Pitchers and catchers report as a great week in Philly sports continues

Pitchers and catchers report as a great week in Philly sports continues originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Three days after the Eagles ended their season the way every team dreams of, the Phillies gather in Clearwater to embark on what they hope is a championship journey of their own.

Pitchers and catchers report to BayCare Ballpark Wednesday morning for their first official workout. The full team will have its first workout next Monday but many position players will trickle in throughout this first week. J.T. Realmuto, for one, is already here.

The Phillies return most of their pitching staff from 2024, minus Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez but with the additions of left-handed starter Jesus Luzardo, late-inning right-hander Jordan Romano and starter/reliever Joe Ross.

Only one spot on the pitching staff — the final bullpen job — is available, barring injury. The main battles of camp will be for that role, the backup catcher spot and final job on the bench.

Spring training won’t lack intrigue, though. The Phillies’ top three prospects — Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller and Justin Crawford — will all be in camp, though Painter won’t pitch in games as the Phillies build him up to make a potential second-half impact.

It will be the first look at newcomers Luzardo, Romano and Max Kepler, three players with track records coming off of injury-plagued seasons. The Phillies did not make major changes to their offense this winter and are counting on Kepler to make a difference. Run prevention counts the same as run production, so they’re also hoping the bolstered pitching staff makes up for the lack of another superstar offensive addition.

Internal improvement is paramount to this team accomplishing its goal. There is another gear Trea Turner can reach that he hasn’t yet as a Phillie, at least not consistently. Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh are also better than what they showed in 2024. Johan Rojas has worked all offseason to improve at the plate and was named the Dominican Winter League’s Rookie of the Year after hitting .295 with a .382 on-base percentage in 111 plate appearances against decent competition.

When last season ended, Phillies manager Rob Thomson and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski both spoke of the team’s need to utilize more of the field in the future. The thought is that the Phillies have become too pull-happy in addition to being an offense that skews more toward aggressiveness than selectivity. You’d figure that will be a point of emphasis in camp. Turner and Stott might be the two most important players to monitor in that regard because using the whole field would unlock Turner as a more viable leadoff threat and it would elongate the Phillies’ lineup if Stott can revert to that approach.

It’s a long stay in Florida with the Grapefruit League schedule running from Feb. 22 through March 24. This is a veteran group that believes it can win a World Series, knows how to prepare, has experience dealing with expectations and is fully aware of the grind that awaits. It’s a team eager to move past the disappointing end to 2024 and it all begins for Phillies today.