Phillies Minor Leaguers: Wen Hui Pan

Today’s PHLY Phillies prospect of the day is Wen Hui Pan, a 21-year-old right-handed pitcher from Taiwan who signed with the organization before the 2023 season. Check out Renee and Jamie’s analysis of Pan on the podcast here.

We discussed pitchers Griff McGarry and “Furious” George Klassen over the past few days, two intriguing young flamethrowers who have struggled to throw strikes. Pan’s fastball is a tick below those two at the moment, but he still throws gas. His four-seamer averages 96 mph and flirts with triple digits, according to MLB.com. He has reportedly been able to hit 96 mph since age 16 (video here). And while Pan walked 3.4 batters per nine in single-A ball last season, he looked like Greg Maddux compared to the numbers we’ve seen from McGarry (7.2 BB/nine across all levels) and Klassen (8.5 BB/nine in college).

Pan is listed at 6’3″, 220 lbs, and his presence on the mound is undeniable. He saved seven games for Clearwater in 2023 (see video from the Threshers here and here), but MLB notes that his wide repertoire of pitches may tempt the organization to try him out as a starter: “He gets hitters to whiff at his low-80s slider, and his 84-85 mph splitter gets a ridiculous of ground-ball contact. Pan can even occasionally mix in a slower curve and a changeup.” There are rumors that Pan arrived in the U.S. with ten(!) different pitches before Phillies coaches instructed him to focus on just a few.

Overall in 2023, between his time with the Threshers (57.2 IP) and the BlueClaws (6.0 IP), Pan put up a 3.96 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He also struck out an impressive 12.4 batters per nine.

MLB currently ranks Pan as the Phillies’ 20th-best prospect, and Fangraphs lists him at 24th. But don’t be surprised if he rises quickly on those lists.