Feb 26, 2025; Dunedin, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. (85) hits a solo home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the third inning during spring training at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck
Every week, On Pattison's Tim Kelly and Anthony SanFilippo will answer your Phillies questions from social media. Let's get to it.
@OscarBudejen on X: Gentlemen, who in your view could grab the last spot in the bullpen?
Tim Kelly: If this is about building the best bullpen depth, I'd probably go with Nabill Crismatt. He's a non-roster invitee who had a 2.94 ERA in 50 games for the San Diego Padres in 2022. If he doesn't make the Opening Day roster, I would guess he has an opt out, so you could lose him. Other candidates like Max Lazar, John McMillon, Devin Sweet and José Cuas can be optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
However, if Taijuan Walker continues to show increased velocity, I do wonder if the Phillies will put him in the bullpen to open the season as insurance if a starter gets injured. Joe Ross seemingly was signed to fill that role, but Walker is due $36 million over the next two seasons. I've thought on multiple occasions that Walker may have made his final appearance with the Phillies, only for him to remain in the organization. Whether it actually makes baseball sense or not, I wouldn't be shocked if Walker continues to survive, especially if he looks serviceable in the spring.
Taijuan Walker is competing for a spot in Phillies rotation, says manager Rob Thomsonhttps://t.co/fXFdzwuUee
— John Foley (@2008Philz) March 3, 2025
Anthony SanFilippo: Even though Opening Day is just 23 days away, there's a LOT of Spring Training left to go. As such, what we've seen so far may not be indicative of what we'll ultimately see come March 27 in Washington. And we also know from the recent past that just because you make the Opening Day roster as the last guy in the bullpen doesn't mean you are locked in. Raise your hand if you remembered Connor Brogdon was on the Opening Day roster last year. See?
I like to look for clues, and the early ones show that the guys getting the first "longer" look in Spring Training are Crismatt, John McMillon, Kyle Tyler and Nick Vespi. It's possible one of these guys, or none of them make the team. But I wouldn't be surprised if you see more than one of them at some point this season. Tim keeps talking up Crismatt, and everything he says is accurate. But the one thing with Crismatt is he doesn't miss a lot of bats. Having a guy like that in the 'pen would be a little break from the norm for this era of the Phillies — which is why I think he's an option, but maybe not their best.
The 28-year-old Tyler was claimed off waivers from Miami last August and finished the year with Lehigh Valley. He was being used primarily as a starter the last two years, but now the Phillies have him coming out of the bullpen this spring as a multi-inning reliever. He hasn't allowed a run in four innings of work, although he has allowed five baserunners. He's a potential swingman, if you need to fill that role, but with Ross and Walker on Major League deals, they are both probably ahead of him in that regard.
Vespi has had three innings of work this spring, but the lefty-specialist — who has had a modicum of success in Baltimore the past three years in limited action — also doesn't miss a lot of bats, so he could be one of those guys who gets the call later in the year if a lefty arm goes down.
But McMillon is the interesting name for me. He was claimed off waivers — also from Miami — in November and has impressed with his fastball consistently clocking in between 98-100 mph. He's appeared in three games thus far and faced 13 batters and yielded just one hit. He has struck out five and walked three. He's always had issues with control, as he's one of those guys who throws hard but doesn't always know where it's going. But if the Phillies can harness that, he might be a guy that gets a look come Opening Day.
@Baseballbydesign on Threads: Are you surprised we have not seen more of Koyo Aoyagi so far? What role do you see him playing this season?
Tim Kelly: I would imagine Aoyagi will see more action as the spring goes along, but his first Grapefruit League appearance Friday against the Boston Red Sox really didn't go well. The first batter he faced scalded a ball to center field, and then he also walked two batters. He threw 25+ pitches and only recorded two outs.
The Phillies obviously would like things to work for Aoyagi, but he struggled his last couple years in Japan and it's possible this just doesn't pan out. It's also possible that it just takes him some time to get adjusted to new surroundings and he eventually plays a role for the Phillies in 2025, while becoming the first Japanese-born player to make their MLB debut with the club.
Early in camp, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski revealed that Aoyagi was willing to open the season in Triple-A Lehigh Valley if he didn't make the big league roster. Right now, I think that it's overwhelmingly likely that's what happens.
The final line for Koyo Aoyagi in his Spring Training debut with the Phillies:
0.2 IP | 2 H | 1 ER | 2 BB | 2 K pic.twitter.com/DaaPCtmzDz
Anthony SanFilippo: The Phillies really want this to work out that at some point this season Aoyagi pitches in red pinstripes. For no other reason than they are desperate to become players in the Southeast Asian baseball market, and they need to establish themselves as a team who can sign a guy and get him to the big leagues — because it's the one area where they can't keep up with the likes of the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets.
That said, when Dombrowski made that statement last month, it was evident to me that they saw this as a flier. Cross the fingers and hope he figures out how to pitch at this level and can be competent enough to be called upon at some point to help the Phillies. But Tim's right — he's going to start the season in Lehigh Valley and the Phillies will monitor from there.
And he'll pitch more this spring, but they also don't want to put guys into situations that have a higher risk of failure. They want to get him right before they throw him back out there again.
@ChrisFried78 on X: If I say Rincones and Crawford will be two of the Phillies starting outfielders come October, you say?
Tim Kelly: I'd say it wouldn't shock me if one or both are traveling with the Phillies in October, but I wouldn't bet on one starting in the playoffs, let alone two.
That's not to say that Gabriel Rincones Jr. couldn't have an impact for the Phillies in 2025. He's homered three times in 12 at-bats this spring. His biggest issues are that he's struggled to stay healthy, and he's another left-handed bat on a team that badly needs right-handed hitters.
Unless one is injured, I would be shocked, assuming the Phillies make the playoffs, if two of the three starters aren't Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh. And if the third isn't Max Kepler, I would think it's either Weston Wilson or another right-handed hitter not currently in the organization.
Crawford may be a September call up this year, but I think he's more in play as an everyday player next year.
Is Phillies outfield prospect Gabriel Rincones Jr. legit? Learn more here 👇pic.twitter.com/wou0TWCjB1
Anthony SanFilippo: I say that if that's the case then something has gone sideways with this season. Do I think there's a chance we see both of them at some point? Yes. But do I think either will be starting or significantly contributing this season? No. The Phillies won't go all-in on a championship push with two-thirds of their outfield being rookies who didn't start the year with the team unless there are significant injuries that occur in the outfield after the trade deadline. And I'm not sure anyone would feel good about that.
But here's a thought: If I say Rincones and Crawford will be the two prospects the Phillies are willing to trade to upgrade the team for October, what do you say?
@C_Junks on X: Who will have the better season, Nola or Sánchez?
Tim Kelly: Between how impressive a bulked-up Cristopher Sánchez has been early this spring and the bizarre-but-undeniable struggles Aaron Nola has recently had in odd years, I'll go with Sánchez.
Whether or not his sinker is sitting at 98 when he's trying to pitch six or seven innings, I buy that Sánchez will get a slight uptick in his average velocity in 2025. And if that's the case, that only makes a pitcher who was already an All-Star and got down-ballot NL Cy Young votes last year better.
Don't worry, Nola will still log 180+ innings regardless of what happens.
From @TimKellySports: Over the last four even-year campaigns — which includes the 60-game season of 2020 — Nola has a 3.07 ERA. During his last three odd-year seasons, Nola has a 4.31 ERA. pic.twitter.com/vZK8huqCy2
Anthony SanFilippo: Here's where I am with this — Nola is going to be Nola. This odd-year thing, while there's stats to back up that argument, I don't put stock in it as a "thing" but just more a coincidence that it's happened in odd years. I have the same expectations for Nola that I do every season - good WHIP and a solid amount of strikeouts, but he's going to give up the home run from time to time because he's not a power pitcher, therefore he gets hurt by mistake pitches more than guys who throw 97-98 mph.
I'd expect Nola, who is the most durable pitcher in baseball and entering his 11th year with the Phillies (that's crazy, right?) to be between 180-200 innings, with an ERA around 3.50 and a WHIP around 1.15. And most fans will still be worried that he's going to hurt them somehow.
Meanwhile, Sánchez is continually showing growth. He's gotten better and better with each passing year with his stuff — although he did give up more hits and walks per inning pitched in 2024 than in 2023, and he was slightly less effective down the stretch than he was the first half of the season. Adding some muscle should help that durability to last longer and I expect slight improvement from last year as well. So let's also plug him in to that 180-200 inning range with an ERA of around 3.30 and a WHIP of about 1.19. And fans will be screaming for him to be an All-Star again.
Which do you consider better? It's debatable, sure, but does it matter? Because if both pitch to those numbers, the Phillies are in a really good spot.
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