A few months ago we all knew the Phillies needed another bat. They went after Bo Bichette and even though it was close, it didn’t work out. Then they resigned JT Realmuto and hit their budget. This week it was reported that Bryce Harper wanted Rhys Hoskins back, but that didn’t work out. Hoskins signed a minor league deal with the Guardians with $1.5m in major league upside. That would have been nice. Considering that was too rich for our blood, the team probably is what it is at this point. That still won’t stop me from holding out hope for something…anything really, even if it is the last spot on the bench. Some little bit of good news after a mostly dismal winter.
Roster Right Now
There are not many open roster spots on the Phillies. The lineup is already set with the veteran starters plus Justin Crawford in CF. The primary backup in the infield will be Edmundo Sosa with Rafael Marchan as the #2 catcher. The team has talked up Otto Kemp as a right-handed utility man and possible platoon partner with Marsh in left, so count him in too. That’s 12 hitters.
The rotation is currently without Zack Wheeler, but he is not expected to miss very much of the season. That leaves Taijuan Walker and Andrew Painter as the 4th and 5th starters behind Sanchez, Luzardo, and Nola. What happens when he comes back will depend on everyone’s performance to start the season. Of our 8 reliever spots, 5 are set in stone (Duran, Keller, Alvarado, Banks, and Kerkering) with a 6th (McCambley) likely to get a shot as a Rule 5 pick.
That’s 23 likely spots sewn up out of 26. That’s room for 1 hitter and 2 relievers until Wheeler comes back.
Who Else?
The only two hitters in the organization with a legitimate chance of making the 26 man roster are Johan Rojas and seemingly Bryan de la Cruz. Rojas is a defensive savant with zero power but is already on the 40 man roster with 1 minor league option still remaining. de la Cruz is a non-roster invitee who came up with the Marlins but has been one of the worst players in baseball the last 3 years.1 However, he tore up the Dominican Winter League this year (MVP) and is looking to rebuild his career. For what it’s worth, his career splits are very strange. One season he showed extreme reverse splits and another just the opposite. Overall, he’s equally bad from both sides despite being a righty. He is 29 with 1 option remaining.2
As for the relievers, the last 2 spots seem to be down to newbies Zach Pop, Jonathan Bowlan, Kyle Bachus, and Genesis Cabrera with roster fluff Daniel Robert, Tim Mayza, Seth Johnson, and Max Lazar in the mix as well. Pop and Bowlan do not have any options remaining, so they might get the nod here at least to start the season. Pop did get a high minor league salary for what it is worth.
What Do We Need?
While the front of the bullpen mix is fine and we are not going to add a starting pitcher without an injury, the backup options in the lineup are subpar. Rojas seems like the most obvious choice to be the final OF at first because of his speed and defensive prowess, but the Phillies do not really need that this season. They already have good outfield defense. It would be nice to have a decent pinch hitter on the team who could also play some corner outfield if necessary though. Rhys Hoskins could have done this, same with recently signed Michael Conforto. Is there anyone else out there?
Starling Marte – Marte hits right handed and is fresh off a 4 year stint with the Mets. You already know this though because he routinely killed the Phillies3 doing the little things like putting the ball in play, a baffling concept. He is now 37 and while his defense has slipped, he still managed a .745 OPS in limited opportunities last year.
Randal Grichuk – Grichuk had a solid rebound 2024 then fell off a cliff last year at 34 years old. The righty was at least slightly effective against lefties
Andrew McCutchen – Pop Quiz: Who had more extra base hits last year, McCutchen or Alec Bohm? That’s right, the 39-year-old beat the 29-year-old, 35-32. Cutch still walks a ton even as all the other stats have declined. It does not seem like the Pirates are particularly interested in paying him this winter (despite all of their fans loving it), so why not the Phillies? He has been here before and we love him too. At the very least he is going to give us a good at bat when we need it and can help Justin Crawford.
Max Kepler – I’M JUST KIDDING!!!
The picking’s as they say, are slim. Bringing back McCutchen or Marte as professional teachers who can work decent at bats is probably the best-case scenario. If they didn’t dump out the change purse for Rhys though, I doubt they’ll do it for any one else.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference. Option info courtesy of Fangraphs Roster Resource. AP Photo/Matt Rourke
- He also once told my then 8-year-old at Spring Training that he would sign his ball in a minute then promptly ran away ↩︎
- Just like the 2025 Spring renaissance of Jose Alvarado, I am a bit dubius of the suddenly robust talents of Mr. de la Cruz ↩︎
- A career .924 OPS against us ↩︎
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