As Philadelphia continues to bask in the glow of another Super Bowl championship, minds will slowly start to turn toward the "Boys of Summer" as the Philadelphia Phillies are just days away from beginning their spring training slate in Florida. As such, there is plenty of news to go around as the team develops its plan for the roster in 2025.
According to NBC Sports Philadelphia's Corey Seidman, one player who will be challenged with adapting to a new role is infielder Edmundo Sosa. It seems that the Phillies believe that Sosa can provide them with even more versatility by playing left field and center field in an effort to create platoons and get him somewhere around the 300 plate appearances that he has enjoyed in each of the last two seasons.
Phillies want to see if Edmundo Sosa can become a 'super-utility guy' this season
Sosa, who turns 29 years old in a few weeks, is a career infielder with only four outfield appearances (zero starts) so far as a big leaguer. On its surface, it's a surprising move to take an established veteran and ask him to play such a role outside of his comfort zone. But, go a little deeper, and you'll see that Sosa is as well-positioned as anyone to make this experiment work.
He has seemingly been an ideal teammate and clubhouse presence for three years, and the fact that the Phillies re-affirmed their commitment to Alec Bohm rather than trading him has basically closed the door on anything close to everyday playing time for Sosa at this juncture, barring an injury to an infielder.
J.T. Realmuto and Edmundo Sosa may get some run in the outfield this spring (sounds like Sosa more than J.T. at the moment). Is this an indication they don't really see Max Kepler as an every day outfielder? @lizroscher & I on the latest Hittin Season:https://t.co/pRaTG091mT
— John Stolnis (@JohnStolnis) February 17, 2025
And so, maximizing one of the few cost-efficient contracts on their roster, it's no wonder that the Phillies will try Sosa out in left and center during spring training rather than looking externally via trade or bringing up a raw player and hoping that they can also provide the necessary hitting to validate their spot on the club.
"He'd become kind of a super-utility guy which would be a nice thing to have," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said, per Seidman. "Until he gets out shagging and real reads off the bat, you really can't tell."
With a fresh start this spring, the Phillies can take the fullest amount of time to evaluate and then pivot to an alternate plan if need be. Sosa was so scorching hot at the plate when he filled in for the injured Trea Turner last season that there were rumblings the club would try to put him in the outfield once Turner was healthy, but that never materialized. Now, however, there is a clean slate to see if this plan could work.
Sosa originally came to the Phillies in an unheralded trade, and he has been a nice player during his time with the team. Stretching out his abilities this spring makes sense as a way to get as much out of him as possible, especially in light of the reasonable one-year contract that he signed last month. If Sosa performs exceedingly well, he will greatly help the club while setting himself up for a bigger payday next time. But if he fails to add anything beyond his current value, it will not be too much of a detriment for the Phillies, given that they rely on so many other players before him.
As a veteran club in "win now" mode, the Phillies are wise to look at ways to increase the versatility of their roster wherever they can. Whether the Sosa experiment works out or not remains to be seen, but he has proven in his time as a Phillie that he is up for the challenge and will do what he can to help the team. And that's really all you can ask for from your supporting players like Sosa. If the Phillies are to finally capture their elusive third World Series title in 2025, it will take contributions from everyone on the roster to give Philadelphia its second cause for celebration this calendar year.