Feb 20, 2025; Clearwater, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott (5) participates in media day at BayCare Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck
Every week, On Pattison's Tim Kelly and Anthony SanFilippo will answer your Phillies questions from social media. Let's get to it.
@Suhhh_Kiid on X: What game situations might the Phillies take advantage of to get Kody Clemens playing time?
Tim Kelly: In my opinion, Kody Clemens is a better player than Buddy Kennedy. But just like Kennedy, it's hard to see where Clemens is going to get at-bats on this team.
My thought is that for the first few weeks of the season when Rob Thomson is being cautious with building players up, there could be some opportunities for Clemens to start at second or third base. Then again, I'm not sure what the scenario is that Clemens would be starting over Edmundo Sosa. And it's not like there's going to be a ton of cases where the Phillies need a left-handed pinch hitter considering five or the nine hitters in the projected Opening Day lineup hit from that side.
Again, Clemens in my mind is a major leaguer. But I'm not necessarily sure he's going to spend the whole season with the Phillies. It will be interesting to see what happens when Weston Wilson is ready to return from his Grade 2 left oblique strain.
Kody Clemens wins final Phillies bench role over Buddy Kennedyhttps://t.co/B9z8LzwM0y
Anthony SanFilippo: Does a simple, "I don't know" suffice as an answer? The truth is, I'm as perplexed as you are that Clemens made the team. Not because he he doesn't deserve to be in the major leagues — he does. And I believe he'd be a beneficial player to the Phillies if they would have gone a different direction with their outfield acquisition and acquired a right-handed hitter in the offseason instead of Max Kepler. But right now, he's a square peg in a round hole.
Sure, he might get the odd start here and there to get someone off their feet. He does have positional versatility, so that can allow Thomson to sneak in a start a week for him, maybe. But Clemens' greatest asset is being a productive bat off the bench. The question is, who does he pinch hit for? Your regular righties in the lineup are Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto. Thomson's not pinch hitting for any of them. And you rarely see a lefty pinch hit for another lefty, which is the other five guys who are regulars. OK, so maybe he gets an opportunity as a pinch hitter on a day either Sosa or Rojas starts, but how few of those scenarios are there going to be?
The one thing that does make sense in keeping Clemens is the fact that if one of your regulars gets injured, he's a capable fill-in that won't hurt the lineup, but is that the best reason to keep him? And like Tim said, once Wilson is ready in about a month, what will the Phillies do then?
Keeping Clemens feels like the Phillies punting a problem down the road rather than addressing it now. Sometimes that's the right thing to do, but not always. We'll see how this plays out for them.
@UnknownPhilly98 on X: In all seriousness, is it just a matter of pride now that they keep Walker? Not wanting to admit the signing was a bad one and the money owed is too much to eat?
Tim Kelly: Not wanting to take the sunk cost probably was why the Phillies held onto Walker through last year's disastrous campaign. But the injury to Ranger Suárez and wanting to utilize Joe Ross out of the bullpen kind of forced their hand in this case.
It was legitimately impressive that Walker was throwing 93 mph on his fastball in Spring Training after averaging 91.5 mph last regular season. But I get that the last two Grapefruit League outings made people feel like things with Walker picked up where they left off.
For entirely different reasons than with Clemens, I think it's also worth pointing out with Walker that just because he's on the Opening Day roster doesn't mean he'll be with the Phillies for the next six months. Suárez is going to come back at some point, likely in April. And there will really be a roster squeeze when Andrew Painter is ready to come up in the summer. If Walker is performing like he did last year, he won't be here this whole season.
Taijuan Walker’s Spring Training:
First 3 Starts
9.1 IP | 10 H | 4 ER | 1 BB | 5 K | 3.86 ERA
Last 2 Starts
7.2 IP | 15 H | 10 ER | 5 BB | 3 K | 12.68 ERA pic.twitter.com/4zZYmribDg
Anthony SanFilippo: I had no issue once the season was over with the Phillies hanging onto Walker into Spring Training. I mean, they were paying the guy anyway, so what was the harm? But I understand the visceral reaction fans are having to him being in the rotation to start the season. I get it. And I agree that the Phillies are truly putting him in a bad spot.
Unless he's nearly perfect when he starts — which should only be for a few weeks — Walker won't be good enough for an impatient fan base, and every mistake will be magnified by a bazillion. There's certainly a depth starter at Triple-A they could have rolled out for a few starts that could have taken a beating and it wouldn't have been in such a spotlight, right?
Instead, you're looking at Walker making, what, four starts, with three of them at home? And yeah, two are against bottom feeders like Colorado and probably Miami, but my goodness, what a spot to put that guy in. I would have been fine with having him come in as a long man in the lowest of leverage spots performing mop up duty, but I just don't see how this has a positive ending. Dude threw 93 mph in Spring Training. Awesome. He also had a 7.41 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP in five spring starts. We're not supposed to make anything of spring stats, so I won't, other than to point out that small sample is worse statistically than what he gave you in 2024.
Tim is right about one thing, though. With Suárez coming back in a few weeks and Painter on the horizon, it's likely Walker doesn't make it into the summer on this roster. The Phillies were this close to dumping him during the season in 2024. I don't think they'll be as hesitant to pull the trigger on that decision this time if his struggles remain the same.
Brandon Wallander on Facebook: Who gets the first opportunity to close, José Alvarado or Jordan Romano?
Tim Kelly: If all things are equal, I would say Romano. He had 95 saves for the Toronto Blue Jays between 2021 and 2023, so he's a good bet to lead the Phillies in saves this year.
But Alvarado looked slimmed down and rejuvenated during the spring. If CJ Abrams and James Wood, for example, are due up in the ninth, maybe Romano gets the eighth and Alvarado is used in the save situation.
Anthony SanFilippo: If you know the Phillies philosophy, they don't like to give the closer role to one guy — at least not at the start of the season. They believe in "pockets." They look at another team's lineup and look at groups of hitters and say late in a game, "Alvarado, this is your pocket, and Romano, this your pocket." Ditto for guys like Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm, both of whom will also take down late innings, and could find themselves in the occasional save situation.
As such, I expect it to be a fluid situation on a game-to-game basis early in the season and see if someone emerges as a lights out guy who can be more reliable to close.
I'll say Romano gets the most chances early, but I still think it'll be close to an even split.
NEW at On Pattison: Who will lead off for the #Phillies on Thursday? Here's my final Opening Day lineup projection.
onpattison.com/news/2025/ma...
— Tim Kelly (@timkellysports.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 6:54 PM
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@Suhhh_Kiid on X: Is this a make or break season for Bryson Stott (with regards to a contract extension)
Tim Kelly: To me, it's a make-or-break season for Stott in regards to his future with the Phillies.
Aidan Miller passed the eye test during the spring and I believe there's a real shot he's at shortstop for the bulk of 2026. There's been speculation about Trea Turner being moved to the outfield, but why would you move a player approaching his mid-30s to the outfield when he's got experience playing second base and fared relatively well there? To me, second base is the logical spot to move Turner to when Miller is ready.
But if Stott hits .301 this year — as he did in the first half of 2023 — he's going to make that decision more difficult on the Phillies. But in 759 regular-season at-bats since then, Stott has hit just .248. Granted, he was dealing with a nerve issue in his elbow for much of last season, which affected him to some extent. This is a year, though, where he kind of needs to put up or shut up offensively.
Stott is an excellent defender at second base and has stolen 30 bases in consecutive seasons. He has a place in the majors. But he might not have one with the Phillies in 2026 if he has another subpar offensive campaign this year.
Anthony SanFilippo: I'm much more bullish on Stott. I believe when we look back on his career, 2024 will be an outlier and what you got in 2023 will be the norm for him. That said, 2025 is an important year for him. I'm not so sure it's "make-or-break," but it can't be what it was in 2024 again. That's for sure.
If he gets back to being a .280 hitter who gives you 15 homers, 30 steals and Gold Glove defense at second base — and adds an ability to draw walks more regularly like he did in Spring Training — then he's your second baseman long-term.
My belief is that's what you'll see from him this season.
Six up, six down for Jesús Luzardo in his Phillies debut 👏
(via @Phillies)pic.twitter.com/lPxi61A6tO
@ManyFacedGod on Bluesky: Who do you think ends up having the biggest impact this year — Painter, Ranger, Luzardo?
Tim Kelly: Of the three, Jesús Luzardo is the only one that's going to be pitching to start the season, so I'll go with him.
I get that he had an injury-plagued season last year and the 9.49 ERA he had in the spring obviously doesn't look good. But his stuff looked electric at times during Grapefruit League play, and he made it out of the spring healthy. The Miami Marlins sold relatively low on him last offseason, and if he pitches as well as I expect, they are going to look even worse than normal.
Anthony SanFilippo: Tim went with the guy who would probably have the best odds if that were offered as a prop bet on a gambling site, but I'm going to go with Painter. I have a gut feeling that his arrival, when it happens, is going to rival what Paul Skenes showed last year.
The Phillies are going to get about 16 starts out of Painter, and everyone is going to want to watch each one of them.
Not many prospects have their first live batting practice of Spring Training and get Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber coming out to watch while drinking coffees behind a safety net on the third base line. If they're that intrigued, that should tell you something.
My biggest counter-question here is — assuming health for Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Aaron Nola — who ends up out of the starting rotation when Painter comes up?
Here's a hint, I don't think it's Luzardo.
