Caden Bogenpohl is making this professional baseball thing look pretty easy. The 21-year-old is batting .366 (15-for-41) in his first 11 games with Clearwater. Friday night, the Threshers were in Fort Myers (Minnesota Twins) and had broken the game open with four runs in the fifth to take a 9-4 lead. Bogenpohl stepped to the plate with runners on second and third and two out. Pitcher Brad Rudis hung a 1-1 curveball to the left-handed hitting Bogenpohl, who didn’t miss it.
The ball traveled 406-feet to right field, bounced off of the right field concourse, into a tree beyond the stadium railing and then came back onto the concourse. While 406 is a good poke, the fact that the exit velocity was measured at 117 mph.
The home run was the second of Bogenpohl’s professional career. His first came in his ninth at-bat with the Threshers when he launched a 3-2 pitch onto the grass berm in right center field at BayCare Park in Clearwater. That one traveled 393 feet and left the park at a 102 mph clip.
Who is this Caden Bogenpohl guy?
The Phillies selected Caden Bogenpohl, an outfielder from Missouri State, with the 64th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. The 6′ 6″, 245-pound lefty-hitting slugger from Jackson, Missouri, was one of the most physically imposing hitters in this year’s draft class. The Phillies had their eye on him for some time and even flew him to their Clearwater complex for a private pre-draft workout with farm director Luke Murton before he further impressed scouts at the MLB Draft Combine in Phoenix, where he posted exit velocities north of 114 mph, including a combine-best 119 mph blast.
Bogenpohl’s calling card is his raw power, which scouts and evaluators grade as plus-plus, among the best in the entire draft class. He broke Phillies legend Ryan Howard‘s Missouri State freshman home run record with 20 homers back in 2024, and he can hit balls out to any part of the ballpark from the left side. The concern is turning that raw power into consistent production. His home run total actually dropped in each of his three college seasons, from 20 as a freshman down to just six in 55 games as a junior in 2026, despite showing some of the best exit velocities in the country. Part of the issue is a very high groundball rate (53 percent as a junior) and swing-and-miss tied to his long levers and extra-large frame. He’s a patient hitter who won’t chase pitches out of the zone (he walked 55 times as a sophomore, tying a school record), but he can get exposed against non-fastballs and pitches on the outer half. The Phillies believe some mechanical tweaks can help him unlock more of that power in games.
Defense and Athleticism
Despite his massive frame, Bogenpohl is a surprisingly good athlete with solid speed once he gets going. He played center field for Missouri State and handled it capably, but his size and profile likely push him to an outfield corner spot as a professional. He was once regarded as having well above-average arm strength, though scouts now see his throwing as more average to solid.
The Bottom Line
Bogenpohl is a high-risk, high-reward pick built around one of the loudest tools in the draft class. If the Phillies’ player development staff can help him tap into his raw power more consistently in games, he has middle-of-the-order impact potential. If the swing-and-miss and groundball issues persist, he could struggle to make enough contact to get to that power at higher levels.
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