Phillies select high school OF Dante Nori in first round of MLB Draft

Another first round of the Major League Baseball Draft, another prep selection for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Continuing a recent trend, the Phillies selected high school outfielder Dante Nori with the 27th overall pick on Sunday night. Nori is left-handed thrower and batter out of Northville, Mich., a center fielder on defense with great speed.

Nori was the fifth first-round pick made by Brian Barber as the Phillies’ scouting director. He’s taken only high schoolers since taking over the draft process in Philadelphia before the 2020 season: two pitchers in Mick Abel (drafted in 2020) and Andrew Painter (2021) and three hitters in outfielder Justin Crawford (2022), infielder Aidan Miller (2023) and now Nori.

Turning 20 in October, Nori is certainly an older high school prospect. His speed is difference-making, but the power appears to be lacking in his game. Most major scouting outlets had Nori ranked much lower than he was selected by the Phillies; a commit to Mississippi State, he was the No. 48 draft prospect in MLB Pipeline‘s ranking for 2024.

As noted by Pipeline, Nori has a connection to one current Phillie. His grandfather, Fred, recruited Kyle Schwarber to Indiana University as an assistant coach for the program. Nori’s father, Micah, is an assistant coach for the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Phillies will have a selection in the remaining 19 rounds of the draft, as none of their offseason acquisitions this past winter required them to surrender a pick. Their second-round pick, No. 63 overall, will be made later on Sunday night.

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