It's been an interesting offseason for the Philadelphia Phillies. After falling to the New York Mets in the NLDS, fans hoped for a shakeup during the offseason, but instead they were greeted with small but helpful moves, like outfielder Max Kepler, who can try and help last season's outfield problem and left-handed starter Jesús Luzardo to add to the already strong rotation.
The Phillies missed out on the big fish, like Juan Soto, Willy Adames and Garrett Crochet, just to name a few. But that doesn't mean that they can't be better than the team that won the NL East for the first time in 13 years last season. They'll just have to look inward for some extra support.
3 players on Phillies' 40-man roster who could make an underrated impact in 2025
Rafael Marchán
With the Phillies looking to give J.T. Realmuto extra time off his feet this season, Rafael Marchán is primed for a bigger role in 2025. In the 17 games he played last year while Realmuto was on the IL, Marchán slashed a .294/.345/.549 line with three home runs in 51 at-bats. In just his third game with the team, he went 4-for-4 with two RBI.
More notably, he filled in seamlessly on the defensive end. His 1.87 pop time ranked fourth out of all the catchers in the league and was just 0.02 seconds behind Realmuto's, who led the league. During his limited run with the team in 2021, Marchán threw out 40 percent of the runners trying to steal against him and threw out over 30 percent of runners while in the minor leagues in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, the number dipped down to 27 percent, which is just a tick below average.
Injuries have hindered the 25-year-old catcher though. He suffered a lower back injury last year in spring training and was out up until late May, and then a shoulder injury in August cost him another chance to be with the big league team. Assuming Marchán stays healthy, which has been a big "if" thus far, his production in his limited time with the club may be enough to promote him as the backup catcher over Garrett Stubbs.
Another caveat to the backup catcher debate is the fact that Stubbs has a minor league option left on his deal, while Marchán is out of minor league options, leaving the Phillies with a choice: Do they ride with the upside that Marchán brings to the table or stay with Stubbs, who is a much more defensive-based catcher.
Either way, a good and healthy spring training showing from Marchán could not only sway the Phillies to roll with him over Stubbs, but help ease the workload of Realmuto, who has been worked way more than any catcher since joining the Phillies.