3 more Phillies players who won’t be back for the 2025 season
Which other Phillies players might be gone by the time next season rolls around?
After a disappointing finish to what began as a dominant 2024 year for the Philadelphia Phillies, they will be looking for answers in what has now become a long offseason ahead of them. The Phillies will be aiming to make the necessary changes to give themselves the best chances of avoiding another early playoff exit and making it all the way back to the World Series once again in 2025.
To do so, there will no doubt be some roster changes this offseason. We've already speculated that pending free agents Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez, along with trade deadline acquisition Austin Hays, will all not be returning to the Phillies next year.
Here are three more Phillies players whose chances of coming back for another year could be in serious jeopardy.
3 more Phillies players who won’t be back for the 2025 season
Spencer Turnbull
Last offseason, the Phillies took a chance with the potential low-risk, high-reward signing of free agent pitcher Spencer Turnbull to a one-year “show me” deal. Turnbull showed some great promise in potentially developing into an elite MLB pitcher during his 2020 and 2021 seasons with the Detroit Tigers. Unfortunately, his growth was derailed by a slew of injuries that ended up limiting him to just 16 starts over a three-year span from 2021 to 2023 with the Tigers.
With a fresh start, Turnbull’s tenure with the Phillies began on a strong note when he made the rotation out of spring training as a result of a shoulder injury to starting pitcher Taijuan Walker. Turnbull would post a solid 2-0 record with a sparkling 1.67 ERA and 0.84 WHIP with 36 strikeouts in 32 1/3 innings pitched over six starts to begin the year.
However, he was relegated to the bullpen upon Walker’s return from the IL. He struggled to a 4.26 ERA and 1.42 WHIP over 10 relief appearances. Just when Turnbull was about to get another chance in the rotation, Turnbull’s injury woes from the past came back to haunt him as he suffered what eventually turned out to be a season-ending right lat strain injury.
With the Phillies planning on giving Walker another crack at earning a spot in the starting five in 2025, along with top prospect Andrew Painter lurking in the wings, there doesn’t appear to be a spot available for Turnbull to challenge for in the starting rotation next season. The fact that he struggled in a relief role, along with his injury troubles, the Phillies will likely not take the risk with him this time around and move on from the injury-prone 32-year-old right-hander.
Kolby Allard
Another one of the Phillies’ offseason signings, Kolby Allard was inked to a one-year contract to add valuable pitching depth. As a former first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves back in 2015, Allard has struggled to find his game during the past six seasons in the big leagues split between the Braves and Texas Rangers. The Phillies were hoping that they could find a way to finally unleash his potential, taking on the risky yet workable reclamation project.
Allard spent the majority of the 2024 season in the minors with the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate Lehigh Valley IronPigs. With the IronPigs, he posted a 3-8 record with a 5.38 ERA and 1.61 WHIP, giving up 15 home runs, with 34 walks and 74 strikeouts in 82 innings over 20 games (which included 14 starts).
When he did get the call from the Phillies, he failed to impress in his brief stints with the big league club. In seven MLB appearances that included four starts, Allard posted a 5.00 ERA and 1.56 WHIP, giving up five home runs, along with 34 hits, eight walks and 23 strikeouts in 27 innings. More importantly, when the Phillies desperately needed a reliable fifth starter in the rotation after Walker’s run with injuries and ineffectiveness, Allard did not rise to the occasion to be the answer for the spot.
With Allard putting up similar underwhelming numbers that he has throughout his MLB career, it appears as though this could really be as good as he gets. He also has no minor league options remaining so the Phillies won’t have the ability to experiment with him again in the big leagues for the upcoming season.
With plenty of pitching options available in free agency this upcoming offseason, along with some potential internal options available in Painter and perhaps even Mick Abel as well, Allard’s tenure with the Phillies will likely be coming to an end this offseason.
Johan Rojas
Finally, it might be surprising to some to find Phillies’ outfielder Johan Rojas on this list. After all, the former top prospect has shown some promise since making his debut with the club last season. Without a doubt, his main calling card has been his elite speed and defense, registering 19 DRS since joining the big league roster. On top of that, Rojas actually batted a solid .302 with a .771 OPS, 24 runs scored, two home runs and 23 RBI in 59 games last year.
However, his bat was exposed during the 2023 playoffs, showing that a lot of work still needed to be done to make it MLB-ready. Unfortunately, despite some brief glimpses of hope from time to time, it remained Rojas’ weakness throughout the 2024 season as he compiled just a .243 average, .601 OPS, with 47 runs scored, 12 doubles, three triples, three home runs and 32 RBI over 120 games. His struggles played a huge role in preventing him from becoming the Phillies’ everyday starter in center field.
With not much improvement over the past year, Rojas is actually entering this offseason on shaky ground with regard to his future with the club. Especially after what Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in the end-of-season press conference.
“We like Rojas, but we need offensive improvement there from him,” Dombrowski said. “We have a plan for him from an offensive perspective … but I can’t say for sure he’s going to be our center fielder.”
On top of that, Dombrowski was impressed with the growth and development of top outfield prospect Justin Crawford and said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Crawford came in anytime to challenge for the outfield spot. There is also a long shot possibility of the Phillies pursuing big-time outfield free agent Juan Soto this offseason. If Philadelphia manages to pull it off, there'd automatically be one less spot in the outfield up for grabs.
As a result, Rojas will need to demonstrate some huge growth in his offensive game this offseason, or else he might not have a role by the time 2025 rolls around.
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