The Phillies begin spring training games today in Lakeland and Clearwater.
The Phillies will play their first spring training games on Saturday. The club will play a game in Lakeland against the Detroit Tigers and in Clearwater against the New York Yankees. The home game against the Yankees will be televised so fans can get their first glimpse of the Phillies and some prospects.
It is pretty common that many of the top players do not appear in a team’s first spring training game. In Clearwater, the Phillies lineup will feature familiar names such as, Brandon Marsh, Alec Bohm, Darick Hall, Edmundo Sosa, and Garrett Stubbs. The recently acquired Josh Harrison will also be in the starting lineup. Typically bigger name players do not travel in split-squad games. However, in Lakeland the Phillies will get Nick Castellanos in the lineup, along with Dalton Guthrie and Scott Kingery. Kingery has become an interesting name to watch as a player who could make the Opening Day roster if he outperforms his competition.
Many of these players will not play more than a few innings. However, there is still a reason to keep watching. According the The Athletic’s Matt Gelb, the Phillies will feature some interesting prospects in the later innings in Clearwater. An interesting pitching prospect to watch is Andrew Baker. Not to be confused with Andrew Painter, Baker is a relief pitching prospect who can throw absolute heat. In 2022 at Jersey Shore and Reading, Baker struck out 72 batters in 54 1/3 innings. Baker’s issue was his lack of control. If he can cut back on walks, it would not be surprising to see Baker in Philadelphia sooner rather than later.
Two outfield prospects that are set to appear in Clearwater today are Ethan Wilson and Gabriel Rincones Jr. Wilson is a 23 year-old prospect who projects to be a corner outfielder. He showed tremendous ability to hit in college. However, he has struggled to hit at the professional level since being drafted in 2021. The Phillies believe that he has improved his contact and is barreling the ball up a bit more which shows there is promise for him to become a better hitter at a professional level. Given his age, Wilson is worth watching today and the rest of the spring to see how he progresses.
Rincones is projected to play corner outfield or first base. The biggest part of his game is his bat. He is a left-handed hitter who has begun to display some big power potential. At just 21 years old, Rincones has some time to develop into a more well-rounded hitter. Given his ability to hit fastballs and his power potential, he is someone that could be interesting to watch this spring and over the course of the regular season to see how he progresses in the minor leagues.
There will be plenty of storylines to follow as spring training progresses. These are a few to watch today as we can officially say that baseball is back!
