Every spring when Philadelphia Phillies players roll into Clearwater, Florida, fans get excited for the possibilities the upcoming season could bring. It’s hard not to feel optimistic when we get our first images of baseball from the sunny fields of the Carpenter Complex and BayCare Ballpark.
While baseball fans first and foremost look ahead to the potential for their team's success, that success hinges on individual performances from the 26-man roster. And every spring training, whether it’s from the excitement of just having baseball back or wearing rose-colored glasses tinted by that springtime optimism, fans and media alike tend to overreact to spring performances.
Phillies fans over the years have not been immune to these overreactions when players come out of the gate hot in February and March. Unfortunately, some of these impressive spring training performances haven’t carried over into regular season success. It's helpful to remember that the competition isn't always the best during spring training, with minor league pitchers you've never heard of, and may never hear from again, thrust into action against legitimate MLB hitters.
When Grapefruit League games get underway in less than a month, you can be sure that there will be players who overachieve in the Florida sunshine. It happens every year and it’s a good reminder that spring training really, in the grand scheme of things, means absolutely nothing once the regular season starts.
Here are the most recent Phillies spring training performances that fooled everyone
We don’t have to look back very far for a handful of good examples of this, of players who dominated and then fell flat on their face when the games started to matter. We'll start with the most recent standout spring training performance in 2025 from the Phillies' lone offensive addition last offseason.
Max Kepler, 2025
MLB veteran Max Kepler was signed in December 2024 and handed the every day left field job. He made a great first impression in Clearwater and had a blazing hot spring training. The newest Phillie hit .375 with a 1.175 OPS, three home runs and 11 RBIs in 50 plate appearances over 17 games.
Unfortunately, as Phillies' fans are all too well aware, Kepler couldn’t keep the mojo going once Opening Day rolled around. He eventually lost his full-time job in left, and despite a hot streak after the trade deadline finished the year batting .216 with a .691 OPS. He hit 18 home runs and drove in 52 in 127 games.
Needless to say, Kepler’s time in Philly was over as soon as the last out of the season was recorded. He still hasn’t latched on with a team for 2026 and might have a hard time doing so after his recent surprising 80-game PED suspension.
Jordan Romano, 2025
Another of the Phillies' disappointing 2025 additions was reliever Jordan Romano. His season was so bad that Phillies fans might forget that he looked brilliant during spring training last year.
After signing a one-year, $8.5 million contract coming off an injury-shortened season in 2024, the right hand made nine appearances in Grapefruit League action. The former two-time All-Star threw 8 2/3 scoreless innings, picking up eight strikeouts with just two walks and no home runs.
His stuff looked good, the results looked good. For a brief moment, it looked like the Phillies' strategy of bounce-back bargain hunting would pay off.
But as soon as the regular season began things unraveled for Romano. It started with a blown save on Opening Day and ended as an unmitigated disaster on the injured list. The 32-year-old posted an unseemly 8.23 ERA in 42 2/3 innings and gave up a career-high 10 home runs. He was the exact opposite of what the Phillies' bullpen needed last year.
Whit Merrifield, 2024
Jumping back one year earlier, we now come to the Phillies' only "big-name" addition for the 2024 season, Whit Merrifield. The veteran second baseman-turned-utility player was supposed to be the missing piece for the veteran Phillies to push their way back to the World Series. It didn’t turn out that way, even after the then 35-year-old's scorching hot spring training.
Coming off an All-Star season in 2024 with the Toronto Blue Jays, Merrifield picked up right where he had left off by batting .405 with a 1.143 and a pair of home runs in 16 spring training games. Fans were excited to see how his influence could help the team.
But like our other examples, once the games started to matter, Merrifield wilted and was a shell of the player we saw in the spring. He struggled and scuffled and just couldn’t get it together at the plate, hitting just .222 with a .625 OPS rate in 95 games before the Phillies finally cut their losses and released him on July 12.
Despite the lack of on-field results, Merrifield was perceived as a key figure in the clubhouse. Now retired, he has admitted that during his disastrous turn with the Phillies his focus had been elsewhere after the birth of his first child.
Jake Cave, 2023
Our final entry into this unfortunate list never came with the same expectations as a Kepler or a Romano or a Merrifield. Regardless, Jake Cave, who had signed the prior December, had himself a phenomenal spring training in 2023.
It looked like he might be able to take that next step and secure himself some playing time as a legitimate MLB option for the Phillies. In 18 Grapefruit League games that spring, Cave hit .462 with a bonkers 1.327 OPS, three home runs, and 14 RBIs.
The results didn't translate to the regular season, as Cave it just .212 with a .620 OPS over a couple of separate stints in the majors. Unfortunately for Cave, Phillies' fans lasting memory of him will be as the final out of the 2023 NLCS (subscription required).
Interestingly, Cave had another impressive spring training in 2024 with the Phillies. But he was dealt to the Colorado Rockies near the end of camp and finally got regular playing time before moving on to the KBO last season.