Phillies: Breaking down the spring training roster battles

With spring training set to begin, let’s take a look at some of the roster battles set to take place in Clearwater for the Phillies.

The Phillies are set to begin spring training this week! It’s been four and a half months since they last played. With the Eagles now champions and their season over, we can finally start looking forward to baseball season.

As with every year, there are a few roster battles that will be hashed out over the month and a half the team is in Clearwater. Most of the main pieces on the roster are settled, but the last few spots are up for grabs between prospects, non-roster invitees, and returning members from the 2017 team. Let’s break down the battles set to take place in spring training this year.

Backup catcher

Easily the most-talked about roster battle this spring will be who backs up Jorge Alfaro at catcher. Cameron Rupp and Andrew Knapp were the Opening Day catchers last year, but now they are pitted against each other to determine who will be behind Alfaro. Both can be optioned back to Triple-A.

Defensively, choosing between Knapp and Rupp is a wash. Knapp was worth -8.8 runs below average and had -8 defensive runs saved last year. Rupp was worth -10.3 runs below average and had -10 defensive runs saved. Rupp has the edge when it comes to catching runners stealing; he had a 29 percent caught stealing rate compared to Knapp’s 20 percent.

This battle will likely be determined by whether the coaching staff appreciate’s Rupp’s power or Knapp’s on-base ability more. Rupp hit 14 home runs in 88 games last year, but he hit just .217 with a 34.4 percent strikeout rate. Meanwhile, Knapp hit just three home runs in 56 games, but he had a 15.2 percent walk rate and posted a .368 on-base percentage. The signing of Carlos Santana and the decision to replace Freddy Galvis with J.P. Crawford both show a preference to players with high OBPs, indicating the club might go with Knapp over Rupp.

Back of the rotation

The Phillies are reportedly still looking for a veteran starter to add to the rotation, but as it stands now, the rotation will be largely unchanged compared to last year. The first three spots will go to Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, and Vince Velasuqez; the last two are up in the air.

Nick Pivetta, Ben Lively, Jake Thompson, Zach Eflin, and Tom Eshelman all could push for those last two spots. The first four all started for the team last year with middling results. Pivetta flashed a high strikeout rate but little control and had the fifth-highest ERA of any pitcher with more than 130 innings. Lively started his major-league career off strong but did not post great numbers overall after a so-so finish. Thompson and Eflin have been wildly inconsistent in the majors, with Eflin dealing with injury the last two years. Eshelman showed plenty of upside in the minors last year, but he is not on the 40-man roster and obviously has no major-league experience.

Ultimately, this battle could and likely will be very close, being determined at the end of camp. Pivetta and Lively both showed enough potential last year to warrant a chance this season. However, good camps from Eflin or Thompson could alter those plans. Eshelman is the wild card here and if the coaches feel strongly about him, he could work his way onto the roster.

Infield bench

With Andres Blanco now a Giant, the Phillies are in search of a new utility infielder. There are plenty of infielders in camp that all could be making a push for a spot.

Of course, the bench situation is complicated by what happens with the bullpen. Both general manager Matt Klentak and manager Gabe Kapler expressed interest in carrying an eight-man bullpen this year to lessen the load on the rotation. This would leave the club with a four-man bench, increasing the need for versatility.

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The front-runner for this job is Pedro Florimon. He had a ridiculous .533 batting average on balls in play in his 15-game stint in the majors with the Phillies last year. However, his season was cut short when he dislocated his ankle on first base. Florimon is back on a non-roster invite this year and has a strong chance to make this time around. He has the versatility needed; he played six different positions in his brief time in the majors last year.

Ryan Flaherty is another option for the job. He never was a great hitter during his tenure in Baltimore, but the former Oriole played every infield position and both outfielder corners.

Strong camps from other players like Tommy Joseph, Will Middlebrooks, and Jesmuel Valentin could force the team into a complicated situation. They would either have to sacrifice a fifth outfielder or the eighth reliever to accommodate but one of them, but it’s within the realm of possibility.

Outfield

While the players in the outfield are mostly set, how the playing time will be allocated is still up in the air. More specifically, how Nick Williams and Aaron Altherr split time in right field will be worth following.

Both had strong seasons in 2017. Altherr posted All-Star like numbers but just couldn’t stay healthy. Williams had a strong rookie debut of his own, hitting 12 home runs with an .811 OPS in 83 games. They could’ve both been starters this year in right and left field, but the move of Rhys Hoskins to left field prevented that from happening.

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Altherr and Williams could form a strong righty-lefty platoon in right field that would produce 25-30 home runs. On the other hand, if one looks much stronger than the other in spring training, the club could opt to use the other as the fourth outfielder. Alas, that is what Baseball Prospectus’s PECOTA projection expects as Altherr is projected to get 20 percent of the plate appearances in right field, 10 percent in left, and five percent in center.

Altherr makes sense as the fourth outfielder as he can man all three outfield positions (to varying degrees of success), while Williams is limited to the corners.

Depending on how other situations on the team pan out, the Phillies could carry a fifth outfielder as well. Beat writers are expecting Roman Quinn to fill that role if he can stay healthy, which is never a guarantee. Dylan Cozens is another option, but he struggled heavily in Triple-A last year. If Quinn can’t make it, the team may opt to roll with four outfielders with Carlos Santana or Pedro Florimon serving as emergency options.