Thursday, October 1, 2026
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79 ° Clear
PHILADELPHIA - In his first trip ever to Citizens Bank Park, Wen-Hui Pan the 12th-ranked prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies system stood tall in front of his locker ahead of the MLB Futures Game with a noticeable tattoo running vertically down the left side of his neck.
It reads “persevere” in all capital letters in English in a Blackletter Old English/Gothic style font.
That’s what the 23-year-old from Taiwan has had to do since signing with the Phillies for $350,000 back in January of 2023.
The hard-throwing right-hander missed three months of the 2024 season with a broken pinky. After getting back to the mound, Pan was slated to pitch in the Arizona Fall League, a premier winter league in the U.S. where teams send some of their top talent to compete against other high-end players across the league.
That came to a screeching halt when an elbow issue arose, ultimately leading to Tommy John surgery, forcing him to miss all of last season. During his rehab process, he dealt with a hernia issue which slowed his comeback.
“Coming back from rehab and having undergone three different surgeries, the tattoo really helps him keep reminding himself what his goal is and what he’s gone through to get to this point,” Pan said through translator Hardy Lin.
That goal, according to Pan himself, is to get to the big leagues this year best case scenario, or at the very least, next season.
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He has an arsenal that if he had stayed healthy, could potentialy have already helped the big league team in the bullpen. It’s highlighted by his fastball and splitter combo. The heater touches triple digits on occasion, but consistently sits in the upper 90s while his strikeout pitch is his devastating splitter. He also has a slider that continues to improve.
“[It’s a] true splitter and probably the best change up in minors,” Phillies Director of Pitching Travis Hergert said of Pan’s mix.
“Not only the action of the pitch but to land it for strikes. [His] splitter is more of a put away pitch. He expands it for a put away pitch, but he can drop it in the zone whenever he wants.”
Pan has put that repertoire on display in his first season back on the mound since 2024. He has pitched at three different levels this season, starting in Low-A Clearwater where he was just geting back into the swing of things.
He posted an inflated 5.40 ERA in 6 ⅔ innings in six appearances but struckout 14 batters while walking just three. He was bumped up to High-A Jersey Shore in mid-May and dominated opposing hitters. In nine relief appearances, he had an impressive 0.82 ERA in 11 innings of work with a 13-to-2 strikeout-to-walk-ratio with opponents hitting just .158 against him.
His next test has been in the Eastern League with Reading.
After giving up two earned runs on six hits in just two innings of work in his first two appearances, Pan has settled in, although his strikeout rate has not carried over from the lower ranks of the minors.
Over his last six outings, he has allowed one earned run on seven hits with just three punchouts. In his last four appearances he has not yielded a run.
The strikeouts will most likely come as he adjusts to the better hitters, but Pan is tracking in the right direction and being selected to the Futures Game indicates that he is on the right path.
The righty perhaps would have liked the first pitch fastball back he left over the middle of the plate to Tampa Bay’s Nathan Flewelling (#72 prospect) in the sixth inning of the 6-1 National League loss. The catcher jumped on a the 96 mph center-cut fastball for a two-run shot to give the American League a 4-1 lead.
Pan bounced back, striking out Houston’s Xavier Neyens (#85 overall).
“It was really exciting to pitch in Citizens Bank Park,” Pan said through Lin. “Even though the outcome wasn't as good as he expected, he feels very grateful to be here.”
The Phillies are excited to have Pan back on the mound.
“The velo is back with the carry on the heater,” Hergert said.
“We have been pushing him since acquiring him. He can climb really fast.”
