With the holidays over and pitchers and catchers reporting to Clearwater in about six weeks, now is a good time to look ahead to some Phillies camp battles.
Like the front end of the roster, the back end is just as inflexible. It’s a big reason why you probably won’t see many interesting names pop up as non-roster invitees.
There are a few notable Phillies players on the 40-man roster who will enter the year without minor league options for the first time in their careers. What that means is that they either have to make the team out of camp, start the year on the major league injured list or be designated for assignment and clear waivers in order to be taken off the 40-man roster and sent outright to the minor leagues. The team cannot “option” the player to the minors and send them back-and-forth between Triple-A and the big leagues this season.
While all teams like to talk up the importance of making an impression during camp, front offices are more likely to give roster spots to players without minor league options in order to retain as much depth as possible.
If two players are vying for the last spot on the bench, the front office is almost always more likely to choose the player without minor league options versus the one with at least one. It allows the organization to keep both players, with one going to the majors and the other going to the minors.
Here are four Phillies players who no longer have minor league options to keep an eye on this spring.
Tyler Phillips
The Phillies could have preserved Tyler Phillips’ final minor league option by keeping him on the roster through September, but his final blowup start against the Blue Jays led him to a demotion to Lehigh Valley. They essentially chose to keep Taijuan Walker on the roster over him and as a result, the Phillies can’t use Phillips as an up-and-down starting pitching depth option next season.
Phillips will likely come to camp looking to grab the final spot in the bullpen. There’s also a chance he could start the year as the No. 5 starter in the event that at least one starter in the rotation is not ready to begin the season. Of course, much of Phillips’ status will depend on what happens with Walker. The Phillies releasing or trading Walker by the start of the season increases the likelihood of Phillips making the team. If the Phillies keep Walker, he’ll likely occupy whatever spot Phillips is going for.
Injuries pile up in spring training and another team in desperate need of innings could trade for Phillips. He’s had some brilliant moments in his short time with the Phillies and other teams could be interested in his ability to throw more than 100 innings in a season. He has done that twice since recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Kody Clemens
Unless he’s traded or gets injured, Kody Clemens is a strong candidate to begin the 2025 season on the Phillies bench. Handedness may be the concern here. With the edition of Max Kepler, the Phillies have five lefties in their regular lineup. The Phillies could benefit from more right-handed pop on the bench.
One interesting takeaway from Clemens’ 2024 numbers is his splits as a starter versus as a substitute. He has not been a great pinch hitter, but he has played well when he has been inserted into the lineup. Clemens posted a .747 OPS in 91 plate appearances as a starter. As a substitute, he went 5-for-27 with a .575 OPS. Every team needs at least one or two guys like Clemens who can hold his own at the plate while filling in at multiple infield positions.
Rafael Marchan
Five years after his MLB debut, Rafael Marchan is finally out of minor league options. He will compete with Garrett Stubbs for the backup catcher role to the begin the season. Stubbs has a minor league option remaining, which will play a major role in who will back up J.T. Realmuto for the majority of the season.
Another huge factor in all of this is Marchan’s health. He has opened each of the last three seasons on the injured list and has not played in a professional game in the month of April since 2019. But when healthy, Marchan is probably the one best suited to be the Phillies’ backup catcher if the plan is to get Realmuto off his feet a little more often. In his brief stint with the big league club last year, Marchan had an .894 OPS in 56 plate appearances while splitting time behind the plate with Stubbs while Realmuto was on the injured list.
Buddy Kennedy
The Millville, N.J. native may be the odd man out if just about everyone stays healthy during camp. That rarely happens, so it would not be too much of a surprise to see Buddy Kennedy on the Opening Day roster.
Kennedy, who was claimed off waivers from the Detroit Tigers in June, is another utility right-handed infield bat the Phillies could use behind Edmundo Sosa. The Phillies could also ask Kennedy to play some Grapefruit League games in left field to see if he’s a fit to spell Kepler against tough lefties during the season. He played one game in left field for the IronPigs in 2024.
The role of the Brandon Marsh/Kepler right-handed hitting platoon partner should ideally go to Weston Wilson, but he does have a minor league option remaining and could begin the season in Lehigh Valley.
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