Ryan Dromboski is a 23-year-old right-handed starting pitcher who has gone from local kid to undrafted free agent to a legitimate depth starting option in about two years. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Dromboski wins with his secondary pitches rather than velocity. Early on, he has shown the ability to throw a lot of innings, and he has a competitive, high-energy presence on the mound.
High School Background
Dromboski was born in Hamilton, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Columbus as a Phillies fan. He starred at Northern Burlington County Regional High School, where he played both varsity baseball and soccer, made the 2021 Carpenter Cup team, and served as president of the National Honor Society. Baseball runs in the family. His younger brothers both play college ball, Braden at The College of New Jersey and Nick at Stony Brook.
As a high school pitcher, he was not a hard thrower. Prep Baseball Report clocked his fastball at 84 to 86 mph in the fall of 2019, topping out at 87 in early 2020. At that point he also threw a curveball in the low-to-mid 70s and a changeup in the upper 70s. Scouts liked his athletic frame, quick arm, and the heavy, late life on his fastball, and they tagged him as a prospect worth following.
College Career at Penn
Dromboski barely pitched as a freshman in 2022, making just a handful of relief appearances that added up to just five innings of work.
It was as a sophomore in 2023 that Dromboski broke out and became Penn’s ace. He went 7-3 with a 3.17 ERA in 13 starts, striking out 97 and walking 35 in 71 innings. He was named Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, the first sophomore from any school to win that award since 2010, and he was also a first-team All-Ivy pick. The highlight was an April start against Princeton where he struck out 15 batters in 7.2 innings, which broke Penn’s single-game record. He credited a change in mindset, and learning to handle a bigger pitch count, for the jump.
His junior year in 2024 was a rollercoaster. He struggled badly early and finished 3-5 with a 7.57 ERA, allowing 70 hits and eight home runs in 63 innings. But he still struck out 71 batters, and he closed the regular season on fire, going 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA over his last three starts with 25 strikeouts and only three walks. That strong finish earned him Ivy League Pitcher of the Week honors and honorable mention All-Ivy. He left Penn with a 10-8 record and a 5.24 ERA over 33 appearances, with 174 strikeouts in 139 innings.
Draft and Signing
Dromboski went undrafted in the 2024 MLB Draft. A few days later, the Phillies, his favorite team, signed him as an undrafted free agent. He gave up his final year of college eligibility to turn pro. He was assigned to the Florida Complex League that summer but did not pitch in any official games in 2024.
Minor League Career
Dromboski’s first full pro season in 2025 was a big success. He started at Single-A Clearwater, began in a swing role, and pitched well enough to move into the rotation. In 17 games there, including nine starts, he went 7-5 with a 2.63 ERA, allowing 45 hits and 19 walks while striking out 53 in 54.2 innings. That stretch included a complete game victory in April. He was promoted to High-A Jersey Shore in August and kept rolling, going 2-1 with a 2.81 ERA in five outings, walking just five and striking out 23 in 25.2 innings. His combined 2025 line was 9-6 with a 2.69 ERA, 76 strikeouts and 24 walks in 80.1 innings.
The 2026 season was tougher. He opened back at Jersey Shore and had a rough debut in which he walked six batters, one off the club record. He settled in after that, and the Phillies gave him a spot start at Double-A Reading on May 7, which also went poorly. He returned to Jersey Shore and went on the injured list in mid-June. He came back strong in August, posting a 1.72 ERA that month and allowing just four earned runs over his final 20.2 innings at High-A. He earned a second Double-A start on September 13 which went much better, with Dromboski picking up his first Double-A win, striking out eight Erie hitters over five innings.
For 2026, he finished 3-10 with a 5.56 ERA, 77 hits, 40 walks and 80 strikeouts in 81 innings. At Jersey Shore alone, he had a 4.89 ERA over 73.2 innings with 70 strikeouts. In two Double-A starts, he had a 12.27 ERA in 7.1 innings, with 10 strikeouts but eight walks and three home runs.
His career minor league totals through two seasons are a 12-16 record and a 4.13 ERA over 41 games and 31 starts, with 156 strikeouts and 64 walks in 161.1 innings.
In the Arizona Fall League, he’s off to a nice start. He threw 3.1 scoreless innings in his first outing and followed that with three more scoreless innings in relief on October 14.
What the Advanced Numbers Say
Dromboski’s strikeout ability has been steady. He struck out 23-percent of the batters he faced in 2025 and 22-percent in 2026, which is a solid, playable rate for a starter in the low minors.
The biggest change in 2026 was his control. His walk rate jumped from 7 percent in 2025 to 11 percent in 2026. He also hit nine batters. That extra traffic on the bases is the main reason his numbers slipped.
That said, some of his 2026 struggles look like bad luck. At Jersey Shore, his FIP, a stat that focuses only on strikeouts, walks and home runs to estimate what a pitcher’s ERA should be, was 4.09, nearly a full run better than his actual 4.89 ERA. He stranded only about 57 percent of his baserunners, which is well below normal for a typical pitcher, and batters hit .307 on balls in play against him. Those numbers tend to even out over time.
A few other patterns jump out. He has been excellent early in games, posting a 1.00 ERA in the first inning in 2026 with opponents batting just .107. Things got harder the second time through the order, especially in the third inning, where hitters batted .351 against him. He also struggled with runners in scoring position, as hitters posted a .337 average in those spots.
He also has an unusual split. Left-handed hitters, who normally hit right-handed pitchers better, managed just a .228 average and .644 OPS against him in 2026. Right-handers hit .277 with an .855 OPS and drew more walks. That fits a pitcher whose changeup is one of his best weapons, since changeups are usually most effective against opposite-side hitters.
He’s a mixed groundball and fly ball pitcher, getting grounders about 40 percent of the time, and he did a good job keeping the ball in the park in A-ball, allowing just four home runs in 2026 at Jersey Shore. The three homers he gave up in only 7.1 Double-A innings are worth watching, although that sample is tiny.
His Pitches
Dromboski works with four pitches, a four-seam fastball, a sinker, sweeper, and a changeup.
Scouts agree that his fastball is a below-average pitch and that he doesn’t throw especially hard. Because of that, he leans much more heavily on his secondary pitches than on his heater. His sweeper, a slider with big side-to-side break, sits in the upper 70s while his changeup sits in the low 80s. FanGraphs rates both the slider and changeup as good pitches and says they give him the look of a depth starter. His slider and changeup are his bread and butter and the fastball is used mainly to set them up.
Injury History
Dromboski has not suffered any major injury or surgery. He was moved to Clearwater’s development list from May 24 to June 11 of 2025, but that list is often used for non-injury reasons, and no injury was reported.
In 2026, he went on Jersey Shore’s 7-day injured list on June 13. He was activated on June 24, pitched once, and went right back on the injured list the next day. He wasn’t activated again until August 7, so he missed about seven weeks in total.
The injury clearly affected his season. His June numbers were ugly, with a 16.88 ERA and hitters batting .465 against him in eight innings, and his final outing before the second IL stint was rough. That suggests he may have been pitching through something. The time off also cost him innings he needed for development and kept him from building on his first Double-A look. The good news is that he looked like himself when he returned, with a strong August and a solid finish, and the Phillies showed their confidence by sending him to the Arizona Fall League to make up for lost time.
The Bottom Line
Dromboski’s profile is that of a smart, durable, competitive starter who gets by on feel and secondary pitches rather than raw power. His strengths are a good slider and changeup, a steady strikeout rate, the ability to handle more than 80 innings a season, and an effective approach against left-handed hitters. His weaknesses are a fastball that doesn’t overpower anyone, a rise in walks in 2026, and trouble the second time through a lineup. If he can bring his walk rate back to 2025 levels and hold his own at Double-A in 2027, he projects as an organizational depth starter or swingman who could eventually help the Phillies in a back-end or long-relief role. For an undrafted local kid, that would be a very nice story.
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