The Good Phight’s Community Prospect List: #19 – Carson DeMartini

This might be your climber up the rankings over the next few years

There is usually someone from an incoming draft that looks like he will be a steal. It would be hard to classify someone that was popped in the first or second round as a steal, meaning Griffin Burkholder might not qualify. However, a player that was scouted as a possible first round pick that drops down into the 4th round? Now we’re talking.

DeMartini has certainly made an impression this spring training. Brought up a few times with the big club, he’s clubbed a home run in a game that was telecast that showed a bit of his swagger, as well as a home run in the Breakout Game that showed there is something there.

It’s a hugely impressive thing to show the power that he has in those two swings. It’s one thing to drop a bat head on a ball down and in to the left handed hitter, but it’s another to see him hit the ball opposite field with authority. That’s power that we just haven’t seen from other Phillies prospects of late.

If DeMartini can actually take some of the proposed swing adjustments and make them stick, the team might see him move quickly.

With each new post, we’ll reveal who won the voting for that particular slot, then post new players for you to vote on, adding another one to the list each time until we get to our final tally of 20. Once we get to 20 top prospects, we’ll do an honorable mention post at the end. If a player gets traded to another team, we’ll just chuck him right on outta here and all the players will move up a spot. If a prospect gets acquired, we’ll ask where he should go on the list.

Probably the most important thing about this whole process – please vote. Give us a few minutes of your time, just click a button and then we can discuss other players and things in the comment section, but don’t forget – VOTE!

Here are four* candidates for the team’s twentieth, and final, best prospect along with scouting reports from Fangraphs (or Baseball Prospectus where indicated). (*It was suggested we go to more prospects at this point)

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Bryan Rincon

21 years old, 2025 expected level: A+ Jersey Shore, 2024 stats: .198/.331/.322, 2 HR, 15 RBI, 8 SB

He was at or under the Mendoza Line all year when he was healthy enough to play. How much of this was rust, or related to discomfort and tightness that preceded the IL stint, and how much is related to Rincon’s talent? His underlying contact rates dipped from 88% in-zone and 81% overall in 2023 to 81% in-zone and 74% overall in 2024. Rincon looked better at shortstop the further away he got from his hamstring injury, and was good there in the AFL, but the same was not true of his hitting hands, which were still a little slow and stiff. A year ago, it looked like Rincon would have the skill set of a Geraldo Perdomo type of second division regular. Now he’s looking more like a lower-impact reserve whose best skill is his plate discipline.

Leandro Pineda

22 years old, 2025 expected level: AA Reading, 2024 stats: .260/.331/.413, 11 HR 52 RBI, 3 SB

Pineda is a big-framed lefty power bat with good pull-side power against middle-in pitches. He has some oppo ability against pitches middle-away, but really struggles to cover the top of the strike zone… Pineda’s power isn’t monstrous; instead, it’s solidly average and projects above as his statuesque 6-foot-3 frame continues to fill out. He began playing first base in 2024 and has continued to get reps there in Venezuela this winter. He should have enough playable power and defensive versatility to merit a low-end platoon role.

Hendry Mendez

21 years old, 2025 expected level: AA Reading, 2024 stats: .284/.386/.391, 3 HR, 41 RBI, 3 SB (scouting report from Baseball Prospectus)

Mendez might be an out-and-out case of prospect fatigue even though he’s only 21. Sent to full-season ball at age 18 in 2022, he struggled to perform for two years in the low minors at absurdly young ages for the level, hitting a disproportionate number of ground balls and barely staying afloat. Traded to the Phillies last offseason in the Oliver Dunn deal, he repeated High-A and had a decent consolidation year, hitting .284/.386/.391 as a still-young-for-level 20-year-old. He has good bat-to-ball ability and makes good swing decisions, and did some demonstrable damage on contact for the first time in his domestic career. His ground-ball rate is still comically high, in the Justin Crawford zone—Mendez and Crawford come from a fairly similar archetype in general and in evaluating them the gap was much smaller than I expected it to be—but if he can start lifting even a bit he’s got some major-league regular outcomes. Whether he can utilize the friendly confines of Reading to start hitting for more pop will be an interesting test.

John Spikerman

21 years old, 2025 expected level: A Clearwater, 2024 stats: .226/.360/.323, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 7 SB

Spikerman is a plus-running switch-hitter who plays great outfield defense. He’s a decisive outfielder with plus range and arm strength. Spikerman has a gap-to-gap line drive approach as a left-handed hitter and is more opposite-field oriented as a righty, though both swings tend to be vulnerable to fastballs at the top of the zone. Speed and defense should allow Spikerman to play a marginal role down the line.

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So now, it’s your chance to vote. You’ve got 48 hours – go on and vote! If you have an option that isn’t listed here, let us know in the comments. If he gets enough recs to beat out of the other seven, he’ll be crowned as the next top prospect.