What Happened in Phillies' Untelevised Tie at Nationals

The Phillies played a rare night spring training game Monday on the opposite coast of Florida from Clearwater, nearly four hours away at the Nationals' West Palm Beach home.

As usual, only a select group of veterans made the long trip over and some of the same ones could be involved in Tuesday's 1:05 p.m. game against the Marlins in Jupiter, which is about 20 minutes away from the Nats' facility.

The Phillies and Nationals tied, 5-5, on Monday, electing not to play an extra inning. Teams have the choice in spring training.

Rincon clears the bases

The biggest hit by a Phillie was a sixth-inning three-run double down the right-field line by defensive-minded shortstop Bryan Rincon. He kind've just poked his bat out and doubled to an unoccupied area of right field, with the ball rolling all the way to the wall. It came off of 25-year-old right-hander Andre Granillo, who had 14 games of big-league experience last season with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Rincon, who turned 22 this month, was named the best defensive infielder and best infield arm in the Phillies' farm system by Baseball America after last season. The highest level he has reached so far is High-A Jersey Shore, where he's hit .196/.320/.309 in 576 plate appearances the last two years.

Other position players

The Phillies' only other extra-base hit on the night was a first-inning Adolis Garcia double off of Nats right-handed starter Jake Irvin.

Garcia and Justin Crawford played five innings apiece in the field, leaving the game after their third plate appearance as is customary at this point of spring training. Edmundo Sosa (two singles), Otto Kemp and Garrett Stubbs exited the next inning.

Some of the Phillies' backups to enter late Monday were veteran utilityman Dylan Moore, 2024 first-round pick Dante Nori and third baseman Aroon Escobar, who ended last season ranked as the organization's No. 5 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. All three were hitless.

Pitchers of note

The game was started by right-hander Alan Rangel, who made five appearances in the major leagues with last year's Phillies and 25 starts at Triple A. He figures to spend most or all of 2025 with Lehigh Valley.

Rangel may have been scheduled for two innings as fellow depth starter Bryse Wilson was this past Saturday but ended up going only one because it was a lengthy, 27-pitch openine frame.

He was followed by 29-year-old right-hander Chase Shugart, who owns a 3.52 ERA and 1.14 WHIP the last two seasons in 41 big-league appearances with the Pirates. The Phillies acquired Shugart from Pittsburgh in mid-January in exchange for minor-league infielder Francisco Loreto as they tried to put together optionable relief depth. Shugart has one option year remaining, meaning he can be freely moved between minors and majors, an important trait for the final man in a bullpen.

Shugart pitched a scoreless inning, as did 34-year-old vet Lou Trivino in the third.

Trivino, who does not have options remaining, is also battling for one of the Phillies' final two bullpen spots. He made 10 appearances with them last season, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and five walks. Trivino was excellent with the 2021 A's and in a half-season with the 2022 Yankees but suffered an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery and cost him all of 2023 and most of '24. He's been working his way back to a consistent big-league roster spot since.

The fourth inning belonged to 23-year-old right-hander Yoniel Curet, one of the more interesting arms in Phillies camp. Curet made 80 starts in Tampa Bay's minor-league system before being designated for assignment at the end of last season.

Curet led all of minor-league baseball in strikeouts while at Single A and Double A in 2023 and' 24 with 303 in 223 innings. He actually entered last season ranked 61st on Fangraphs' Top 100 prospects list. He pitched well in five starts at Double A and poorly in seven starts at Triple A in 2025.

The Phillies took advantage after the season of Tampa's limited number of 40-man roster spots compared to their own, acquiring him for Tommy McCollum, a reliever three years older with less upside.

Curet, like Shugart, has an option year remaining.