 innings. The 27-year-old former first-round pick by Tampa Bay has a high-90s fastball that touches triple digits as part of a four-pitch mix.
A career starter who transitioned to full-time relief at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, his WHIP climbed to a career-high 1.53, making command the priority this spring. He’ll likely begin the year back at Lehigh Valley, but with improved control, an elevation at some point in 2026 wouldn’t be a surprise. Johnson has already made three appearances this spring, and his velocity is already where it needs to be.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
The Phillies will take on the Blue Jays at BayCare Ballpark on March 21 for the third annual Spring Breakout game, where clubs across baseball will feature their top prospects against one another. Expect some of the names to make an impact.