The Phillies selected right-hander Zach McCambley from the Miami Marlins in the Major League Phase of the Rule 5 Draft on Wednesday. McCambley must be kept on the Phillies 26-man active roster – or the Injured List (IL) – for the entire 2026 season the Phillies would have to put him through waivers and if he clears waivers, he must then be offered back to the Marlins. If he is claimed by another team off of waivers then they pick up the Rule 5 obligation and must keep him on their active roster (or IL) for the remainder of the season.

McCambley is from Netcong, New Jersey and has developed into a high-strikeout, hard-throwing arm. After a successful college career at Coastal Carolina, he was selected in the third round (75th overall) of the 2020 MLB Draft by the Marlins. He is listed at 6’2″ and 225 pounds and has spent his professional time working through the Marlins’ lower and upper minor league levels. He was drafted as a starter, but has been transitioned into a relief role and has not started a game since 2023.

Amateur background
McCambley pitched at Pocono Mountain East High School in Pennsylvania before enrolling at Coastal Carolina University where he showed the type of swing-and-miss ability that attracted scouts. He also performed well in wood-bat summer competition such as the Cape Cod League where he posted strong strikeout numbers.

2025 season and statistical snapshot
McCambley’s 2025 season was the most productive and consistent of his pro career. Working primarily out of the bullpen he posted a 2.90 ERA across 62.0 innings with 83 strikeouts and 22 walks in 11 games at Double-A Pensacola and 36 games at Triple-A Jacksonville. Those totals translate to a 12.05 K/9 and a 3.19 BB/9 average. McCambley’s trip to Jacksonville was his first at the Triple-A level and he has not pitched in the majors.

Sabermetric profile and what the numbers say
On a rate basis McCambley grades out as an above-average miss-contact pitcher with swing-and-miss stuff but with some work to do on consistency and command. In 2025 he posted a strikeout rate and peripheral profile that translated to elite-looking K-rate numbers for a reliever, and a 2.60 fIP and strong K-BB marks for the season. His combined WHIP of 1.10 and ERA of 2.90 in 2025 were both solid and his FIP was consistent with a pitcher whose results were driven by strikeouts rather than weak contact alone. Those numbers point to a real ability to miss bats. The areas that still show room for improvement are walk rate, especially in higher-leverage spots and maintaining his fastball command that lets his secondary offerings play.

Pitch repertoire, velocity, and usage
McCambley’s core arsenal is a four-seam/cutter-type fastball, a power curve/slider, and a cutter that he uses for strikeouts and to get weak contact. The fastball that sits generally in the low-to-mid 90s and can touch the high 90s on occasion. The cutter sits around 90, and his breaking ball shows up in the mid-80s with significant bite that generates swings and misses. Usage patterns from the 2024–2025 seasons moved him more toward short, high-leverage stints where he favors the cutter and breaking ball as put-away pitches and uses the fastball to get ahead in counts. Analysts who track pitch mix also note a significant whiff rate on his slider and a willingness to throw the cutter to both left and right-handed hitters.

Effectiveness of each pitch
The conventional scouting read is that McCambley’s breaking ball is his best swing-and-miss pitch. The pitch creates above-average whiff rates and is an important piece of his success in shorter stints. His cutter is described in multiple reports as a reliable weapon that produces weak contact. The fastball has improved as he has added strength, and when he locates it up in the zone it plays well ahead in counts. The combination of a heavy cutter and an aggressive breaking pitch is why he can perform well even though his pure fastball velocity is not elite.

Injury history and impact
McCambley has had several short stints on the injured list during his pro career. Notably, he missed some time with elbow inflammation and related short-term absences in 2023 and multiple activated/placed-on-list transactions in 2024. Those interruptions have mattered to his timeline because they limited his innings and influenced Miami’s decision to use him in a more controlled relief role while keeping an eye on workload.

Scouting take and projection
McCambley profiles today as a high-leverage reliever at the major-league level if he continues to develop off of his 2025 form. The strengths are clear: an above-average ability to miss bats, a reliable breaking ball, and a cutter that produces weak contact. His command and walk rate are the clearest remaining concerns, and durability is always a question when a pitcher has had intermittent elbow inflammation. If he refines his control and keeps producing the K/BB and strikeout numbers he posted in Triple-A, he projects as a mid-to-high-leverage bullpen arm or a multi-inning matchup reliever early in his MLB career.

Recent roster movement and context
As of the latest offseason coverage McCambley had drawn attention from other organizations because he was not protected on a 40-man roster and had produced a strong Triple-A season in 2025. Coverage around the 2025 Rule 5 process listed him among notable right-handed relief candidates. The attention reflects both his results and the relative scarcity of high-K, short-relief arms.

Bottom line
Zach McCambley is a strikeout-first right-hander whose 2025 season vaulted him into prospect conversations for immediate bullpen help. He was 34th on the list of Marlins prospects coming into 2025 and would have moved higher if not taken by the Phillies in the Rule 5 Draft. He throws a mix featuring a firm fastball/cutter package and a swing-and-miss breaking ball, and his 2025 peripheral numbers suggest his outcomes were driven by true ability to miss bats rather than fluke results. The two things to monitor are command consistency and any recurrence of the elbow inflammation that cost him time earlier in his minor-league career. If both items remain under control, he looks like a legitimate candidate for major-league relief innings.

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