Feb 26, 2025; Dunedin, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. (85) celebrates after hitting a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the third inning during spring training at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Phillies prospect Gabriel Rincones Jr. hit his third home run of the spring on Sunday. How excited should we be about the young outfielder?
Gabriel Rincones Jr. mashes his third home run of the spring 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/kWiYB5ShIy
The lefty-hitting Rincones turns 24 on Monday. Baseball America ranked him as the Phillies' eighth-best prospect entering 2025, while MLB.com ranked him seventh in the organization. At 6'3", 225 lbs., he certainly looks the part of a corner outfield masher, and the numbers back it up: Rincones has 90th-percentile exit velocity (according to BA $), and he hit 11 home runs and 15 doubles with AA Reading last season in 59 games, posting an .844 OPS.
"[Ricones is] a really impressive guy," said Phillies manager Rob Thomson earlier this spring. "Very strong, great body, hits the ball over the place. Can hit it out of any part of the ballpark. Plays solid defense. He's a gamer."
"If he can stay healthy in 2025, he'll have a shot at the majors," writes Baseball America. But that's a pretty big "if." After the Phillies drafted Ricones 93rd overall in 2022, he missed the '22 season recovering from a torn right shoulder. He then missed most of the '24 season with a torn ligament in his right thumb.
Gabriel Rincones has an OPS of 1.468 this spring. #Phillies https://t.co/4VVp3yLQaq
There are some additional concerns. Rincones hit .189 with a .493 OPS in 39 plate appearances against left-handed pitching in 2024, making him redundant on a major league roster with outfielders Brandon Marsh (career .582 OPS vs. LHP, .787 OPS vs. RHP) and Max Kepler (career .655 OPS vs. LHP, .778 OPS vs. RHP). Baseball America notes that he needs to "clean up some contact deficiencies," another trait that doesn't mesh with the existing Phillies lineup. Scouts give him a low run grade, despite some surprising stolen base totals. And while opinions differ on Rincones' arm, both Baseball America and MLB.com indicate that he's a below-average defender.
Gabriel Rincones Jr. had a huge bases-clearing RBI double tonight! #fightinphils #gabrielrinconesjr pic.twitter.com/2oEFzopgqT
Overall, Baseball America says Rincones projects as "a powerful regular on a second-division club [or] part of a platoon on a championship team." If the Phillies consider themselves a championship caliber team, there will probably not be a big-league role for the outfielder with the club this season.
Rincones can change that, of course, if he continues to impress (especially if he improves his numbers against lefties). But barring an injury to Marsh or Kepler, his quickest path to the majors may be via a trade.
