Dylan Harper scored 22 points and Victor Wembanyama needed only 10 to help the San Antonio Spurs bounce back from their first loss in 12 games and rout the 76ers 131-91 on Tuesday night.
The Spurs hit 18 three-pointers and wrapped their annual rodeo road trip with a 5-1 record. They had won 11 straight games overall before they lost Sunday to the New York Knicks.
There were no worries in Philly about a losing streak. San Antonio never trailed and led by 49 points at the end of the third quarter.
Devin Vassell hit six three-pointers and scored 22 points for the Spurs.
Tyrese Maxey scored 21 points for the Sixers. They scored only 11 points total in the third quarter.
The Sixers played again without Joel Embiid as he sat out the second of a scheduled three straight games with a strained right oblique. The 76ers were also without the suspended Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr. (illness), which left them undermanned and greatly overwhelmed from tip against the superior Spurs.
The Sixers lost VJ Edgecombe after he had a hard landing on his back on a three-point attempt in the first half.
The Spurs put on a show in front of Bob Costas, Doug Collins and more familiar broadcasters as part of a throwback night for NBC’s NBA coverage.
Sixers’ Adem Bona (right) and Spurs’ Luke Kornet battle for the ball in the first half of Tuesday’s game.
The Sixers would like to throw this one back.
Carter Bryant buried a three for to push San Antonio’s lead to 60-36 in the first half and the Sixers were booed off the court headed into a timeout. Harper scored 14 points in the half to take a 78-53 lead — all done without forward Harrison Barnes, who had his 364 consecutive games played streak end when he woke up from a nap with a sore ankle.
The Sixers host the Utah Jazz on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., NBCSP) for the second night of a back-to-back.
Johan Rojas might be a third-string center fielder who forces you to play with an eight-man batting order, but he is a man without an obvious replacement right now. The Phillies are going to need to figure one out soon, assuming the formality of the 25-year-old’s pending appeal of an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension that an Inquirer source says he faces.
Bryan De La Cruz? The 29-year-old nonroster invitee offers enough of a profile at the plate to suspend disbelief. But he hasn’t played center field in the big leagues since 2023, and even then, he did it in only seven games.
Dylan Moore? He played a couple of innings in center field last season but has only 105 in a seven-year big league career as a utility man. The 33-year-old nonroster invitee would make some sense as the third option in any given game. But it’s a stretch to think he’d make sense as a long-term sub.
Or, there is Pedro León, a 27-year-old who went 2-for-20 with 10 strikeouts in 2024 for the Astros. Houston waived him in November.
There aren’t any other options on the spring training roster, unless you count Edmundo Sosa in an emergency.
There is a reason the Phillies traded for Harrison Bader last July. It’s the same reason they were open to re-signing him early in an offseason that ended with him settling for a two-year, $20.5 million contract with the Giants. The Phillies are thin on center fielders and right-handed hitters, and even thinner on guys with both skill sets.
It’s a shame the Bader situation played out as it did. The Phillies’ offseason would look a lot different if they’d been able to sign him to something like a two-year, $25 million extension before he exercised his end of a mutual opt-out. There would have been more than enough at-bats to go around between righties Bader and Adolis García and lefties Brandon Marsh and Justin Crawford, as well as a better combination of depth and platoon ability. And if Bader came at the price of García going elsewhere, no worries. You can get a right-handed-hitting corner outfielder easier than you can a right-handed-hitting center fielder, and a lot of them cost less than García’s $10 million for the same amount of cross-your-fingers-and-pray.
Alas, here we are. It would betray a misunderstanding of the inner workings of the business of baseball to interpret Bader’s contract with the Giants as an unwillingness to match by the Phillies. They moved on and he moved on, and nobody would be thinking twice if the Mets didn’t offer an outlandish contract to Bo Bichette. None of that matters now.
The Phillies don’t have a choice but to scour the earth for someone who at least looks like a center fielder when you squint. Marsh has never played in more than 135 games in a big league season, which is 135 more than Crawford has ever played. That’s not a comfortable situation. The only unsigned free agent of note is Manuel Margot, who would leave everyone pining for Rojas.
Keep in mind, Rojas appeared in 71 games last season. At the start of that season, the organization’s depth chart looked pretty much as it does now. If you’d forgotten Rojas got that much playing time, it’s because he didn’t offer a lot to remember him by.
Johan Rojas’ .569 OPS last season ranked among the bottom 10% of MLB hitters with at least 170 plate appearances.
His .569 OPS ranked among the bottom 10% of MLB hitters with at least 170 plate appearances. He is one of only three center fielders out of 46 total to have an OPS lower than .600 while garnering at least 500 plate appearances over the last two seasons. His average exit velocity ranks second to last.
That would lead to an obvious question, if we hadn’t already covered the answer. Why did Rojas get so many at-bats? Because the Phillies didn’t have any better options. Sure, some wishful thinking factored in, as did an overemphasis on center-field defense. The math is a little more complicated than subtracting the surplus doubles a better defender robs from the surplus doubles a better hitter would have given you at the plate. But the fundamental logic holds, and Rojas failed it. Reality is, the Phillies were a better team last season with Rojas on the bench and Marsh in center field, even against lefties.
You can argue that they are no worse off for losing Rojas. It might be true, to a certain extent. Moore and De La Cruz could be as good as it gets unless someone shakes loose on cutdown day (local product Chas McCormick is in camp with the Cubs on a minor league contract). If finding a center fielder was easy, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
One word would describe 19-year-old Ethan Ruiz’s reaction to his newly renovated home: “Gobsmacked.”
“I don’t know how you turn what was here before into such a large space,” Ruiz said. “I guess it involved knocking down walls, but seeing it in its full extent — completely open. I love the open-air design of everything.”
The initiative led to Ruiz’s home in Northeast Philadelphia being renovated to create a more comfortable, accessible, and uplifting space as he continues treatment for his leukemia diagnosis.
“Every year we work with St. Christopher’s Hospital,” said Blair Listino, chair of Flyers Charities and an alternate governor of the Flyers who is the chief financial and administrative officer for Comcast Spectacor. “We work with social workers there who select a family that they think it would make a very big impact on in their lives to have a new home.
“This is the 10th house we’ve done and we’ve worked with a lot of organizations day in and day out. There’s different organizations here who’ve helped with the house. IKEA donated all the furniture. Sprouts [Farmers Market] stocked the kitchen. And we have Rheem who did the HVAC system for us.”
The basement at newly renovated home for 19-year old Ethan Ruiz and his mom features a home gym.
In 2025, Flyers Charities increased its financial contribution to the initiative to $100,000 due to the increased cost of building materials and the success of previous home renovations.
Flyers Charities financially supports Michael’s Way, a local nonprofit whose mission is to improve the lives of children with pediatric cancer, for the project while the wives and girlfriends of Flyers players act as interior designers for the house.
Ethan and his mother, Yomayra Carrer, were surprised with the news in October. Construction began in January with Flyers Charities and wives and girlfriends working alongside Fastrack Construction and IKEA to complete a full-scale renovation.
The renovation includes a new HVAC system, a new roof for long-term structural security, engineered hardwood flooring to reduce dust and allergens, new cabinetry, a home gym, walk-in closet, and new tile.
When asked what his favorite part of the renovation was, Ruiz said: “My room.”
Ruiz’s room was decorated with forest green walls, featured a gaming setup in the corner, and personalized with some of his favorite items — including a “Ghost of Yotei” poster, and album artwork from Tyler, the Creator’s “Chromakopia.”
One of the masterminds behind Ruiz’s room was Alex Sanheim, Travis Sanheim’s wife.
Ethan Ruiz’s newly renovated bedroom was decorated with forest green walls, featured a gaming setup in the corner, and personalized with some of his favorite items — including a “Ghost of Yotei” poster, and Tyler, the Creator’s “Chromakopia” album artwork.
“It’s tough to design something for someone else and still hope it’s exactly what they envisioned,” Alex Sanheim said. “And by his reaction, I think we nailed it. It was to be green and moody and have a gaming [setup]. I think the space works for him to enjoy gaming between school. Everything now, it’s just completely different.
“It truly wouldn’t be possible without every single person. I just truly don’t think that we give enough credit to everyone because it takes a village for sure.”
After getting to know the family, the Flyers’ wives and girlfriends took both Ruiz and Carrer’s interests in consideration to make their vision come to life. For instance, plants were something Carrer loved to have in her home. Going into the renovation, she was a little worried she would have no place for them.
“From my exact sitting position [in the living room], I can count like six of them,” Ruiz said.
Little did Ruiz know, he missed an entire cabinet of four additional plants to his right. Although the plants were a must have, for Carrer, the kitchen was the main star of the house — but it may take some time getting used to.
“I don’t know if I’m just like of a different tax bracket, so I don’t know this, but like, I didn’t even know that ovens could come in — dude, there’s two. And it’s split into one big one,” Ruiz said.
Carrer added: “We’re going to figure it out.”
Flyers Travis Sanheim (left) and Owen Tippett attended the unveiling of Ethan Ruiz and Yomayra Carrer’s renovated home on Tuesday.
When asked what would be the first thing they make in their new kitchen, they responded: “Empanadas.”
Despite the rainy conditions Tuesday, Gritty and Flyers players Jamie Drysdale, Bobby Brink, Owen Tippett, and Sean Couturier were there to witness the big reveal.
“Oh, they did a great job,” Couturier said. “I would probably let them redo our house altogether. They did an amazing job. Everything kind of fit together and I’m sure they’re happy with the end result.”
For the Ruiz family, the renovation was a dream come true.
“The way that I saw all the wives show up, the contractors, I know how stressful it was,” Carrer said. “But they were like, ‘No, this is something we want to do. We do it with joy in our hearts.’ So, to me it’s like they will forever be in my prayers. The contractors, the wives, the Flyers, Michael’s Way. It’s been a long journey, but it’s a beautiful one.”
Owen Tippett isn’t on Twitter these days. He has dropped some social media platforms that he didn’t feel were necessary or healthy for his mental space.
But he had heard through the grapevine about the artwork; he just hadn’t seen it yet.
“That’s unreal,” he said, almost in shock when shown the drawing of himself from the weekend. “Unreal,” he said, covering his agape mouth with his hand, still in shock. “Wow. That’s sick.”
On Saturday, the Flyers’ social media accounts had a picture of Tippett in his game-day fit, sporting a Kith sweater, baggy black jeans, and sunglasses. Local sports artist Dhwani Saraiya, who designed the Flyers’ opening night T-shirt, tweeted, “fit was so fire I had to draw it.” And the Edison, N.J., native did.
Tippett, who has popped up in Annie O’Donnell’s rapid-fire NHL fit reviews on Instagram for his style, followed that up with a Canadian tuxedo, fittingly in Toronto, on Monday. The two-piece set, also from Kith, was ordered just a few days earlier and arrived on his doorstep on Saturday before making the round on social media, notably on the NHL’s platforms.
(Editor’s note: The Canadian tuxedo ended up in O’Donnell’s latest fit review that dropped right after this story was published, stating: “This is the coolest Canadian tuxedo I have ever seen in my life.”)
This is the first year the players are not required to wear suits or business attire.
“I think when we found out we weren’t going to have a dress code, I think my wife had a little bit more fun with it than I did,” Ontario native Tippett said of his wife, Taylor. “Kind of got me out of my comfort zone a little bit, which is fine, from what I’m used to wearing, but yeah, I’ve had fun with it.”
Now, this isn’t a fashion story, but it’s about the old-fashioned mantra: “If you look good, you feel good.”
It’s about goalie Dan Vladař noting that the Flyers had swagger in the room on Saturday.
It’s about the Flyers feeling good on the ice, having won three straight for the first time since around Thanksgiving, and back in the playoff picture.
And it’s about the forwards, notably Tippett, who was promoted to the top line on Monday, needing to step up with Travis Konecny’s status up in the air. Konecny, who leads the team in goals (23), assists (34), and points (57), missed his second game of the season on Monday with an upper-body injury.
“Yeah, he’s a huge part of our team, both on the ice and in the locker room,” Tippett said. “Obviously, it’s a big, big role to fill. But I think I’ve said it a couple of times this year with [Tyson Foerster] going down and [Rodrigo Ābols] going down, and there’s been a few guys in here who have kind of missed games or missed some time.
“We all have to step up collectively.”
Coach Rick Tocchet said on Tuesday that he is hopeful Konecny can play Thursday when the Utah Mammoth visit Xfinity Mobile Arena (7 p.m., NBCSP). But if not, his absence will test the team’s depth. The expectation is that Tippett will remain on the top line with Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak.
According to Natural Stat Trick, in the Flyers’ 3-2 shootout win against the Maple Leafs, when the trio was on the ice at five-on-five, the Flyers had 10 shot attempts, five shots on goal, two scoring chances, and 57.15% of the expected goal share.
Owen Tippett has discussed the need to complement Flyers center Trevor Zegras (46).
“Obviously, it’s different with everyone you play with,” Tippett said of his game style. “I think the biggest thing [Monday] night was, obviously, making the simple plays and not trying to overcomplicate things. I know they play an offensive line, and when Trevor has the puck, he can create a lot, so it’s more just kind of give him space, but also support him at the same time.”
Tippett, Dvorak, and Zegras also played together at the beginning of the season, beginning in Game 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes, and Tippett has spent the second-most time with Zegras and Dvorak this season, trailing only Konecny.
Among the Flyers’ seven line combinations that have played at least 100 minutes together, Money Puck has the line ranked No. 2 in minutes (196.5), expected goals for (8.8), and expected goals against (8.7). Although shot attempts, shots on goal, scoring chances, and high-danger chances are almost even with what they give up — but above 50% — according to Natural Stat Trick, when they are on the ice at five-on-five, the Flyers have outscored the opposition 13-8. That’s the number that counts.
“Played with them a little bit at the start of the year,” Tippett said, “but it’s been a decent stretch since I’ve played with them. So, a little bit of chemistry was already there, but just trying to keep things simple and communicate as much as we can on the bench and on the ice.”
Tippett is sitting on 19 goals for the season, one shy of reaching the 20-goal mark for the fourth straight year.
“Yeah, I did,” Tocchet said when asked if he liked Tippett with that pair. “He had some speed. I thought there were some moments there [that if he had] one inch or two inches, he would have been gone. So he had a game where I thought he could add to that line.”
Breakaways
Defenseman Nick Seeler did not participate in practice on Tuesday after leaving Monday’s game late in the second period with a lower-body injury. Seen limping after the game, Tocchet said he is also a game-time decision. … Dvorak and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen also did not skate, but Tocchet said they had maintenance days. Ristolainen’s name has been prominent in trade chatter, but there is currently nothing imminent, The Inquirer has learned. Offers should start picking up soon with the trade deadline on Friday at 3 p.m.
Phillies outfielder Johan Rojas tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and is facing an 80-game suspension by Major League Baseball, a league source confirmed Tuesday.
Rojas will appeal the test result, the source said.
Phillies officials said Tuesday that MLB hasn’t contacted the team about Rojas’ status, although manager Rob Thomson said he was aware of reporter Wilber Sánchez’s post over the weekend that Rojas had failed a drug test.
Rojas was at the Phillies’ spring training complex on Tuesday but did not speak with the media. Officials from MLB, the MLB Players’ Association, and Rojas’ agent, Rafa Nieves, declined to comment.
Rojas was scheduled to play for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming World Baseball Classic but didn’t join the team in Miami over the weekend. D.R. general manager Nelson Cruz announced Monday that Rojas withdrew from the tournament for “personal reasons,” adding that the outfielder could explain himself at a later time.
The Phillies’ outfield depth would be diminished by a suspension to Rojas. Brandon Marsh, rookie Justin Crawford, and Adolis García are locked into outfield spots along with Otto Kemp, who hasn’t been a full-time outfielder.
Rojas was vying with veteran utility man Dylan Moore and fellow outfielders Pedro León and Bryan De La Cruz for the final spot on the bench. Rojas and León are on the 40-man roster. Moore and De La Cruz are nonroster invitees to camp, although Moore is due a $100,000 retention bonus to go to the minors if the Phillies don’t add him to the 26-man roster five days before opening day.
Rojas, 25, is regarded as an elite defender in center field but hasn’t produced much at the plate since an impressive 59-game debut as a rookie in 2023. He batted .224 with a .569 OPS in 172 plate appearances last season and got optioned to triple A midway through the year.
Among 316 players with at least 500 plate appearances since the beginning of the 2024 season, Rojas ranks 308th with a .591 OPS.
It’s unclear whether Rojas will continue to play in Grapefruit League games during his appeal.
Kelly Oubre Jr. will miss the 76ers’ home game Tuesday against the San Antonio Spurs with an illness, per the NBA’s injury report.
Oubre, a starting wing, has been enjoying one of the best seasons of his 11-year NBA career. He is averaging 14.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in 38 games, while often taking a challenging perimeter defensive assignment. He has increased his three-point shooting to 37.2%.
Without Oubre, combo guard Quentin Grimes will slide into the starting lineup. Second-year wing Justin Edwards will “for sure” reenter the rotation, coach Nick Nurse said during his pregame news conference.
The Sixers also will play against the 43-17 Spurs without Joel Embiid (oblique) and Paul George (suspension).
On Tuesday, Philadelphia Soccer 2026, in conjunction with the city, officially launched the “How do you Phan?” campaign at the Comcast Technology Center Concourse to commemorate the milestone.
The event, emceed by Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham, featured performances by the Universal African Dance and Drum group — along with appearances by Philadelphia mascots Swoop, Gritty, and Phang.
“Let’s get an E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles real quick,” Graham said to open the event. “We’ve got a hundred days till the World Cup comes to our city. I hope y’all are all ready. Today, we got to get hype, this is a big event.”
International drummers and dancers perform during a rally celebrating 100 days until the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday at the Comcast Center.
Ready to be a fan?
Hundreds of fans stood in line to receive free merchandise — including shirts, hats, flags, and commemorative miniature posters — before remarks from Michelle Singer, co-chair of Philadelphia Soccer 2026 and Meg Kane, the chief executive for the Philadelphia Soccer 2026 host committee.
“This is exactly the kind of energy the world will experience when they come [to] Philadelphia this summer,” Singer said to an excited crowd. “As co-chair of Philadelphia Soccer 2026, I have the great privilege of working alongside an amazing team across the city and throughout Pennsylvania to prepare for one of the largest global events in the world.
“We know six matches will be hosted at the Linc will have a tremendous impact on our city. But what makes the World Cup even more powerful is the opportunity to showcase who we are as a city.”
— FIFA World Cup 26 Philadelphia™ (@FWC26Philly) March 3, 2026
After Philadelphia Soccer 2026 live premiered their “How Do You Phan” campaign video, Kane highlighted the eight known teams set to compete in Philadelphia — Brazil, France, Croatia, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Haiti, and Curaçao — and encouraged fans to embrace each country’s culture, food, and even football chants.
Kane, who helped plan Philadelphia’s Papal visit in 2015, directed the crowd to Philadelphia Soccer 2026’s website for recently released “tool kits” that teach Philadelphians how to be fans of the incoming teams.
“We need to get ready in Philly,” Kane said. “We need to have a rooting interest. We love when we are watching a sporting event, and we want a winner. Like we’re rooting for someone. A great story, a great player, a great team. We have done it for all of our teams.
The Flyers, the Sixers, the Union, the Eagles, the Phillies — we’ve done it all. We brought the bedlam to the bank. We have shown everything about our sports passion and our fandom and that’s why today, it’s about bringing our energy to the global stage.”
Eagles defensive Brandon Graham (left) stands alongside Meg Kane, host city executive and CEO of Philadelphia Soccer 2026, in Tuesday’s pep rally celebrating 100 days until the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Man of the people
If you are unfamiliar with soccer, the sport, don’t worry — so is Graham.
After the event, Graham stuck around briefly to take photos and talk with fans, mentioning his partial favoritism for the Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) national team, but also admitting his unfamiliarity with the sport.
“No,” he said when questioned on if he grew up a fan of soccer. “Just played FIFA on the game, that’s as close as I got.”
Despite his unfamiliarity, Graham is still excited to learn what is in store for this summer.
“I came to the [Premier League matches] when it was at the Linc,” Graham said. “That was cool, and now, I can’t wait to see what it’s all about.”
Next steps
There is still plenty to do before the first kickoff of World Cup matches in Philly, when Ivory Coast opens what will be the first of five group stage games against Ecuador on June 14 (7 p.m., FS1).
Philadelphia Soccer 2026 and the city of Philadelphia are still ironing out safety and transportation plans, according to Kane, while simultaneously working with FIFA to get Lincoln Financial Field up to shape ahead of the games,
On top of it all, Philadelphia Soccer 2026 is looking to announce updates regarding their free Fan Festival, set to be hosted at Lemon Hill in Philadelphia’s Brewerytown neighborhood, in the coming weeks.
A rendering of what Philadelphia’s World Cup fan fest site at Lemon Hill Park is expected to look like.
“The Lemon Hill and FIFA fan festival is a key component of our planning,” Kane said. “So really focused on that and getting ready to hopefully make some announcements about what people can expect at Lemon Hill in the coming weeks. It’s going to be an incredible event. It’s going to be one of those spectacular, unexpected moments of the tournament for people who live here and for visitors alike.”
According to Kane, the city plans to invest $5.2 million into the park ahead of the World Cup, which will be partially spent on ADA accessible ramps, better lighting, paved walkways, and an improved playground noted as “quality of life improvements.”
“I think that one of the things that has been so incredibly heartening and productive around the planning is that the city really leaned in with Philadelphia soccer 2026 around community engagement and hearing from the community about their concerns,” Kane said. “But also, their hopes for the park. It is a beautiful park, and one that has not necessarily been invested in over the last 40 years. So for us, it’s exciting that we’re able to put some preliminary infrastructure in that is going to allow us to host this festival there.”
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — The Phillies’ 3-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Rays on Tuesday afternoon was very much a spring training affair. Their defense was sloppy. Rafael Marchán failed to block a wild pitch in the first inning. He and shortstop Erick Brito made throwing errors, and Brandon Marsh misplayed a ball in right field.
But there were some positives — Marsh’s health among them. After suffering a minor hand injury while sliding during practice in late February, he returned to Grapefruit League play on Tuesday.
Marsh went 1-for-3 with a strikeout, but most importantly, did not feel pain in his hand when he was swinging.
“It felt good,” Marsh said of his hand. “Today was great. Health-wise, felt good. Performance-wise, some a little bit better [than others], but the whole goal was to get through today without feeling it, and we did. So that’s perfect.”
Justin Crawford, who was playing in his sixth game of the spring, roped a hard-hit single to left field in the first inning that came off his bat at 100.2 mph. He’s slashing .316/.350/.474 in 19 at-bats.
Designated hitter José Rodríguez put the Phillies on the board with an RBI single to center field in the fifth. The Phillies combined for eight hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts.
Phillies center fielder Justin Crawford singles during the first inning on Tuesday.
Who stood out
Infielder Aroon Escobar showed some pop in the fifth, hitting a ground-rule double that traveled 328 feet and left his bat at 110 mph. It was Escobar’s second hit of the spring (and the hardest hit of the day).
On the mound
Right-handed pitcher Alan Rangel made the start. He threw 43 pitches in 1⅔ innings, 23 of which were strikes. He allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit with two walks.
Righty Jack Dallas entered in relief of Rangel and allowed one hit. Reliever Lou Trivino entered in the third, pitching one frame, allowing one unearned run on one hit with one walk.
Rule 5 pick Zach McCambley, who would need to be added to the opening day roster or be placed on waivers, made his fourth appearance of the spring. He threw a 1-2-3 inning with one strikeout, lowering his spring ERA to 2.25. Seth Johnson followed that with a 1-2-3 innings of his own in the fifth.
He returned for the sixth and retired his next two batters on a flyout and a strikeout before being replaced by Nolan Hoffman. Hoffman pitched 1⅓ innings and allowed two hits with one strikeout.
Andrew Walling pitched the eighth, recording three strikeouts with one hit.
Manager Rob Thomson was particularly impressed with the last four.
“Johnson has pitched extremely well his last two or three times out,” Thomson said. “Hoffman has been good throughout. It was good to see McCambley using the cutter and the slider and throwing strikes.
“And Walling had a rough outing his last time out and bounced back and really threw the ball well.”
On deck
The Phillies will play an exhibition game against Team Canada at BayCare Ballpark on Wednesday (1:05 p.m., NBCSP+).
Phillippe Aumont retired from baseball in the summer of 2020 after the pandemic paused the major league season. Once a Phillies prospect, Aumont had been a professional since he was 18. He grew up in Canada, dedicated his life to baseball, and pitched in 46 big-league games with the Phillies before deciding it was finally time to leave the game. He needed to find something else.
So he became a farmer, purchasing 220 acres of land in his hometown in Quebec. And the first animals he acquired were pigs.
“I played for the IronPigs for the longest of times, and I remember we used to always get those bacon slices,” said the 37-year-old Aumont, who spent five summers in Allentown with the Phils’ triple A team. “Now, I was like, ‘Well, I can probably produce pig meat for the IronPigs’. That would be hilarious. I used to wear my IronPigs gear to go and wrestle the pigs and move them.”
Even as a farmer 400 miles from the Lehigh Valley, Aumont was reminded of baseball. Shaping his new identity was not as easy as purchasing land.
“To be honest, it took longer than I thought to get comfortable,” Aumont said. “You’re stepping away from the game because you’re like, ‘This is enough. There’s plenty of stuff in the world to do. I have a family now. I want to do other things.’ But the baseball player inside never dies. It’s fun, but it also feels like a curse. You can’t let him go. It was you your whole life. But you have to let him go. It took me a while.”
Phillippe Aumont (middle) pitched for Team Canada during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Aumont hangs his old Phillies jerseys in a closet and still has his baseball cards. His baseball life is finally behind him, but his arm is not yet done. He’ll pitch this month in the World Baseball Classic for Team Canada, which plays Wednesday in an exhibition against the Phillies in Clearwater, Fla. Aumont is scheduled to pitch against the Phils.
Aumont last pitched there in 2015 as a Phillie struggling to hold onto a dream. He’ll return this week with a new perspective.
“Let’s say you see Daniel Radcliffe and you’re going to be like, ‘Holy s—. That’s Harry Potter.’ But, no, it’s Daniel Radcliffe,” Aumont said. “It was always, ‘Hey, Phillippe. He’s the guy who plays for the Phillies.’ There was no human to it. At some point, you’re like, ‘OK, I need to make a separation, and I need to find an identity.’”
Phillippe Aumont wrapped up his career on a minor league deal with the Blue Jays in 2020.
Leaving the game
Aumont spent spring training in 2020 with the Toronto Blue Jays on a minor league deal after spending the previous season with an independent-league team in Ottawa. It seemed like one last shot to keep his career churning. The pandemic closed spring training, and Aumont returned to Canada.
His first daughter was born the previous summer, making the baseball lifestyle — “hotels, planes, trains, buses, big cities,” Aumont said — harder to fathom. So when a farm in his hometown of Gatineau, Quebec, hit the market that summer, Aumont and his wife, Frédérique, pounced. They already had planned to buy a ranch, as Frédérique grew up riding horses. Buying the farm accelerated their plans. Aumont told the Blue Jays he was finished.
“I loved baseball, but I didn’t love it as much as I loved my kid,” Aumont said. “I just felt like there was a shift in priority back then, and I made a decision based on that. No regrets. Sometimes, I’m like, ‘Damn, I could still be playing. I could’ve turned it around somewhere else and kept the career going.’ But, no. I own up to my decisions, and I think they were the best at the time.”
The Aumonts named their farm La Ferme Pure Alternative, and their introduction seemed easy, as Aumont said prices were low during the pandemic.
“It was, like, more expensive to buy water than gas back then,” Aumont said.
But that soon changed. The expenses of farming caused the couple to shift plans. They no longer grow crops, instead leasing land to farmers who do. The Aumonts raise chickens, rabbits, and pigs and sell meat. They also have horses.
“I was raised on real meat. I’m going to die on real meat,” Aumont said. “We’re going to try to produce clean food as much as we can for a decent amount of money. We’re not trying to sell filet mignon for 75 bucks a pound. We’re slowly doing the things that we want on the farm, and hopefully it grows to something bigger and nice when we do retire, or if we ever retire. Or we just hand it to our daughters.”
Former Phillies pitcher Phillippe Aumont at home on his farm in Quebec.
The farm is just 30 minutes from Ottawa, which Aumont said is close enough to be near a major city but far enough to feel secluded. He no longer plays baseball or keeps his arm loose, but there’s a facility near his farm where he worked out a few weeks before joining Team Canada. This month’s World Baseball Classic is Aumont’s second WBC with the Canadian team since he retired. He knows how to get ready.
Aumont keeps up with the farm while working an administrative job with the Canadian government and finishing schoolwork to become a building inspector. He’s no longer just a baseball player.
“It’s fun,” Aumont said. “I get to take that guy with me once again, and then I come back home, put him back in the box, and move on to being a husband, dad, and friend.
“It’s our lives. It’s how we wake up everyday. When people come here, they’re like, ‘Wow, it’s quiet.’ This is our daily life. It was definitely a culture shock when we first came. Now I just wake up to the sound of the rooster.”
Phillippe Aumont made 46 appearances with the Phillies over parts of four seasons from 2012-15.
Finding peace
Aumont ended spring training in 2015 by packing his belongings in a red duffel bag and walking across the Phillies’ complex to the minor league camp. Six years earlier, he was acquired as part of the return in the trade that sent Cliff Lee to Seattle. But he could not crack the opening day roster for a team that lost 99 games. It was difficult.
He’s been to Clearwater as a fan since that afternoon — “I sat in center field,” he said — but has not yet pitched there in a game since his time with the Phillies ended. He could do that on Wednesday with Team Canada.
“I’m actually already nervous about it,” Aumont said. “I do have butterflies. I can’t hide it. It’s going to be emotional. I don’t know if I’ll be happy or sad. I don’t know.”
He hasn’t been back to Allentown, either, but would love to visit the Chipotle near the ballpark where he said he “definitely paid a few months’ rent.” And then maybe he could get back to Philadelphia, where his final big league appearance came in June 2015 with a painful four-inning start against St. Louis. Aumont became a free agent a few days later and spent the next five seasons bouncing around the minor leagues.
“Philly will always have a special place in my heart. It’s always a place where it’ll be warm to my heart,” Aumont said. “I do hope I get to go back and enjoy it from the outside with the family, and my daughters can see where I was playing one day. I’m looking forward to going back one day just as a fan. I’m not looking to get attention or anything. I just would love to go back, feel those memories, and go back down memory lane and enjoy it once again.”
And if Aumont ever makes it back to Philadelphia, he’ll be more than just a baseball player this time.
“We’re just doing the small things,” Aumont said. “We enjoy peace. We get our bits of society interaction when we want to. Other than that, we stay on the farm and raise our two daughters and produce our own meat. Then I play baseball when they need an old 37-year-old retired guy.”
It’s part of Derek Simpson’s job to be a good communicator, which has led the St. Joseph’s point guard to have some tough conversations.
Before this season started, Billy Lange departed from the program for a role with the New York Knicks and newly hired assistant coach Steve Donahue was promoted to take over the helm. Then on Dec. 23, Deuce Jones II, the team’s leading scorer, left the team, and St. Joe’s went on to drop its first two Atlantic 10 games.
It was time for a realistic evaluation. With 16 games remaining in the regular season, the players and coaches held a meeting to air out their grievances on Jan. 3.
Derek Simpson is leading the team in assists this season.
“It turned into like, ‘How do y’all want to do this?’” Simpson said. “Like ‘Derek, do you want to go out as a senior losing all these games?’ That was the question. ‘Justice [Ajogbor], did you come back this year to do all this [expletive]?’ It was eye-opening for a lot of us and it just helped us get some of our feelings out.”
The Hawks went back to work. Practices improved, pregame shooting was taken seriously, and more importantly — they started to win.
St. Joe’s is 19-10, riding a four-game winning streak entering Wednesday’s contest at Davidson (7 p.m.), and sit third in the Atlantic 10. Simpson has been one of the driving forces to the Hawks’ turnaround.
“It’s just those connections and those questions we have to ask each other that we’ve been doing.” said Simpson, who’s averaging 13.7 points and a team-high 5.1 assists. “When those things get on the money, we hit the shot. It’s like ‘Oh yeah, we already talked about that.’ So it turns into, ‘We good now.’
“Then all the fun starts to happen. Then we get the back door cuts, we get the dunks. If you’re not having fun, why are you playing the game?”
‘Go full throttle’
Simpson has had that mindset since he was a child.
His father, Ron, played basketball and is Rider University’s seventh all-time scoring leader. His mother, Kelli, swam and played tennis, while his sister, Courtney, was a soccer goalie at Loyola Maryland, and his other sister, Marissa, played softball.
Safe to say, sports run in the family.
Simpson often found himself on the sidelines of the South Jersey Titans, an AAU team Ron founded, watching the action as early as first grade.
“That kind of got me into the sport,” Simpson said. “My dad was like, ‘If you’re going to play, might as well take it serious, just like anything else.’ So I played basketball and football growing up until eighth grade. I stopped football because it was getting too much. … My dad, my mom always encouraged me if you’re going to do something, you might as well go full throttle.”
So that’s what he did, he played travel ball under his father, but eventually stopped because it was affecting their relationship.
Lenape graduate guard Derek Simpson is the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Lenape High School coach Matt Wolf recalled seeing Simpson play in a summer showcase as a rising freshman and was blown away.
“We had three games that day,” Wolf said. “The first game I looked at the former head coach, and I said, ‘Oh man, he’s definitely varsity.’ Then the second game he played I looked at him like, ‘Oh man, he’s going to play a lot this year.’ Then after the third game [I] went, ‘Oh my God, he’s going to be the starting point guard as a freshman.’”
Simpson made his impact at Lenape. He finished with 1,553 career points, the most in school history. He even played future teammate Dasear Haskins, then at Camden High School.
Simpson is still close with his former coach. Wolf reaches out after every St. Joe’s game, and last Christmas, Simpson returned to his old stomping grounds with former players.
Defining roles
Simpson landed at Rutgers in the 2022-23 season, where he spent his first two years of college ball. He averaged 7.7 points across 66 games before entering the transfer portal as a junior. There, he bumped into familiar faces.
Lange and former assistant coach Justin Scott recruited Simpson when he was in high school, and Lange clicked with his parents due to their South Jersey backgrounds.
A few years passed, and the opportunity to come to St. Joe’s arose again. He joined a team that had lost guard Lynn Greer III, but had Xzayvier Brown, all-time leading scorer Erik Reynolds II, and Suns forward Rasheer Fleming.
“Their stats, their achievements showed a lot in the games,” Simpson said. “Shooting the ball well, because they’re staying after practice for 30 minutes, just shooting, shooting, and shooting. Little details that they really picked up on were very eye opening to me.”
However, the three left the program this past offseason. Simpson, who averaged 8.7 points last year, was primed for a bigger role. But there was an adjustment period, the team didn’t click at first. A lot of the players, even the returners, didn’t play together much.
Simpson believes that has changed.
“It turned to me having a ball in my hands most of the games,” Simpson said. “Not that I was ever bad at that — I was always really good at that. That was my strength. I never was on a team in college where I had an opportunity to just have the ball in my hands, so this was the opportunity and I kind of just slowly stepped into it.”
Simpson became the main ball handler with ease, and it’s the first time since high school where he’s serving as a true point guard. His team leading assists are tied for first in the conference.
With two games remaining before conference tournament, the Hawks are in position for a top-four seed, which gives them a double bye. The team has clicked as of late, and Simpson is confident that St. Joe’s can hit its stride in the tournament.
