Tyler Phillips

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Texas Rangers #30 prospect in 2020
  TRACK RECORD: Phillips put himself on the prospect map in 2018 and started strong in 2019, breezing through six starts in the high Class A Carolina League before a promotion to Double-A Frisco, where he struggled and got hit harder against better hitters.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Phillips has plus control of a low-90s fastball. It's not overpowering, but he locates it well to all quadrants of the strike zone. His best pitch is his plus changeup, which he sells well to disguise as a fastball coming out of his hand before it drops with late sink and fade to get swings and misses or weak contact. Phillips' lack of a reliable breaking ball has been a red flag with him. His curveball is below-average, so the Rangers introduced a slider into his repertoire later in the 2019 season that he's still working on.
  
  THE FUTURE: If the slider turns into a reliable pitch for Phillips he could develop into a back-end starter.
• 
  Ranked Texas Rangers #20 prospect in 2019
  Track Record: The 2018 season marked a major step forward for Phillips. In 2017, Phillips opened the year in low Class A Hickory, but after seven games his ERA swelled to 6.39, so the Rangers demoted him to short-season Spokane. He returned to Hickory in 2018 and flourished, finishing with a late-season bump to high Class A Down East.
  
  Scouting Report: Phillips has success by being an elite strike-thrower with a deceptive changeup that plays well off his fastball. He pitches off a four-seam fastball in the low-90s that moves more like a sinker, with the ability to pound strikes down in the zone and get grounders. He backs up his fastball with a plus changeup that looks like a fastball out of his hand but has late fade and tumble to get swing-and-miss or weak contact. He already has plus control, throwing a high percentage of strikes to both sides of the plate. Strike-throwers with a good changeup can often breeze through Class A hitters but run into trouble at higher levels. He throws a slurvy, below-average curveball, so developing a better breaking pitch will be important for Phillips against better hitters.
  
  The Future: Phillips is ticketed for Down East to start 2019.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #428 prospect in 2015 draft
  After working more in the upper 80s last summer, Phillips saw an uptick in velocity this spring, reaching 93 mph early in outings. Phillips has a loose arm action and there's plenty of room to fill in his 6-foot-4, 195-pound frame. He shows some ability to spin a breaking ball, but his offspeed stuff is far from ready. Phillips may take some time to develop, but his outstanding athleticism and effortless motion indicate a high ceiling on the mound. He is committed to Manatee (Fla.) CC.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked South Atlantic League #9 prospect in 2018
  Phillips' development path has been the oft-desired but hard-to-predict journey of a projectable high school righthander. He largely sat in the upper 80s in high school, which explains why he lasted until the 16th round. Three years later, Phillips sat 90-92 mph and touched 95 with one of the most effective fastballs in the SAL thanks to his ability to paint. Phillips led SAL starters with 0.98 walks per nine innings and ranked third in ERA (2.27). Phillips can sink and run his fastball as well as locate it, and he paired his fastball with a plus changeup that baffled young hitters. If he's going to end up as a No. 4 starter, his projected role, he'll have to continue to improve his slurvy breaking ball. It was a well below-average pitch early in the season but improved to flash average.

• July, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Phillips put himself on the prospect map in 2018 and started strong in 2019, breezing through six starts in the high Class A Carolina League before a promotion to Double-A Frisco, where he struggled and got hit harder against better hitters.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Phillips has plus control of a low-90s fastball. It’s not overpowering, but he locates it well to all quadrants of the strike zone. His best pitch is his plus changeup, which he sells well to disguise as a fastball coming out of his hand before it drops with late sink and fade to get swings and misses or weak contact. Phillips’ lack of a reliable breaking ball has been a red flag with him. His curveball is below-average, so the Rangers introduced a slider into his repertoire later in the 2019 season that he’s still working on.
  
  THE FUTURE: If the slider turns into a reliable pitch for Phillips he could develop into a back-end starter. BA GRADE 50 Risk: Extreme BA GRADE 45 Risk: High
• February, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Phillips put himself on the prospect map in 2018 and started strong in 2019, breezing through six starts in the high Class A Carolina League before a promotion to Double-A Frisco, where he struggled and got hit harder against better hitters.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Phillips has plus control of a low-90s fastball. It's not overpowering, but he locates it well to all quadrants of the strike zone. His best pitch is his plus changeup, which he sells well to disguise as a fastball coming out of his hand before it drops with late sink and fade to get swings and misses or weak contact. Phillips' lack of a reliable breaking ball has been a red flag with him. His curveball is below-average, so the Rangers introduced a slider into his repertoire later in the 2019 season that he's still working on.
  
  THE FUTURE: If the slider turns into a reliable pitch for Phillips he could develop into a back-end starter.