Prospect Connor Phillips: Seattle Mariners Instructional League Review

Seattle Mariners top prospect Connor Phillips made his professional debut in the Instructional League

Connor Phillips was the 64th pick of the 2020 MLB Draft and because of the unprecedented situation, he had a very different first-year experience compared to past seasons. The McLennan Community College product made his professional debut in Arizona during the Instructional league as opposed to rookie ball.

In his first season as a Seattle Mariners prospect, he threw in five games and faced 29 batters. He allowed just seven hits, walked 10 batters, and struck out 13 batters according to Mariners PR. According to my estimations via the published stats on Twitter, Phillips’ average fastball was ~94mph.

His 10 walks is a little concerning but he is only 19-years-old and just made his professional debut. There is not a lot to learn necessarily from his five outings in Arizona, but his fastball velocity and strikeouts are encouraging.

The 6’2″ right-hander can touch 98mph occasionally according to MLB.com and has a good upper-70s curveball. Phillips is also working on his changeup which will help him become a solid MLB pitcher. Phillips currently weighs in at 190lbs and can still build into his body, which could help his velocity even more.

It will be exciting to see how Phillips does in 2021, most likely with the Single-A team in Everett. Connor Phillips is currently the 13th ranked prospect in the Seattle Mariners farm system right behind Zach DeLoach, who was the 2nd round pick this past draft. Phillips is right in front of another hard-throwing pitcher Juan Then who had a good instructional league.

Phillips has high upside due to his measurables as a young-19-year-old, but he will not be pitching in the MLB any time soon. The prospects list projects him to make a 2024 debut. He is another exciting prospect to look for in the next couple of years and could be a Top 50 MLB prospect in the future.