Obermueller, Bowker Among Ascending Phillies Pitching Prospects

A Pair of 2025 Draft Neighbors Making Noise

Drafted in consecutive rounds in 2025, Cade Obermueller and Cody Bowker have both shown elite swing-and-miss potential. Obermueller (PHI #7) got out to a late start due to a bout of mononucleosis. Upon returning, he dominated A ball with a 2.78 ERA over 11 starts, though he never topped four innings in a game. Obermueller struck out 35.3% of batters and picked up ground balls at a 43.8% clip. However, his promotion to High-A has been a struggle (2 games, 7 innings, 10 hits, 9 runs, 6 walks).

Bowker (PHI #13), on the other hand, struggled more at surface level in Single-A. In 12 games, he posted a 5.90 ERA despite an excellent 37.9 K%. Batters struggled to make significant contact against him regularly, holding opponents to an average exit velocity of 84.4 MPH. His 15.5% swinging strike rate and 33.2 Whiff% were above-average for his level, too. His walk rate wasn’t particularly strong (11.8%), but where he struggled the most was leaving runners on base. While not a perfect measurement, the MLB average for LOB% is at 72.3%. Bowker, meanwhile, struggled mightily in that regard with a 54.2 LOB%.

The Phillies still saw enough in him to promote him to High-A, and he’s rewarded their confidence greatly. In seven starts with Jersey Shore, Bowker has posted a 3.52 ERA. He’s maintained his excellent strikeout stuff (31.3 K%) and seen his walk rate decline sharply (3.9%). Most significant, however, is his rate of runners left on base being much more in line with the average (71%).

A Project Prospect with Strikeout Stuff 

Selected in the 2025 draft but later than Obermueller and Bowker, Matthew Fisher (PHI #9) represents a longer-term development project. Nevertheless, he still presents lots of promise to the organization that gave him a similar signing bonus to the second-rounder Obermueller’s. Most of his ceiling will be dependent on how he continues to grow into his 6-foot-3 frame as he develops.

The 20-year-old got off to a good start in rookie ball. In six starts, Fisher had an incredible 40.8 Whiff% and a 21.9% swinging strike rate. Fisher’s 28.9 K% was strong and like Obermueller and Bowker, helped him mitigate a high 11.8 BB%. After being roughed up in his pro debut for six runs in 2.1 innings, Fisher quickly found his stride. He allowed just three runs in his next five starts with a .189 batting average against.

A bump up to Single-A saw a dip in strikeout stuff but an improvement in walks and overall run prevention. Fisher’s ERA dropped from 4.86 in the Florida Complex League to 3.75 in Clearwater. While his whiff and swinging strike rates were nearly cut by half, his walk rate also fell to just 6.9%.

Fisher’s slider is the star of his pitching profile right now. At Single-A, he’s thrown it 30.2% of the time and has recorded whiffs on it at a 35.2% mark.

An Injury Rebound to Watch in 2027

In July 2024, the Phillies traded lefty reliever Gregory Soto to the Orioles. In return, they got back two righty pitching prospects: Seth Johnson and Moises Chace. By 2025, both found themselves among the Phillies’ top 15 prospects, with Chace slotting as the fifth-best. Fangraphs was much higher on him, putting him on their top 100 prospects list after Spring Training in 2025. 

But Chace didn’t get a chance to live up to his potential. Starting the season in Double-A, he posted a 3.24 ERA in five starts, maintaining a solid 25.3 K%. Then his walk rate skyrocketed to 16% from 8.9% in six outings after he joined the Phillies farm in 2024.

With his stuff seeming diminished, there was concern he was dealing with an injury. On May 14, in the second inning of his start, Chace missed high and outside with a fastball. Immediately, he called over for a trainer and was shortly removed from the game.

Chace ultimately needed Tommy John Surgery and missed the remainder of the year. Now 23, Chace (PHI #8) has a chance to return late this season. An early-season injury report noted that his recovery had been going well and that the organization saw the middle of the year return as a possibility. He’s yet to begin a rehab assignment, however, and likely won’t impact the team until next year. Still, he showed great potential after being acquired by Philadelphia (6 games, 42.9 K%, two outings of 10+ strikeouts). If he can find a form close to what he reached in 2024, he could be an impact arm in 2027.