Wilson had the inside track until an oblique injury this spring.
After 802 career minor league games spanning eight seasons, it appeared 30-year-old outfielder Weston Wilson had, for the first time in his career, a spot on an MLB Opening Day roster locked down.
Instead, Wilson will begin the season on the Injured List with an oblique strain that is expected to keep him out of action for about six weeks.
It is truly a bummer for Wilson, who seemed certain to be the team’s final bench player, given the shortage of right-handed options on the Phillies’ roster. And while he almost certainly will join the big league club early in ‘25, it is a disappointment, nonetheless.
Wilson injured himself as he was getting ready for live batting practice against Taijuan Walker last Friday, and spoke about the disappointment of missing the start of the season.
While the Phils hope Max Kepler will be able to make the necessary adjustments to hit left-handed pitching competently, it was reasonable to assume the team saw Wilson as a viable right-handed hitting platoon alternative, should the Kepler plan fail.
Wilson was quite good when called upon last year, worth 0.7 WAR in just 40 games (98 PAs), putting up an .836 OPS and one of the most unexpected cycles in baseball history.
Johan Rojas is, of course, a right-handed hitter, but will likely strictly play center field in a platoon with Marsh.
Wilson’s injury exposes a weakness on the big league roster, as well as throughout the upper levels of the minor leagues — competent right-handed hitting.
Most of the Phillies’ impact hitters swing from the left side of the late, with Alec Bohm, Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos the best righties in the lineup, and there really is no true slugger in that mix. Last season, the Phils hit 91 home runs from the right side of the plate, tied with Cincinnati for 18th-most in MLB.
With Wilson out, Edmundo Sosa’s training in left and center field this spring will take on added significance. Sosa is a streaky hitter, but generally handles southpaws well (.771 OPS vs. .679 vs. right-handers in 414 career PAs). The Phils are also planning to train Buddy Kennedy to play the outfield, something he hasn’t done in a big league game in his career and only 11 times in the minors. NBCSP notes Kennedy worked out with Mike Trout over the winter (both are alums of Millville High School in New Jersey), and the Phils hope some of that tutoring this winter will help. It’s doubtful Kennedy is a long term solution.
Non-roster invitees Christian Arroyo, who homered on Sunday and has at least some limited experience playing outfield in the Majors, and Oscar Mercado (surely you all remember his heroics from the 2022 Phils, right? Right???) are options as well. As for outside help in free agency, the options available aren’t great (all numbers from 2024, age in parenthesis):
- Adam Duvall (36) – .569 OPS with the Braves, -1.4 WAR in 104 games
- Aaron Hicks (35) – .415 OPS with Angels, -0.7 WAR in 18 games
- Whit Merrifield (36) – .625 OPS with Phils & Braves, 0.3 WAR in 95 games
- Aledmys Diaz (34) – .209 OPS in 14 games w/ A’s & Astros, -0.6 WAR
- Brian Anderson (32) – .690 OPS in 84 AAA games last year
- Robbie Grossman (35) – .616 OPS w/ White Sox, Rangers & Royals, -0.3 WAR in 87 games
The Athletic’s Matt Gelb reports the Phillies “have been active” in trying to trade for outfielders on minor league deals, but it’s unclear if Wilson’s injury will further motivate them to bring in some outside help. Dave Dombrowski dealt for Christian Pache on the eve of the 2023 season, and a similar move would make sense.
Unfortunately, there are few right-handed hitting outfield prospects that the Phillies could try, either. Justin Crawford is in camp, but he needs more seasoning in AAA and hits left-handed. Gabriel Rincones, Jr. hit a monstrous home run in Sunday’s loss to the Orioles, but he’s a lefty as well. Aiden Miller hits right-handed, but he wouldn’t arrive in the Majors until later this season at the earliest, with 2026 a more likely timeframe.
Non-roster invitee Matt Kroon, who played 77 games for Lehigh Valley last year (.766 OPS, 11 HRs in 77 games), was in the lineup for Friday’s Grapefruit League opener. He’ll get a long look, as will Arizona Fall League star Otto Kemp, who has some experience in the outfield.
Gone are Scott Kingery, who led all right-handed hitters with the Iron Pigs last season with 25 HRs and put up an .804 OPS and is now trying to resurrect his career with the Angels, Ruben Cardenas, who put up a .929 OPS in 26 games but will be playing in Korea this season, and former top prospect Carlos De La Cruz, who signed a minor league deal with the Nationals in December. And remember another former top prospect, Jhailyn Ortiz? The 26-year-old will be playing his second season with the Kansas City Monarchs’ of the American Association of Professional Baseball in 2025. He was DFA’d by the team last year.
The Phillies need to get more production from their right-handed hitters in 2025, a mission that hit a speed bump early this spring with Wilson’s oblique strain.