Phillies 2026 Spring Training Discussion

[andyb]

But Pache is the type of player we could go get for our 82nd best prospect. Or sign for free if a player like him has some major league roster out on the contract.

Guessing the Phillies go with Kemp and Moore to start (small chance of De La Cruz but he is less versatile). And also scan the waiver wires and minor league assignments the last week of camp. There is some history of grabbing a bench player in the week before the season starts though the whole reason Rojas was likely ticketed for AAA is that the Phillies probably want Crawford to play without anyone looking over his shoulder for a month or two.

[zambonir]

Pache probably (?) has the service time to get the retention bonus and opt-out, just as Moore does. But agreed, there's bound to be someone. They probably want Leon getting everyday ABs too.

And the last guy on the bench just doesn't play that much so long as everyone is healthy. Remember how they carried Rodolfo Castro for two months in '23? Wilson (who wound up a .198 hitter) played a lot last September but that was because Kemp was playing 3B (they had one or both of Donovan Walton and Lantigua during that time as the last guy, plus Stubbs as the extra man).

[Callison]

Rojas showing total lack of judgment. After all his work, hard to even imagine what he was thinking. After watching the Alvarado fiasco, too.

[BostonRoss]

I think that if Crawford needs to be sent down at some point, the most likely option is Marsh/Moore in CF and Kemp/De La Cruz in LF.

[RolenRules]

Let's hope it doesn't come to that ...

[zambonir]

Crawford will probably be good enough. But at some point there will also probably be injuries, and that's how Rojas got more playing time last year (until Bader replaced him). We also saw Kemp, Wilson, and Stevenson in last year's OF (though not much of Stevenson, and Kemp played a lot of IF). With Kemp likely to be in the majors all year and the other two guys gone, that group is now Moore, De La Cruz and Leon. One of those first two guys, or someone who isn't here yet, will presumably replace Rojas on the 40, and the other (or someone else who isn't here yet) will churn on and off it. Unless you have a major-league ready prospect that's just what depth players look like.

[Austinfan]

Nori will start the season in Reading, if they needed a 5th OF after the Allstar break, he might be as good a bet as Rojas.
Then go back and play AAA in 2027.
We're basically talking a defensive substitute.

Now if Crawford totally flops they'll go shopping for a real CF.

Allstar break could be interesting depending how players develop, Sosa is a pending FA, if Miller is pushing for a spot at that point, Sosa could be attractive trade bait.

[David_Criss]

So in just a few months, 3 players from one team have tested positive for PEDs.......

[zambonir]

Well, I wouldn't say "a few," it's been 10 months since Alvarado. But it is a fairly remarkable numerical quirk if nothing else. Three Phillies and Profar twice is the entire list of players who've been caught this year or last year (so far). I don't think it suggests the Phillies are cheaters or have poor oversight though.

I also don't think most MLB teams really care what their players are doing. Either scores of other players are still doing and getting away with stuff and not getting caught, or PEDS have truly been eradicated. But teams have never shied away from suspended guys. Phillies brought back both Galvis and Marlon Byrd. Kevin Frandsen got suspended in the minors and still stayed in the organization. And of course they wanted to get rid of Strahm more than Alvarado this year.

[DurhamBull]

I also don't think most MLB teams really care what their players are doing.

Maybe not from an ethical perspective, but I'll bet they care a lot from a practical perspective. It might not matter so much if a fringe player like Rojas (sorry Johan) is unavailable for 80 games. But if it was one of the starting position players or a key pitcher, it would create a hole that would be awkward to fill.

[andyb]

Nori played all of 11 games at Jersey Shore and 6 at Reading. It is not at all certain he will start at Reading. Arizona helped but the pitching there is terrible so not sure what it means.

[VoteForKalas]

Correct, like Alvarado last season. Not a great look for him or the Phillies. If they knew and did nothing, that is unacceptable. If they had no clue, that is almost as bad.

The Phillies having repeat offenders now is pretty awful and hopefully will get the organization to figure out where their players are getting them and who else is involved.

[zambonir]

For sure. But from a practical perspective the Philles seem comfortable with the possibility that their third-best relief pitcher could miss all 162 games this year if he screws up again, and were comfortable exercising his option. Not quite as big a deal as starter or position player but not fringe either. And if they thought Alvarado's suspension depressed his value around the league they could have not exercised the option and tried to re-sign him for less money.

[MichaelJackSchmidt]

What looks really bad for Rojas is that he was taking PEDs, and his performance was still terrible.

[andyb]

He played all winter in the Dominican league. Guessing this violation is in the category of not checking out everything his Dominican trainers were giving him. Don't drink those protein shakes with the secret extra ingredient.

[zambonir]

Looks worse for Kepler. But PEDs don't really make people better hitters if they don't already have the basic skills. If Rojas had the ability to hit 40 doubles maybe he'd be able to hit more home runs on PEDs, but they aren't going to turn his baseline version into a doubles hitter.

These guys are obviously told to avoid these situations when they are in the winter leagues or training back home. Contaminated supplements really can happen to anyone, including in the US. Do the Phillies literally need to have a Spanish-speaking trainer on a Zoom call with all of these players every day in the off-season. Probably not, if 97.5% of the roster is fine.

Kepler is actually more damning since his test was in-season, on the Phillies. That suggests he knew what he was doing.

[MichaelJackSchmidt]

But PEDs don't really make people better hitters if they don't already have the basic skills.

C'mon, enjoy the attempt at humor without all the analysis.

[allentown]

Except, in the case of Rojas, the major problem seems to be lack of strength, rather than lack of basic hitting skills.

[andyb]

Stubbs enters the 26th man competition. Guessing this is borne out of a significant chance of losing Stubbs if he is sent to the minors and the reality of the lack of catching depth in the upper minors. He probably would be as good as Kemp out in LF and at least would give them a left-handed pinch hitter beyond Marchan. Plus our 26th man hardly ever plays (which assumes Crawford and Garcia don't really need a platoon).

Checking In On The Phillies' Roster Battle

[zambonir]

I feel like it's probably a little bit overstated. This was Thomson's full quote.

“But we are getting Stubby some infield work, some outfield work. There’s nothing that says he couldn’t be the 26th man and we carry three catchers.”

i.e. there's nothing that says he really would either. And it seems unlikely another team would actually claim him to be their major league back-up catcher. Plus that $575K AAA salary means a lot of teams wouldn't be doing it in the hopes of sneaking him through later.

But like you say, 26th man hardly ever plays, if it's Stubbs versus Dylan Moore or De La Cruz he's a perfectly good option. Kemp would still be the LF platoon guy.

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