When the Philadelphia Phillies drafted Gage Wood out of Arkansas with their first round pick in this year's MLB Draft, they deviated from recent selection strategies of taking high-ceiling high school prospects. Phillies’ first-round draft pick Gage Wood impresses in debut with Clearwater ThreshersAfter spending some time training and building up his arm strength at the team's complex in Clearwater, Wood finally got his shot against professional hitters on Saturday. After posting 13.9 K/9 during his @RazorbackBSB career, the @Phillies' 2025 first-round pick (No. The Phillies were enamored with the arsenal Wood displayed in college when they selected the 21-year-old pitcher. General manager Preston Mattingly spoke highly of their first rounder's abilities after the draft, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.