Phillies land Taiwanese pitching prospect with upside among second wave of international signings

Shortstop Starlyn Caba — who has been compared to Francisco Lindor — was the top name that the Philadelphia Phillies landed as the 2023 MLB international signing period opened up Sunday.

Caba isn’t the only intriguing prospect that the Phillies have agreed to terms with, however.

Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer noted Monday that the signing of RHP Wen-Hui Pan out of Taiwan is now official. The 20-year-old has reached the high-90s, but Coffey hears that he typically sits at 94-96 mph with his fastball and also has a slider, curveball and splitter in his arsenal. Matt Gelb of The Athletic says that “evaluators see him as a potential mid-rotation starter,” but did leave open the possibility of Pan becoming a reliever depending upon how he progresses.

20-year-old 潘文輝 (Pan Wen-Hui) is officially a member of the Philadelphia Phillies family! (📷 via Vamos Sports).

At the press conference, Pan revealed that he hopes to reach MLB within 5 years.

The signing bonus is 350K USD with $70K tuition allowance (total $420K). #MLBTW pic.twitter.com/fmIEhW74Ab

— CPBL STATS – ♥️ #95, Mina (@GOCPBL) January 16, 2023

According to Coffey, the price to land Pan was north of $400,000, with $350,000 given to him as a player and another $70,000 utilized so he can receive a college education.

Additionally, Baseball America reports that the Phillies have signed the following international prospects:

• Outfielder Jose Marchan — Venezuela
• RHP Joseph Diaz — Dominican Republic
• RHP Pedro Peralta — Dominican Republic
• Outfielder Jeadden Calderon — Dominican Republic
• RHP Luis Martinez — Dominican Republic
• Catcher/Third Baseman Eduardo Tait — Panama
• LHP Eduardo Fernandez — Venezuela
• Catcher Alirio Ferrebus — Venezuela

With the Phillies likely to graduate some or all of the pitching trio of Andrew Painter, Mick Abel and Griff McGarry in 2023, they’ll hope that this year’s international signing class helps to replenish a farm system that has struggled to consistently develop impact players over the last 15 years.

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