Phillies’ Alex McFarlane Works On Tapping Into Potential

Alex McFarlane has had an atypical path in pro ball.

The 21-year-old righthander was born and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands. According to Baseball-Reference.com, just 15 players in MLB history were born in the Virgin Islands.

McFarlane is determined to give children on the Islands more players to look up to, and the Phillies see some “untapped potential” there, in the words of farm director Preston Mattingly.

McFarlane is still young in his career. After spending three seasons at Miami, the 2022 fourth-rounder has just eight innings for Low-A Clearwater under his belt, in which he allowed eight earned runs and three walks with 12 strikeouts. 

He is raw, but has already started making strides. The Phillies added a two-seamer to the 6-foot-3, 215-pound McFarlane’s arsenal, which he says is now a “big part” of his game.

They’ve been helping him repeat his mechanics—which has been a challenge at times because McFarlane throws out of a lower slot. But his biggest focus has been command.

“It really has to do with getting used to my body and making sure I’ve got good body control when I’m on the mound to give me the best command possible,” McFarlane said.

“It’s a really big part of my game, as it should be. Try to make sure I’ve got the pitches in the zone, because I know I have the stuff to strike people out. But if I fall behind in the count, then it’s not going to work out.” 

Mattingly said that McFarlane’s stuff has improved since he’s been in camp. 

“The sheer velocity, it’s 95-97,” he said. “The two-seamer has horizontal movement. He also has a slider and a split-change that kind of mirrors the track of his fastball, from a movement standpoint, and the slider is sharp and firm, too.”