Phillies lose former top prospect, add reliever to big-league roster in Rule 5 draft
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Phillies made a selection in Major League Baseball’s Rule 5 draft, adding a potential relief option to their big-league bullpen. Meanwhile, the organization lost a former top prospect to a division opponent on Wednesday at the Winter Meetings.
Philadelphia chose right-hander Zach McCambley in the first round of the Rule 5 draft, poaching him from the Marlins organization. Right-hander Griff McGarry, a former fifth-round pick in the amateur draft, was taken by the Nationals with the third overall pick after he was left unprotected by the Phillies.
McCambley, 26, had a 3.19 ERA in 47 appearances between Double-A and Triple-A this season. A Pocono Mountain East High School graduate and third-round pick in the amateur draft out of Coastal Carolina in 2020, he’s been a reliever for the past three years after starting earlier in his career. He throws a cutter and a slider with a fastball that sits in the 94-96 mph range, cut his walk rate down in 2025 and was effective against righty batters.
“He’s really, really tough on right-handed hitters,” Phillies director of professional scouting Mike Ondo said. “And I think that was one of the big appeals for us: to have a guy that can kind of come in — he’s got a starter background, he’s been in the bullpen — but just someone who has some versatility to maybe log some innings, pitch short, whatever the staff might need him to do. But to really kind of get in there and get him on a pocket of right-handed hitters, I think, is really what we’re hoping is where some big value is.”
The Phillies cannot option McCambley to the minor leagues next season as a condition of the Rule 5 draft. They’d have to offer him back to Miami if they wish to take him off their major-league roster. But the Phillies chose him for a reason. He limited righties to a .186 batting average and a .490 OPS in the minors this year. He could have a niche in Philadelphia’s bullpen if he can adjust to the higher level.
“When we drafted him, we had the feeling that he could make the team,” Dave Dombrowski, the team’s president of baseball operations, said. “And one of the things that we’ve talked about looking to have over the last few years is a right-handed person in the bullpen that dominates right-handed hitters. So we think he has a chance to do that. We can gamble a little bit on it, because we’ve got roster spots. If it doesn’t work, it’s unfortunate, but then you look at returning him. But hopefully he has a chance to make it.”
Philadelphia also traded for right-hander Yoniel Curet in exchange for minor-league pitcher Tommy McCollum on Tuesday, putting their 40-man roster at 35 players. The 23-year-old Curet was designated for assignment by the Rays after a season affected by injury, but he has a 3.10 career ERA in 97 appearances and 80 starts in the minors. Curet has minor-league options and will be used as a reliever by the Phillies.
“He’s an arm that we really like,” Dombrowski said, “really outstanding arm. He’s been successful at the minor-league level. Plus, plus fastball. … We have roster spots, so we’re going to start to try to build some depth and take advantage of it.”
McGarry, 26, is a hard-throwing right-hander who was once one of the most intriguing arms in Philadelphia’s system after he was drafted out of Virginia in 2021. But his development took a hit in 2023 and 2024 before he rebounded this year, winning the Paul Owens Award for the top minor-league pitcher in the organization.
He’s pitched as a starter and a reliever in the minors, but he never found too much success out of the bullpen. McGarry spent the 2025 season in the rotation, mostly at Double-A Reading, and had a 3.44 ERA in 21 total minor-league starts. But the Phillies decided not to add McGarry to the 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 draft because they were skeptical he could stick in the majors for a full season.
In last year’s Rule 5 draft, the Phillies did not protect pitcher Eiberson Castellano from the Rule 5 draft, and he was taken by the Twins. He was ultimately returned to the Phillies organization before the start of the regular season. Dombrowski seemed to believe a similar situation could possibly unfold with McGarry and the Nationals.
“We just think that he’d have a hard time staying with a big-league club,” Dombrowski said. “We like his arm strength and like a lot of things about him. But kind of like Castellanos when he got drafted last year, we thought that he might get drafted and might have a harder time staying on the team, so it was just a risk that we took, figuring that we’d rather have the roster spot at that time. We wish him nothing but the best. He’s been great with us, but hopefully for his sake, he has a chance to make it over there.”
Additionally, the Phillies selected two players in the minor-league Rule 5 draft: outfielder Austin Murr from the Tigers and right-hander Evan Gates from the Giants. They lost first baseman Carson Taylor, who missed most of this season due to injury, to the Mariners.