Phillies 2026 Spring Training Discussion

[zambonir]

I just don't think that is going to happen. And it also wouldn't block a younger talent. Dylan Moore is 33. De La Cruz is 29.

And Marchan, while still younger with potential, wasn't actually better than Stubbs last year. If Stubbs won the job it wouldn't be unjustifiable.

[andyb]

And remember the big motivation here is likely the desire to keep Stubbs in a spot that rarely plays because we really don't have much in AA or AAA. They don't seem confident in a McIntosh or Pinto or Hettiger for 2026.

[zambonir]

Hey, there's always Kolozsvary. He's 30 and 5'7", would we even know the difference?

I think we are probably overrating the possibility of Stubbs being lost on waivers, and VFK and Atown's years of historical Phillies trauma is also leading them to overrate the extent to which the Phillies would try to keep him. He's probably in the Aramis Garcia stage of his career (Phillies were able to outright him in 2024 after a call-up, and DBacks did so twice last year).

It's just a procedural inconvenience that he's already on the 40. They surely could have outrighted him and re-signed him without another team stepping in after the season, but with JT coming off the 40, that wouldn't have been prudent.

[BostonRoss]

This is a whole lot of discussion about whether the Phillies would keep an older guy who can’t hit and has little experience playing in the field. The only way Stubbs makes the team is if there’s an injury or they decide he’s better than Marchan. I’m hoping neither of those things happens.

[zambonir]

Stubbs actually really can play the field, he was both an OF and 2B in college and played both positions as well as 1B for Houston in the minors. Also played 3B for Israel!

And let's not forget his pitching.

He got exactly 1 AB for the Phillies last year as the 27th man. Kody Clemens got seven as the 26th man last March and April, with a .143 OPS. So the bar for that spot, in terms of both usage and performance, isn't really that high, if the only goal is to try and keep him on the roster until it's easier to outright him. Unlike with Clemens (who had no trade value but did get traded once on waivers) they obviously want Stubbs in the organization. I still can't really see another team committing to him as their back-up catcher.

[kmc1019]

As has been demonstrated and repeated on this thread, Stubbs is not a major league caliber hitter and has had years of sample size for anyone to reach that conclusion.
He was a glaring weakness as the backup catcher for far too long. He is obviously a great clubhouse guy and teammate, but the team should not rely on him in anything other than a catching emergency and certainly not as an extra bat in the field.

[zambonir]

I just don't know that he was a glaring weakness. They won 95 games with him in 2024. They won 96 without him in 2025. He had a 0.4 WAR in 2024. Marchan was 0.2 in 2025.

Obviously Marchan has more potential and he's already the back-up catcher, full-stop. But he's also got that injury history, and JT will continue to be an injury risk too. If Stubbs did make the roster it would only be temporary and they would not be relying on him for anything more than 2 ABs a week. Rojas would have been a better choice (since he's a true CF and not a bad one), but so it goes.

I still don't think it happens because I don't believe any of the 29 other teams would make Stubbs their back-up catcher either. But that doesn't mean organizational depth at catcher isn't worth more, at least temporarily, than the seven ABs your 26th man might get over a month. Weston Wilson hit .198 for the Phillies last year in far more playing time.

[julio]

I just don't know that he was a glaring weakness. They won 95 games with him in 2024. They won 96 without him in 2025. He had a 0.4 WAR in 2024. Marchan was 0.2 in 2025.

WAR is a function of playing time.

Neither of these guys is particularly good. If neither of them substantially hurt the Phillies in the backup catcher role in the past, that’s mostly because Realmuto was rested so rarely. Can the Phillies open 2026 assuming JT will start 135 to 140 games? If he can’t (or if he breaks down), do they want to depend on a catching tandem of Marchan/Stubbs?

[andyb]

Can the Phillies open 2026 assuming JT will start 135 to 140 games? If he can’t (or if he breaks down), do they want to depend on a catching tandem of Marchan/Stubbs?

First part is right. Second part is not the question they are asking. It is more like do they want to go for a month with a Marchan/Pinto tandem.

Even healthy JT probably tops out at 120-125 games. But I imagine his over/under these days is more like 110 with potential injuries and IL viisits.

Moore probably makes the most sense with his versatility. De La Cruz is the best hitter but overlaps with Kemp in how they would be deployed. Stubbs has the advantage of already being on the 40 and being left-handed. It is not much of an advantage of course, but they just do not need the last man to do too much if Crawford and Garcia play full time.

[julio]

It is more like do they want to go for a month with a Marchan/Pinto tandem.

Fair enough. After just a quick look, it seems to me that a Marchan/Pinto tandem for a month would be better than a Marchan/Stubbs tanderm. Pinto is well regarded defensively, he's younger than Stubbs, and he appears to be better at the plate.

Given that, should we give any credibility at all to the suggestion that Stubbs might make the Opening Day roster? Doesn't it make more sense to just outright him, take the (small) chance that he's claimed on waivers, or opts for free agency (if he's eligible to do that - I'm not going to bother checking, because I frankly don't think he's worth that much effort on my part right now!), and then transition him to coaching?

[andyb]

Stubbs has a huge minor league contract this year. $575K in the minors, $925K in the majors. The minor league number is like $300K more than he would get on the open market so he is just not going to go into coaching this year. And nobody will claim him to get him through waivers to AAA with that salary. The only way he goes is if another team wants him in the majors.

I'd probably pick Stubbs over Pinto though. Offense is not necessarily better when you look at the larger AAA sample sizes and discount the PCL numbers some because of the offensive environment. The Phillies value the intangible preparation side of catching too. There is a reason they gave him $575K and probably did not come close to that with Pinto.

I am not advocating keeping Stubbs. I just understand why the Phillies might choose to.

[zambonir]

I just don't know that he was a glaring weakness. They won 95 games with him in 2024. They won 96 without him in 2025. He had a 0.4 WAR in 2024. Marchan was 0.2 in 2025.

WAR is a function of playing time.

I didn't realize just how little Marchan actually played last year tbh. Only 30 starts. Stubbs had 47 the year before, and that was with Marchan also making 14 (due to JT's injury).

But regardless, there is almost no difference between the two players. We'd like to believe Marchan has another level as a hitter and might also be better overall given the age difference, but we haven't actually seen it, nor do we know how durable Marchan is (well, we know he isn't durable, when asked to play more at other levels). He is obviously still the guy you go with as the back-up, and Stubbs is almost surely going to be in LV.

Spring training is kind of boring and all our good players are at the WBC so Thomson gave us something to talk about with a bit of throwaway information. Last year it was Sosa playing the OF, which did actually happen, but not for long. .

[BostonRoss]

I'm not sure it matters that Stubbs bats left-handed since he doesn't do much when he is at bat. If he were a switch hitter, we'd be using the old joke "He hits three ways: left, right, and seldom."

[zambonir]

Indeed, Stubbs has never played enough to be a good hitter or a bad hitter really. The one year he raked was no more or less meaningful than the two he didn't.

He has a 1.217 carerer OPS as a pinch-hitter though! 16 PAs. .333 BA (4-12).

That .700 OPS against LHP is also more than respectable if not necessarily meaningful. And as andy said when he originally brought it up, he might actually be a better OF than Kemp. Kemp a much better hitter of course (or he better be).

And you could use that joke about Marchan, who actually is a switch-hitter. He's fundamentally a RHB I think (and has a .787 career OPS against LHP).

[owaistabish]

https://www.mlb.com/news/jesus-luzardo-extension-with-phillies?adobe_mc=TS%3D1773095838%7CMCMID%3D04874996734541653249184884083466395786%7CMCORGID%3DA65F776A5245B01B0A490D44@AdobeOrg&affiliateId=mlbapp-ios_webview_news-index&rsid=mlbios.at.bat.new.implementation

[BaseballCat]

Good news! Lets hope we can get a WS title in one of those years ️

[andyb]

5/135 seems like a fair deal to me. The length is clearly within the range where he should not drop off too much. $5 million more than Ranger just got but he'll be a year younger when the deal starts.

Not saying it is a better deal than Ranger. He has better stuff but less track record. It is just in the same range and they needed to do one of them.

[BaseballCat]

Appears to start in 2027 (which may never occur). So have him six more years with an option if this story is true

Phillies, Jesús Luzardo Agree To Extension

[zambonir]

It always seemed like this was the choice the Phillies were making, not only because Luzardo is younger but because they knew they'd be able to do this (whereas Ranger, a Boras client, was gonna have to be blown away to not reach the open market. It might have happened in 2024 had he not gotten hurt!)

[Austinfan]

Catching up on games, Kemp had a "Schwarber bomb", 111 MPH, 420 feet.
Speed, power, comes down to whether he can learn to consistently hit breaking stuff.
Like I pointed out, he's inexperienced for his age.
548 PA college
1389 minors
218 majors
Most players his age would have another 500-1000 PA.
Which is probably why the organization likes him, raw tools, and a chance to develop them further.