Phillies 2024 First Round Pick Dante Nori Negotiating Jump to Double-A

Phillies 2024 first round pick Dante Nori started the season on a hot streak in his first real taste of Double-A action, slashing .317/.373/.505 through his first 23 games. After that, the 5-foot-9 sparkplug of an outfield prospect fell into an extended slump, his batting average south of .200 for the month of May.

Nori said that he’s taking things one game at a time as he works through the cold spell, reminding himself that seasons aren’t made or broken in the span of a day. He also focuses on contributing to the team in any way he can, namely his outfield defense.

“Just keep showing up every day. Try not to overthink it. Same thing last year, [it] happened way at the beginning where you look up and you’re hitting a buck twenty,” Nori said. “So it’s nothing you haven’t been through before, and know you have 100 games left, just keep showing up and finding other ways to help the team. Right now it’s not with the bat, so in the field just… find some ways to keep on going.”

As he tries to snap his slump, Nori has an advantage that most other athletes don’t. He grew up around professional athletes, his father Micah spending much of the past two seasons as an NBA assistant coach. Micah Nori played college baseball at Indiana and later coached on the diamond at Miami (OH) before finding a full-time career in the NBA.

“I mean, the NBA does help a lot,” Nori said. “You’re around those caliber of players and knowing exactly how they go about things. Sometimes they run into some shot difficulties as well, and just the way they handle it, so you learn a lot.”

Talent Jump

True to Nori’s status as the stereotypical coach’s son, Fightin Phils manager Al Pedrique said that the 21-year-old outfielder is a dedicated worker who he expects to come around in short order.

Nori also faces the challenge of adjusting to Double-A pitching. He spent the vast majority of the 2025 season in Single-A, making courtesy stops with Jersey Shore and Reading before the season ended. Nori described the talent disparity from last season to this one.

“Just the command. A lot of dudes, they’ve got an out pitch. Clearwater I feel like it’s a bunch of guys [who] maybe they throw a little bit harder, they don’t really know where it’s going, a lot more fastball-heavy,” Nori said. “Here, the off-speed, a lot of different movements, and it’s just a learning experience.”

Even though it’s only the second-highest tier of the minor league system, Double-A is arguably a harder stop than Triple-A. The latter often serves as a taxi squad for the big leagues, rostering replacement-level players who can come up for a series or two as needed before returning to the minor league cupboard.

Swing Adjustments

As such, Fightin Phils’ manager Al Pedrique said Nori is adjusting to the higher quality of pitches the minor leagues’ best can throw at him, learning not to chase the more deceptive offerings.

“It’s a matter of time for him to start feeling comfortable at the plate right now and start getting good pitches to hit, and to stay away from chasing pitches out of the zone,” Pedrique said. “That’s where he’s at right now, making some adjustments with swing decisions.”

Nori has 15 walks to 40 strikeouts through 46 games this season; last year he posted 75 walks and 85 strikeouts, walking an otherworldly 13 percent of the time. Along with learning to filter out the pitches he won’t be able to put a barrel on in Double-A, Nori said he’s making swing and stance adjustments in a bid to feel more comfortable at the plate.

“Went really narrow, never been narrow in my life, so getting used to that. Getting the timing down, sometimes those mini adjustments you don’t really think about. Maybe your foot keeps creeping forward, you’re closed, set it back,” Nori said. “Just things like that, trying to get the timing down, the movement.”