The Phillies announced Thursday that they have invited 15 players to spring training as non-roster invitees.
Seven are pitchers, all righties: Mick Abel, Griff McGarry, Jose Ruiz, Ryan Burr, Tyler McKay, Tyler Phillips and Nick Snyder.
Three are catchers: Aramis Garcia, Cody Roberts and William Simonate.
Two are infielders: Scott Kingery and Nick Podkull.
Three are outfielders: Carlos de la Cruz, Matt Crone and Cal Stephenson.
That’s all the players under the Phillies’ control who aren’t on the 40-man roster. Abel and McGarry, two of the Phillies’ top pitching prospects, would have to be added to the 40 after the 2024 season to be protected from the next Rule 5 draft.
Abel was the Phillies’ 2020 first-round pick, the highest high school draft pick (15th overall). He entered last season as a Top 50 prospect by Baseball America and MLB.com and made 23 starts – 22 in Double A and one in Triple A – while also starting for the National League in the Futures Game. The 22-year-old posted a 4.13 ERA with 132 strikeouts and 65 walks in 113⅓ innings.
The Phillies will want to see better control from Abel in 2024. He is their No. 2 prospect behind Andrew Painter, who is likely out until 2025 after undergoing Tommy John surgery last July. Abel figures to spend much of 2024 in Triple A.
McGarry, like Abel, began training last spring as a long-shot candidate in the Phillies’ fifth starting contest, which was eventually won by default by Bailey Falter after Painter’s elbow injury on the first day of March. There will be no fifth starting battle this spring barring an injury to Zach Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Tyjuan Walker, Ranger Suarez or Christopher Sanchez.
McGarry, 24, started last season at Illinois because of an oblique injury, then made 13 starts in Double A and struck out 74 batters in 52.2 innings with a 3.13 ERA, despite walking 36.
He was promoted to Triple A in early August, and the results were disastrous: 14 walks and 20 earned runs allowed in just 4⅓ innings. He was placed on the development list later in the month.
The Phillies still say they see McGarry as a long-term starting pitcher, but his best role may come as a hard-throwing late-inning reliever. Control is clearly the key for him in 2024 as well.
Notes on other jugs:
Jose Ruiz (29): Amassed 212 major league plate appearances over parts of seven seasons with the White Sox, Diamondbacks and Padres. Ruiz has a 4.51 career ERA and played for Team Venezuela in last year’s World Baseball Classic.
Ryan Burr (29): Spent parts of four seasons with the White Sox from 2018-22. His most work came in 2021, when he pitched to a 2.45 ERA in 34 appearances.
Tyler McKay (26): The Phillies’ 16th-round pick in 2018, McKay has made big strides in 2023 with a 2.60 ERA and better than a strikeout per inning in 48 relief appearances split between Double A and Triple A.
Tyler Phillips (26): Made 25 starts last season for Reading and Lehigh Valley with modest results. Will be in camp to provide depth.
Nick Snyder (28): A hard-hitting reliever who hit triple digits in the majors with the Rangers three seasons ago but missed all of 2023 with a shoulder injury. He has struck out 11.1 batters per nine innings in the Cubs.
THE CATCHERS
Aramis Garcia (31): Will be in camp with the Phillies as a non-roster invitee for the second straight season. Garcia has 320 major league games with the Giants, Reds and A’s.He hit .251/.295/.523 at Triple A last season with 14 home runs and 11 doubles in 210 PA.
Cody Roberts (27): Started 53 games behind the scoreboard for Reading last season.
William Simon (27): The Phillies’ pick in the minor league portion of December’s Rule 5 draft. Simoneit was with Oakland. A career hit of .259/.359/.409 in nearly 1,000 minor league plate appearances.
INFIELDERS
Scott Kingery (29): The Phillies retained Kingery’s rights after declining his 2024 contract option. They bought out that contract for $1 million instead of paying Kingery $13 million this season. He remained under team control under the original minor league contract he signed with the Phillies after being drafted first. He hit .244 with a .725 OPS at Triple A last season.
Nick Podkull (26): Originally a seventh-round pick out of Notre Dame by the Blue Jays in 2018. Produced offensively at Reading and Lehigh Valley as a corner infielder last season, hitting .284/.407/.584 in 231 plate appearances.
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos de la Cruz (24): The 6-foot-8 outfielder/first baseman stood out to Phillies fans last spring in training with his frame and ability to handle the ball. He hit .259/.344/.454 with 25 doubles and 24 homers at Double A last season. Rated by Baseball America as the Phillies’ No. 6 prospect.
Matt Crone (27): The Phillies’ 2018 18th-round pick out of Oklahoma State. He hit .326 with a .925 OPS across three levels last season, including a .381 clip in 15 games at Triple A.
Cal Stevenson (27): Claimed off waivers from the Giants last May. Hit .271 with 46 walks and 45 strikeouts for Lehigh Valley.
