They’re not on the roster, but they’re interesting!
Spring is about to be sprung and that means the time honored tradition of spring training invitees is upon. These invitees are usually a mixture of catchers that need to catch all the pitchers in camp, top prospects that can get a week or two of plate appearances against big league pitching and players that are actually fighting to make a team’s roster.
The Phillies are no stranger to this and have released their most current list of players that have been invited to camp this spring. Some of the list are names you know, some are unfamiliar now and will remain unfamiliar in the future.
- Jose Breaux, C
- Rodolfo Castro, INF, iPhone connessiuer
- Justin Crawford, OF
- Nabil Crismatt, P, interesting
- Jose Cuas, P, also interesting
- Tristan Garnett, P
- Payton Henry, C
- Otto Kemp, INF
- Matt Kroon, INF/OF
- Joel Kuhnel, P
- Rafael Lantigua, INF
- Griff McGarry, P, last chance haver
- Paul McIntosh, C, definitely involved in the trade for Starlyn Caba
- John McMillon, P
- Aidan Miller, INF, “Help us, Aidan Miller, you’re our only hope…”
- Nicholas Padilla, P, doesn’t have a flotilla
- Andrew Painter, P, no introduction
- Caleb Ricketts, C
- Gabriel Rincones, Jr., OF, maybe the first OF called up?
- Austin Schulfer, P
- Carson Taylor, IF
- Nick Vespi, P, definitely owns a Vespa, also interesting
- Guillo Zuniga, P
There are definitely some stories to be had here. We all know about Painter and what his future holds, but don’t get your hopes up of seeing him face hitters this spring. He’s likely just there to stretch and do PFP and maybe get a tan. Miller and Crawford represent the best hopes the team has of growing impact bats from the farm system, but that’s about it.
Maybe one of the catchers pushes Garrett Stubbs and/or Rafael Marchan. Maybe one of the infielders/outfielders has a strong camp that turns some heads. Maybe one of the relievers makes Rob Thomson consider readjusting his current bullpen depth chart. Mostly, this looks like a few names that are going to populate Lehigh Valley for the majority of the season. Nothing wrong with that.