Category: Phillies/MLB

Punxsutawney Phil may have seen his shadow on Monday, but spring training waits for no groundhog.

The Phillies’ trucks have been loaded with gear, including thousands of baseballs and one hot dog launcher, and have begun their journey toward Clearwater, Fla. Camp is set to open on Feb. 11, officially starting the long buildup toward October.

Here’s everything to know about Phillies spring training this year:

What are some key dates?

Pitchers’ and catchers’ first workout: Feb. 11

First full-squad workout: Feb. 16

First spring training game: Feb. 21 at Blue Jays (Dunedin, Fla.)

Spring training home opener: Feb. 22 vs. Pirates (Clearwater)

World Baseball Classic:

Last spring training game: March 23 vs. Rays (Clearwater)

Opening day: March 26 vs. Rangers, 4:05 p.m., Citizens Bank Park

What additions did the Phillies make?

It was really more about the addition they didn’t make.

When the Phillies went to sleep on Jan. 15, they believed Bo Bichette would be in their lineup for seven seasons after they agreed to his $200 million asking price. By lunchtime on Jan. 16, he signed with the Mets. Dave Dombrowski described it as a “gut punch,” even though the former Blue Jays shortstop wasn’t a consideration for the Phillies until after the holidays.

They prioritized bringing back Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto, and after signing the former to a five-year, $150 million contract in mid-December, they made an offer to the latter. Talks with Realmuto stalled over money, and the Phillies began considering alternatives. Bichette expressed an interest in switching positions and met with the Phillies over Zoom on Jan. 12.

After the Mets swooped in with a higher-salary, shorter-term offer, the Phillies swiftly adjusted their pitch to Realmuto and reached a three-year, $45 million agreement.

Otherwise, they signed right fielder Adolis García to replace Nick Castellanos, whom they will pay to play elsewhere this season, and Keller. They sent lefty Matt Strahm to the Royals for Jonathan Bowlan in a reliever swap. And they added bullpen depth with Zach McCambley (Rule 5 draft), lefty Kyle Backhus (trade with Arizona), Yoniel Curet (trade with Tampa Bay), Chase Shugart (trade with Pittsburgh), and Zach Pop (free agent).

The Phillies also gave manager Rob Thomson a contract extension through 2027 and hired Don Mattingly as his bench coach.

— Lauber

Which new Phillie is most intriguing for 2026?

Lauber: Does Justin Crawford count as “new?” Oh, OK, we’ll get to him later. In that case, García. In 2023, he hit 39 homers, got down-ballot MVP votes, and dominated the postseason for the World Series champion Rangers. The Phillies bet on bouncebacks last year from Max Kepler and Jordan Romano and went bust. Will their latest free-agent gamble work out better?

March: Keller. The right-hander had been a starter for most of his career before his breakout season last year as a high-leverage reliever for the Cubs, and he has retained his starter’s arsenal of four-seam, sinker, slider, changeup, and sweeper. That, plus a jump of over 3 mph on his fastball in 2025, makes him an intriguing back-end option in the Phillies’ bullpen.

What did the rest of the NL East do this offseason?

Rooting for the Mets must feel like riding the Coney Island Cyclone. And the last few months surely left fans nauseous, dizzy, and uncertain if they’re really satisfied.

Consider: After going from a 5½-game lead in the division to missing the playoffs in a three-month collapse for the ages last season, the Mets traded Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil and didn’t re-sign Edwin Díaz and Pete Alonso. New Yorkers lost their minds, sure that president of baseball ops David Stearns misplaced his.

But the Mets signed Bichette, relievers Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, and Luis García, first baseman Jorge Polanco, and center fielder Luis Robert Jr., and traded for second baseman Marcus Semien along with ace Freddy Peralta and swingman Tobias Myers.

Are the Mets different? Oh yeah. Are they better? We’ll see.

The Braves hired a new manager (Walt Weiss) and bulked up the bullpen with Robert Suarez and the return of closer Raisel Iglesias. They re-signed shortstop Ha-Seong Kim (out until at least May after hand surgery), traded for utility man Mauricio Dubón, and signed outfielder Mike Yastrzemski.

Two other big moves: The Marlins acquired 23-year-old outfielder Owen Caissie from the Cubs for right-handed starter Edward Cabrera; the Nationals traded top-of-the-rotation lefty MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers, plunging Washington even further into a rebuild under a new, ultra-young front office (36-year-old president Paul Toboni) and manager (33-year-old Blake Butera).

— Lauber

Which NL East addition will have the biggest impact?

Lauber: Bichette. What, you expected a different answer? If nothing else, the drama will be delicious when Bichette makes his first visit to Philly (June 18-21, by the way). But he’s also a terrific hitter who will be learning a new position on the second-largest payroll in baseball. Get your popcorn ready.

March: Peralta. The collapse of the Mets’ starting rotation was one of the main contributors to their free-fall out of playoff contention at the end of last season. With the Brewers in 2025, the right-hander had a 2.70 ERA over 176⅔ innings and posted the most wins in the National League (17-6). Peralta finished fifth in Cy Young voting and is now positioned to lead the Mets’ rotation.

What are the top Phillies storylines this spring?

Lauber: A year ago, Zack Wheeler would have been my choice to start one game for all the marbles. (Yes, over even Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes.) Wheeler is now five months removed from thoracic outlet decompression surgery. Every time he picks up a ball in spring training will be newsworthy, not only in determining when he will return to competition but what he looks like when he does. Will he still be an ace of aces?

March: Andrew Painter has been a top storyline for many springs now, from teenage phenom with a chance to make the team to his road back from Tommy John surgery. Well, he’s back now. Painter pitched 118 innings in 2025, all in the minors, never receiving the major league call-up expected in “July-ish.” This will finally be his first normal spring since 2023, and there is a rotation spot up for grabs. Will he earn it?

What’s the Phillies’ biggest roster decision?

Lauber: Although the decision to commit to Crawford was made early in the offseason, it’s about to play out in real time. At 22, he would be the youngest outfielder to make a Phillies opening-day roster since Greg Luzinski and Mike Anderson in 1973. As the Phillies turn over the keys to center field, Crawford will be at the center of attention.

March: The Phillies stocked up on potential bullpen depth this winter, making a host of minor league deals, a few trades, and a Rule 5 selection of McCambley. Six reliever spots are likely spoken for, barring injury: lefties José Alvarado and Tanner Banks, and righties Jhoan Duran, Keller, Orion Kerkering, and Bowlan. There will be some stiff competition for the final two spots.

Which prospect should fans look out for?

Lauber: As you watch Crawford and Painter, don’t take your eyes off Aidan Miller. The Phillies intend to expose the 22-year-old shortstop to third base in spring training, but it will be interesting to see how much third he actually plays — and how fast they push him if he starts hot in triple A and/or Alec Bohm falters again in April.

March: Gabriel Rincones Jr. made a big impression last spring with a couple of towering home runs. The outfielder was added to the Phillies’ 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 draft, and he could get a major league look at some point in 2026. Rincones, who will be 25 next month, struggles against left-handed pitching, so any opportunity would likely be in a strict platoon. But he has some big power potential against righties.

Upon signing with the Phillies as a free agent in 2024, Whit Merrifield figured he would get regular at-bats at multiple positions.

It didn’t work out that way.

Surely, then, Merrifield could relate to the deterioration of Nick Castellanos’ relationship with manager Rob Thomson last season over playing time, the fallout of which will lead the Phillies to trade or release Castellanos before spring training.

Merrifield, who retired last season, recently joined Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss that topic and more, including how his close friend Brad Keller will fit into the Phillies’ bullpen and the team’s unexpected pursuit of his former teammate Bo Bichette.

Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Phillies Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Q: What’s your view of the Phillies’ offseason? And where do you come down on how much change a team like that should be making to a roster that’s been together for a few years and had a lot of regular-season success, but just hasn’t gotten over the hump in October?

A: Well, there’s only one team that ends up winning the last game of the season. In baseball, man, that’s a hard thing to do. It’s such a volatile game. There’s so many ups and downs throughout the course of the year, so much has to go right at the right time for you to hoist that trophy at the end of the season. And for Philadelphia, they’ve got all the pieces. It just hasn’t quite peaked at the right time for them. But if you’ve got a team that’s consistently winning the division, it’s hard to fault the guys in the clubhouse and want to go with new guys. That’s a little unrealistic, in my opinion, especially if you’ve got guys that love being in Philly, love being in the clubhouse with the other guys, love playing for the other guys. It’s another thing if the guys feel like they’re going through the motions. But that’s not the feeling you get in that clubhouse. It’s a very driven group of guys. It’s a group of guys that want to bring a championship to Philly. And it just hasn’t quite happened yet. But there’s 29 other teams that are trying to do the same thing.

It’s not just a matter of, let’s go get all the best players. I mean, it’s easy to say because the Dodgers have done it the last two years. But they about met their match last year, really. They should have lost that series against Toronto, in my opinion. There were some things that happened that allowed L.A. to win over Toronto that probably should have gone the other way. But it’s just not as easy as going out and just being like, ‘Oh, we’re going to go get the best pitcher. We’re going to go get the best position player.’ You’ve got to have the right group of guys in every city. And I think Philly does. It’s just a matter of them getting over that hump.

Q: Nick Castellanos clashed with Rob Thomson a few times last year, especially after he lost his everyday job, and the Phillies are going to either trade him or release him before spring training. As a guy who was used to playing every day when you came to the Phillies and wound up coming off the bench, what was the communication about playing time like with Thomson?

A: It’s a big transition. It really is. Because as an everyday player, you’re used to the flow of the season. You’re used to the mindset of understanding that you’re going to have bad stretches, you’re going to have good stretches, but over the course of the full season, if you just keep doing what you’ve always done and what you’re used to doing, at the end of 162, everything will work itself out. As a bench guy, you don’t quite get that luxury. If you’re in a cold stretch, I might not play for another week unless something happens — somebody needs a day off or something. And if you catch a heater, it’s like, ‘OK, I might be able to earn some playing time, earn some at-bats doing this.’

And so, there’s a lot more innate pressure and focus on what you’re doing yourself vs. being in the flow of the game, trying to contribute to the team and almost like just playing the game. And it’s easy to sit back and say, ‘Oh, well, you should just always be playing to win’ and all that. And that’s not quite what I’m saying. What I’m saying is you don’t think about yourself as much and how you’re doing as much when you’re playing every day, because you know you’ll be in there the next day. And when you’re not, it’s just a different type of focus.

I’ve always said it’s why I wasn’t as good in the minor leagues because the minor leagues is all about you. It’s all about yourself. It’s all about getting your numbers so you can get the hell out of there and get to the big leagues. And my numbers in the minor leagues were not very good, except for I had one really good year. But besides that, they were very average to below average.

When I was in Philly, I’ve told people before, I think Rob Thomson was the best manager I ever had. My favorite manager of all time. I loved him. In any job there’s times when you’re going to disagree with your boss. Your boss has ultimately got to make a decision. And there’s times when you’re going to disagree. I thought that, coming into it, I had a chance to compete for an everyday outfield spot. And after the spring training I had, I thought maybe I had earned a good run to start the year, and didn’t quite get it. But Topper was very up-front with me about what was going on. And like, ‘You’re going to be playing three days this week. We got you [for] two games this series. Hey, we’re going to try to get you in the Sunday game of this series. But it depends on if this guy needs a day off, whatnot.’ And I felt like he was very up-front with me. And if he wasn’t, he’s got a lot going on.

Look, his worry is not catering to me and worrying about my playing time. He’s got a lot going on. But if I was at a point where I needed some knowledge of what they were thinking, he was the easiest guy to go in and talk to. It was never uncomfortable to knock on his door. ‘Hey, Topper, you got a second? What’s the deal? What’s going on? I haven’t played in three days? Is that what’s happening?’ And he was very communicative.

So, I don’t know how he and Casty’s relationship was. I think Casty is a genuinely good-hearted dude. He’s a little different, and he’ll tell you — he’s just a little different. He’s a little different guy, and he handles things a little differently. He’s very blunt. He’ll tell you exactly how he feels. There’s a little Zack Greinke in him, where he just tells you what he feels. And there’s usually not malicious intent behind it, but it can sound like that sometimes. And I think there are just some things that happen that Casty didn’t like along the way, and he’s not the guy to hide his feelings or sugarcoat it. And I think it just kind of came to a head.

Q: You were part of the players’ negotiating committee for the last collective bargaining agreement in 2022. With the owners supposedly pushing for a salary cap this time around, do you think baseball is headed for the cliff after the season?

A: I don’t know. I know that there is a hard no, a nonstarting conversation — unless that’s changed over the last couple of years — with the [players’ association] on a salary cap. And so, I don’t know if the league is just continuing to say it as a posturing stance, or what the serious level is behind a salary cap. And I know it’s a nonstarter for the PA. … It’s a weird thing now, because it seems like the owners have always been together, and the players have always been together. But now it seems like the owners have turned on the Dodgers, and so now, it’s like they’re fighting the Dodgers, along with fighting the players. I don’t know where that leaves us, and I’m not overly optimistic that there will be baseball on time in 2027.

I haven’t been a part of those conversations in two years, so I don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors. And frankly, I’ve spent enough time doing it; I don’t care to know anymore. I just sit back and watch from afar, because those were some long nights and long hours that I’m not missing being a part of. … I don’t think it’s in a good place. How bad it is, I don’t know. But I’m not optimistic that baseball will be starting on time in 2027.

Watch or listen to the full episode for Merrifield discussing what the Phillies are getting in reliever Brad Keller, one of his best friends, why he was surprised they pursued Bo Bichette, and more.