Phillies Predicted to Select Dynamic Shortstop in New Mock Draft

The phillies">Philadelphia Phillies have been in win-now mode for the last half-decade. 

That mindset by Dave Dombrowski and the rest of the front office has helped the Phillies pull off some trades to acquire big-league level talent, but it also leaves the farm system pretty bare right now.

The 2026 MLB Draft will be an opportunity for Philadelphia to replenish some of that talent, and MLB Pipeline’s newest mock draft has the Phillies selecting a dynamic shortstop with their first pick.

Philadelphia’s first selection won’t be until at No. 36 overall as a part of the supplemental first round since it was over the competitive-balance tax in 2025. With that pick, prospect analyst Jim Callis predicts the Phillies to take SS Aiden Ruiz out of Stony Brook School in New York.

Ruiz’s biggest strength as a player right now is easily his defense.

MLB Pipeline gave him a fielding grade of 70/80 and wrote, “Ruiz is arguably the best defensive shortstop in the class. He’s an elite defender with a plus arm and range, great hands and outstanding footwork. Unlike with many young players at the premium position, Ruiz not only makes the spectacular, acrobatic plays, throwing on the run, he also slows the game down and makes the routine plays as well. It’s future Gold Glove-caliber defense.”

The best defensive shortstop in the country is Aiden Ruiz from New York.

Four hits yesterday for the potential 2026 first-round MLB Draft pick and he had his usual acrobatic highlight play in the field (see the end of the clip) that he seems to make every game. pic.twitter.com/TZ0zqCwX2V

— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) April 26, 2026

That said, the Ruiz bat is still a work in progress. He makes a decent amount of contact, but still needs to do some more development to make sure those swing decisions lead to impact hits.

However, considering Ruiz is still just 19 years old, that’s something that could simply come with time, age, and progress. 

Even though the Phillies have a number of other highly-touted infield prospects, such as Aidan Miller (No. 1) and Aroon Escobar (No. 4), that shouldn’t scare Philadelphia away from selecting another one this high up in the draft.

Coming into the season, the Phillies’ farm system was ranked 20th overall in MLB, and that was before Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford graduated out of their prospect status.

With where the organization’s Minor League system stands now, the Phillies should be searching for players with the highest potential.

Ruiz’s defense and offensive upside could quickly make him one of the organization’s top prospects if Philadelphia has an opportunity to take him, as MLB Pipeline predicts. 

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