The Philadelphia Phillies are clearing room for more prospects to enter the system.
The 2026 MLB Draft is set to begin on Saturday, and ahead of the draft kicking off, Philadelphia has released an intriguing left-handed reliever. According to the MILB transactions log, the Phillies released left-handed pitcher Raymond Rosario.
Rosario is 21-years-old and signed with the Phillies as an International Free Agent in 2023. However, the Dominican Republic native has struggled to find footing in the organization.
Rosario began the 2023 season in rookie ball and went 0-1 with a 7.50 ERA in 5 games, including 1 start. He returned to rookie ball in 2024 and went 0-5 with a 5.44 ERA in 12 starts.
The 6-foot-2 left-hander then repeated rookie ball to begin 2025 before being promoted to A. However, he struggled mightily in A-ball as he went 0-0 with an 8.59 ERA in 5 games, which led to him going back to rookie ball in 2026.
Despite being in rookie ball for the fourth season and now being a reliever, Rosario still struggled. He went 0-1 with a 7.88 ERA in 15 games, which led to Philadelphia releasing him.
Whether or not another team will take a flier on a 21-year-old pitcher is unclear, especially after his struggles in rookie ball.
Phillies Likely to Explore College Pitching in MLB Draft
With the MLB Draft kicking off on Saturday, Philadelphia is looking to bolster its pitching depth.
On the first day, which is Rounds 1-20, the Phillies have five picks, being 36, 64, 100, 128, and 135. With Philadelphia not having a ton of upper-level starting pitching depth, analyst Todd Zolecki of MLB.com expects the team to pursue college arms early.
“It suggested the organization felt the need to find more polished pitchers that could help more quickly, although Phillies assistant general manager of amateur scouting Brian Barber insisted last summer that wasn’t the intention,” Zolecki wrote.
“Not really,” Barber said. “Some of that is just — obviously when you’re drafting, you would rather take a starting pitcher or a guy who has potential to be a starting pitcher. But one of our philosophies is that we’d rather take a big league reliever in the fifth round than a Minor League starter.”
MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo had the Phillies selecting Notre Dame pitcher Jack Radel in his latest mock draft. MLB Pipeline, meanwhile, had Philadelphia picking Mississippi pitcher Cade Townsend, so it is likely the Phillies will look to college pitching early and often.
Don Mattingly Open to Remaining Philadelphia’s Manager
As the Phillies struggled out of the gates, they fired manager Rob Thomson and named Don Mattingly the interim manager.
Yet, at the time, many expected Mattingly to be the interim for a year and Philadelphia would hire someone else full-time in the offseason. Yet, Mattingly revealed he’s expressed interest in being the full-time manager.
“I like doing it,” he said. “I didn’t come here to do it, but I actually like doing it, I committed to two years, right? And, in my mind, I told Dave, ‘I’d go two years.’ Right? So at that point you make a commitment with your family and what’s going on with everything that you’re going to do this for two years. So if that’s something that Dave wanted me to do then I’m fine with it.”
Mattingly has the Phillies off to a 52-43 start and just 3 games back of the Atlanta Braves for the top spot in the NL East.
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