Phillies' confidence in versatile prospect Campbell paying off in Fall League

MESA, Ariz. – Dylan Campbell was at home in Austin, Texas, in the middle of January expecting to soon head to Dodgers camp for the start of his second Spring Training. Instead, he got a call from farm director Will Rhymes that he’d have a different destination. He was going to the Phillies in return for international bonus pool money that Los Angeles would use to sign Japanese star Roki Sasaki.

Two seconds later, he turned on ESPN and realized the rest of the world had heard too.

“I didn't really know what to think of it at first,” Campbell said, “but when I saw who it was for and kind of like the magnitude of it, I was like, ‘Wow, this is pretty cool.’ ... Because obviously he's a generational player and you see he's pitching in the NLCS right now and pitching in the NLDS and all that, I think that just shows how the Phillies value me, and I'm very appreciative of that.”

Philadelphia continued to show how much they thought of their No. 28 prospect by sending Campbell to the Arizona Fall League, where the 2023 fourth-rounder has gotten off to an interesting start on both sides of the ball.

After picking up a double and two walks for Surprise in a 4-3 loss at Mesa on Tuesday, the right-handed hitter has gone 3-for-8 through his first three games in the desert. He’s taken four free passes while striking out only once in that span. The early power, however, has been the most notable development.

Campbell hit a modest 14 homers over 122 games in his first season with the Phils, splitting the year between High-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading, but he slugged just .367 overall in that span and only .347 over half the season at the higher level.

But through Tuesday, all three of the 23-year-old's early Fall League knocks have gone for extra bases (one homer, two doubles), the most recent one a 99.6 mph double down the left-field line. Four of his eight total batted balls in play have exceeded the hard-hit standard of a 95 mph exit velocity. While Campbell has searched for more drivable pitches in his approach, there have been physical adjustments to his stance as well.

“I'm a little more closed off now,” he said. “During the season, I was a lot more open. I’m kind of closing off, seeing if I can be a little more direct.”

Just as interestingly, Campbell has played three different positions in each of his three starts with the Saguaros. Ever since he was drafted out of the University of Texas, the bulk of his work has come in the outfield, where he uses above-average speed to cover ground and plus arm strength to keep opposing baserunners in check. That leads many evaluators to project him as a future fourth-outfield type who provides value with his glove first.

But to see just how that glove plays elsewhere, the Phillies added infield work to Campbell’s marching orders in Arizona. He started at second base in his Surprise debut on Oct. 8, moved back to center field a day later and then slid over to third on Tuesday.

He had made 11 starts at second with Jersey Shore earlier in 2025, but the hot corner is completely new in pro ball. The last time Campbell was credited playing there in game action was during the summer of 2021 in between his freshman and sophomore years with Santa Barbara in the California Collegiate League.

A high school shortstop before he joined the Longhorns, Campbell wasn’t about to turn down an opportunity to return to his roots, and while others may take the constant movement as a distraction, he thinks his Fall League versatility may be intertwined with his success at the plate early on.

“Honestly, the defense makes it a little fun because it's like a new challenge,” he said. “That honestly takes my mind away from the plate and makes me think about defense more.”

Finding new avenues to stay on the field can only make Campbell more valuable to his second organization, and if he ever needs a reminder of just how valuable he’s been already, all he needs to do is fire up the TV again this fall.

“Every time I turn on the Dodgers and see [Sasaki], I’m like, ‘Wow,’” Campbell said. “I didn’t get traded for him, but I guess I could say I did. So it’s just cool to see.”