10 Phillies Spring Training Matters the Most For

With most of the roster set and so many spots occupied by veterans, spring training performance is an afterthought for all but a few Phillies.

There won't be trepidation, for example, if Kyle Schwarber or Trea Turner hit .215 in the Grapefruit League. If Brandon Marsh or Bryson Stott hit .330, it's not an indication they'll have a huge April. For the vets, spring training is mostly about staying healthy and easing the body into the grind of 162. For every example of a hot spring translating, there are several more that proved meaningless.

The next five weeks will be crucial for some Phillies, though. Between top prospects, young players on the cusp of the majors and veterans battling for their baseball lives, these are the 10 Phillies most in need of a strong spring:

The top prospects

Andrew Painter is trying to establish himself as a member of the rotation after struggling with command at Triple A in 2025, his first season back from Tommy John surgery.

If he pitches well this spring, Painter has a chance to begin the season as the Phillies' No. 4 or 5 starter in a rotation that awaits the return of Zack Wheeler and will also include Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Taijuan Walker.

Justin Crawford has the inside track to the Phillies' everyday center field job and would need to scuffle all spring to lose it. He figures to bat eighth or ninth during the regular season but could lead the team in plate appearances during camp.

The Phillies' front office has talked Crawford up all offseason as one of the pieces of change to a lineup that has remained mostly the same. It would be shocking if the job went to anyone else. There's nothing left to prove at Triple A after hitting .334/.411/.452 last season with 46 stolen bases.

Crawford is a major X-factor for the 2026 Phillies. He's one way to eventually elongate this lineup if he can perform well enough to move up in the batting order.

Aidan Miller is farther away than Painter and Crawford and might not debut in the majors until 2027, but this spring is huge for him all the same. It's a second year in big-league camp for Miller to observe the Turners and Bryce Harpers of the world. Every player feels more comfortable the second time than the first.

Miller has played shortstop exclusively in the minors but the assumption has long been that when he cracks the big-league roster, it will be at third base. Alec Bohm is a free agent after the season. In a perfect world for the Phillies, Miller thrives this year in a full season at Triple A before moving up to fill the infield void in '27.

Miller will play both short and third this spring and will receive plenty of playing time, particularly when Edmundo Sosa departs for the World Baseball Classic the first week of March.

The backup to Realmuto

Rafael Marchan and Garrett Stubbs will compete again to back up J.T. Realmuto.

It was no surprise last spring that Marchan won the backup job because he was out of options and Stubbs was not. The Phillies would have risked losing Marchan if they didn't break camp with him. This year, both are out of options with Stubbs the likelier of the two to stick in the organization if passed through waivers.

Marchan appeared in 42 games last season and hit .210/.282/.305 with four doubles and two home runs in 118 plate appearances.

Stubbs appeared in five games in September after playing 71 at Triple A with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The Phillies still value his game-planning and familiarity with their pitching staff.

The fifth outfielder

There is probably one spot available on the Phillies' bench with the other three going to Edmundo Sosa, Otto Kemp and the backup catcher.

That final spot could go to a host of players: a right-handed-hitting veteran outfielder like Bryan De La Cruz, a left-handed-hitting power prospect like Gabriel Rincones Jr., a utilityman like Dylan Moore or a defensive specialist like Johan Rojas.

A lot of it will come down to spring training performance and which skill set the Phillies deem most useful. Cases could be made for any of them.

Veterans fighting for their baseball lives who have seen live pitching all offseason tend to perform the best in spring training and that description certainly fits De La Cruz. He had a couple of decent years with the Marlins, hitting 19 homers in 2023 and 21 in 2024. At various points over those two seasons, Phillies manager Rob Thomson referred to him as the hitter to avoid in a Marlins lineup that lacked thump.

Rincones had a big year at Triple A in 2026, hitting .240/.370/.430 with 18 home runs and 73 RBI. He walked 80 times and had a .943 OPS after July 1. He turns 25 on March 3, is on the 40-man roster and is at the point in his career where it makes sense to see what he's got.

Sosa and Kemp are right-handed hitters and that might make the Phillies lean more toward a left-handed bat for the final bench spot. You can easily envision a scenario where all five lefty bats (Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Marsh, Stott and Crawford) start and a righty pinch-hits in the middle innings for Marsh, Stott or Crawford. At that point, it would be helpful to have another left-handed bat on the bench to combat a late-inning right-on-right matchup.

It's February 11, so there's plenty of time for all of that to work itself out.

Aaron Nola

Maybe an unconventional choice given he's a veteran whose spot is secure, but will Nola be at 87 mph with his sinker this spring? Can he average 90? It might not matter either way, but it took longer than usual for his velocity to creep up last season and it never truly did. There were points in April when he was still 88-89 regularly.

For his career, Nola's fastball has averaged 91.4 mph before May 1 and 92.3 mph after. He's always been a slow builder but it would be a good sign if his arm looks more live this spring than it did last.

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