Phillies Spring Training: A Closer Look At The Non-Roster Invitees For 2025

Back on January 14, the Phillies announced their 2025 spring training non-roster invitees (and they’ve since invited a few more). For many fans, that may have been a bit of a blip on the radar, however. To help it make a bit more sense, let’s take a closer look at those players with a chance to make the roster and/or impress the Phillies brass.

The Phillies have invited the following 23 players to attend major league spring training as non-roster invitees: pic.twitter.com/iUaTuT5Tpg

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) January 14, 2025

Koyo Aoyagi (RHP)

Aoyagi is the Phillies first signing out of Japan as the team has been trying to get more active in the Japanese market. The 31-year-old has pitched in Japan for nine seasons and has a 3.00 ERA across 1165.2 innings there. He’s currently expected to start the season on the IronPigs roster, but it will be a big camp for him as the Phillies evaluate his potential on the major league club and look at his priority as an injury replacement option. His addition makes him immediately among the top prospects in camp and one that could produce sooner than later.

Christian Arroyo (IF)

A first-round pick in 2013 and a late addition to camp, Arroyo is now a well-travelled veteran who has yet to stick with any club. He made his debut in 2017 with the Giants, spent parts of the next two seasons on the Rays, split the 2020 season with stops in Cleveland and Boston, then spent the 2021-23 seasons as a part timer for the Red Sox. His major league career slash line is .252/.299/.394. His strongest season saw him batting near .290 and that was when he appeared in 87 games and saw the most at bats of his career. He played only part of the season in the minors last season. At worst, he’d figure to be a boost to the AAA lineup with a career .280/.331/.413 line in the minors.

Josh Breaux (C)

Breaux has spent  most of his career in the Yankees system and made it to AAA with them, but was release on June 29. The next day, the Phillies picked him up and sent him to AA Reading. Over six season in the minors, Breaux has a .240/.294/.452 line with his worst season coming last year. He provides some power, but is a well-respected catcher in the minors and the Phillies seem to like how he can work with the young pitchers as they continue to develop.

Rodolfo Castro (IF)

A former top prospect of the Pirates, the Phillies had hoped that a change of scenery would help the infielder break out. He had his two worst seasons back to back in the minors, batting under .220 with a slugging percentage under .350 over that time. He is coming off of a season-ending injury after just 23 games last season, however. So, if he makes it back it could be his shot to use that change of scenery, but in his first season with the team he wasn’t even a productive player in AAA. Castro was on the 40-man roster but was outrighted and re-signed with the team, making his roster spot less of a concern to the public and perhaps that pressure being relieved is what could help him reach the potential he hasn’t been able to so far.

Justin Crawford (OF)

The Phillies 2022 first-round pick, Crawford is a polarizing prospect even though he’s in the Top 100. At 21 years old, the center fielder has shown great speed and defense. They’ve been having him steal a ton (99 successes to 21 caught, 89/17 since his rookie season) and that helps stretch his singles into the power he lacks more regularly. He has excellent contact skills and is slashing .316/.371/.442. He strikes out around 20% of the time, which is something the team would certainly like to see go down a bit but what really makes him a polar prospect is that so many of his hits are infield singles that he can beat out with his speed and some scouts are concerned with how or if that will play at the major league level. For the Phillies, that may be of particular concern for some of their baserunners – you don’t want someone like Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, or Alec Bohm on first if you’re bringing a guy up who hits the ball on the ground in the infield a ton since it’s very likely they will get thrown out at second even if Crawford makes it to first. He may not have the direct line speed that Johan Rojas can muster, but he’s got the ability to use it for baseball plays more effectively right now. He’s not far out from a shot at the majors.

Nabil Crismatt (RHP)

Crismatt is an interesting flier for the Phils. He’s served as a relief pitcher for parts of the last two season with the Padres, Diamondbacks, and Dodgers. Since 2020, he’s appeared in 114 games and pitched a decent amount of innings in 2021 and 2022. His time with the Padres in 2023 was a disaster but when he’s been good he’s had a K to BB ratio about 3 and has one of the best chase rates in the league. In particular, if he could recapture his 2022 form (65 strikeouts to 22 walks, .226 opponent average, 2.94 ERA) he has a shot of making the 40-man or being looked at as a top replacement when one is inevitably needed. It remains to be seen what the plan for him would be in the minors – since 2016 he’s been used as a full-time or part-time starter in MiLB, so it’ll be interesting if the Phillies would look to keep him in the pen for the first full season of his career in the minors to try and tinker with his stuff. That’s something they’ve had success with before and could hope to replicate again.

José Cuas (RHP)

Cuas joined the Phillies late last season in AAA. His minor league work from 2019-2022 when he wasn’t moving teams was solid with a 1.57 ERA out of the pen through AA and his first stop in AAA. His first season with Kansas City and a stop in Chicago in 2023 were good, but he’s had a tough time otherwise to the tune of a 4.37 ERA at the major league level across 132 games.

Tristan Garnett (LHP)

Garnett made it up to AAA last year but spent most of his season in AA Reading as largely the only consistently reliable reliever in the pen there. Whatever they had him working on went well as he held opponents to a .197 average and recorded a 2.87 ERA. He did miss a large chunk of the season due to injury and that probably held back his promotion to AAA by a month or so and may be the difference between his having a real shot at a roster spot coming out of camp vs where he is now, which is probably a midseason call-up or development for 2026 Spring Training.

Payton Henry (C)

Henry has taken a few ABs for the Marlins but is mainly a minor leaguer at this point. With the Brewers and Blue Jays the last two seasons, he’s been an incredibly productive catcher offensively, albeit in more of a backup role (.288 batting average and .447 slugging) so for a team that’s been missing catching depth beyond Marchan (who has spent much of the past few seasons injured himself) at the upper levels, it’s a good pickup.

Otto Kemp (IF)

Kemp was one of the Phillies minor league breakouts last season. The undrafted free agent went all the way from Low-A Clearwater to AAA Lehigh Valley during the course of last season. He did struggle offensively in his short stint in AAA and he is rough around the edges defensively with six errors on the year overall and many “unrecorded errors” (plays he should have made but wasn’t credited with an error for) in AA Reading last year. That said, he has bounced around to multiple positions as needed and posted a .285/.392/.489 line last season. He does have a high strikeout rate, but is also capable of working walks. He’s probably not in line for a 40-man spot right now given his AAA struggles, but this would only be his third full professional season and the team could be eyeing him as a AAA player to work on some things with for the future. 

Matt Kroon (IF/OF)

Kroon was the minor league breakout player last year after a 2023 in AA where he slashed .326/.399/.526 as a largely full-time player coming back from an entire season lost due to injury. He was in camp last year and missed about half a month with another injury but posted a line of .248/.322/.433 in his first AAA season. He was effective at base stealing and maintained his home run power, but his doubles and walk percentages went down fairly significantly while his strikeout rate crept up. They’ll continue to work with him to try and regain that 2023 form in AAA and get him ready for a potential call-up, likely as an injury replacement if/when needed.

Joel Kuhnel (RHP)

Joel Kuhnel was a free-agent addition for the Phillies and has spent time in the majors during five of the last six seasons. He’s got fantastic extension and his fastball velocity at the start of his major league career was great but has not been the same in recent years. When he’s going good, he’s great at forcing ground balls, but even when he’s managed that in the majors it hasn’t translated to much success as his career marks are a 5.86 ERA with a opponents hitting .278 against him. A full-time reliever, Kuhnel has also been effective in the minors and could serve as an effective player for Lehigh Valley assuming he has to wait for an opportunity with a 3.59 ERA. Notably, he’s forced a near or above 2 groundout to air out ratio in three seasons, including last year at exactly 2.

Rafael Lantigua (IF)

Lantigua has never cracked the majors and has yet to make his debut at the plate, but he’s spent two and a half years in AAA and has been a productive offensive player with a high contact rate and a walk rate that’s pretty close to his strikeout rate. He really didn’t offer too much in the way of power last year, and his career slash line in the minors is .277/.370/.399. He’s listed as an infielder, but has spent hundreds of innings over the past few seasons in right and left fields in addition to 2B, 3B and SS. He also has played in CF as needed. That said, he did wind up with 10 recorded errors last year with nine of them coming from the three infield positions he played at. Six of his 16 errors over the past two seasons have come at third base, so the Phillies may want to avoid him there when possible since he plays a cleaner game in left field and up the middle of the infield.

Griff McGarry (RHP)

McGarry burst on the scene shortly after his drafting as he began to dominate the lower levels of the minor leagues with Abel and Painter. Over the past two years he’s struggles with results, however, and has an ERA up to 5.52 in his time in the upper levels over the last two seasons. He was converted to a full-time reliever last season for the first time, so that could be part of it as he is not starting and on the regular rotation for the first time in his pro career, but the control was the biggest concern last season. Although he managed to keep opponents to a .217 average and only allowed three home runs, he handed out 36 free passes to opposing batters and managed the strikeout just 42 times – that ratio will need to improve for him to get a look at the major league level.

Paul McIntosh (C)

McIntosh seems like a player the Phillies are hoping will work out like Moisés Chace, who came over via trade and was basically reported like it was a throw in but has quickly become one of the system’s top prospects. Acquired alongside Jesus Luzardo, McIntosh being included in the trade was reported well after the headlines were spread to many fans. The 27-year-old was picked in the 34th round of the 2018 draft, but went to college instead before signing with the Marlins after the 2021 draft. He’s appeared in AA and AAA and played the entire 2024 season in AA. His stats haven’t varied much between levels, either with a solid line of .249/.359/.434 iver the past three and a half seasons. He’s actually split time between catcher and left field the last two seasons – and he’s been credited with just seven errors and five passed balls over the course of over 700 innings caught for the past two years. The Phillies may see something they like and believe they can tweak that could wind up with him becoming a top-30 prospect come midseason if it works out.

John McMillon (RHP)

Claimed off waivers from the Marlins, McMillon actually has good results at the major league level. a 1.69 ERA with opponents batting just .148 against him, but that’s been in limited time with just 14 appearances between Miami and Kansas City. Also having just three and a half seasons of professional experience, McMillion’s minors stats have been rough at AAA. 2024 was his first stop at the level and he struggled to a 6.32 ERA, allowing seven homers in 31.1 innings. His K:BB ratio also wasn’t up to the standard he recorded in 2023 with a 37:27 count in 2024 and opposing batters managing a .254 batting average against. A forearm strain leading into the 2023 offseason wound up with the Royals #18 prospect being optioned and finding his way to Miami and now Philadelphia. If he can get his command back, his fastball can sit 97-99 and make the reliever who was a top-30 prospect for another team just under a year ago an intriguing option for the Phillies and leaves McMillion with the opportunity to make an impression and possible be a mid-seasons call up.

Oscar Mercado (OF)

The former second-round pick is back again. After spending just a few days with the Phillies during the 2022 season before he was claimed by the Guardians (who the Phillies claimed him from themselves), Mercado was one of the late free agent signings that got an invite to camp. He’s a speed guy. With a career majors line of .237/.289/.388 he offers little in the way of power. He’s really only had one season (2019) where he was more of a regular player at the major league level and has been a fringe guy otherwise; he did not make any appearance at the major league level in 2024. In the minors, he’s largely the same batter with a .255/.327/.383 career slash line. Perhaps the biggest difference is that in the minors is that he walks more than 3% more often in MiLB and strikes out over 2% less. Since 2019 he’s had roughly an 80% stolen base success rate with 105 stolen bags. He started as a SS, but has most often played center or right field in recent years and has a career fielding rate of .9759 across those two positions.

Aidan Miller (IF)

The Phillies top position prospect is forcing his way up the system. 2024 was his first full professional season and he’s already made it to AA. He posted a .261/.366/.446 line across the three levels he played at last season, but sunk below the Mendoza line and struggled a bit in his brief stint in AA. It’s a good experience for him to be at camp and the Phillies think he can stick as a shortstop, but he should begin the year in AA before they look at moving him up again should he make the necessary adjustments. The team also intends to let him get reps at third so that they have options when he begins pushing for a major league call up. He began to struggle with it more in A+, but his plate discipline is something to watch this year as he was able to keep his walk to strikeout ratio close before promotions last year – it’ll be a huge confidence boost for the organization if he can recreate that in the upper levels of the minors.

Nicholas Padilla (RHP)

Padilla got a cup of coffee in the majors in 2022 and 2023, but only threw 6.1 innings for the two Chicago teams, giving up four earned runs in that time. He struggled heavily in 2023 with a minors ERA of 5.52 and a WHIP of 1.92 with opposing batter hitting .280 against him. He spent mid April to mid July on the injured list but had a pretty strong comeback at the end of the year in AAA last year, with a 3.23 ERA across 25 appearances and limiting batters to just a .194 BA against – a strong enough showing to have interested the Phillies in bringing him in. Career minors numbers have him at an ERA of 3.47, WHIP of 1.40, and an opposing batting average of .248. He basically didn’t pitch between 2020 and 2021 (had just 1.2 innings over those two years).

Andrew Painter (RHP)

Painter has been a top prospect for years and has been dominant in his time in the minors to the tune of a career 1.48 ERA in his one and a half seasons in the minors. Of course, it’s tough to evaluate where he’s at now – Painter has missed basically two years after suffering an injury during 2023 Spring Training and then getting Tommy John surgery in the middle of that year. He’s been fantastic at every level so far, but he doesn’t really have a spot on the initial rosters and the best move for the team and Painter’s development is to put him back in the higher levels of the minor leagues to continue to hone his craft before he officially joins the major league squad – perhaps as soon as midseason this year.

Caleb Ricketts (C)

Ricketts was the Phils’ top catching prospect last year, but he had a fairly rough season in AA last year. He did have injuries sideline him for a total of roughly six weeks across three different IL placements last season which could have contributed to that issue. Across 75 games he slashed just .219/.331/.338. He showed good plate discipline, but the hits just didn’t fall as expected. He also struggled a bit defensively, particularly with 13 passed balls to bring that number to 23 over his first two full seasons – that’s something that needs improvement, particularly as the Phillies have wound up with more and more relievers that can get wild at times. Teams were running on him/the Reading pitching staff at a high clip in 2024, but he did manage to throw out over 19% of base stealers, which is a bit lower than the 24.47% he gunned down in 2023 but still a solid rate among league averages.

Gabriel Rincones Jr. (OF)

Rincones spent April to late July out with injury which limited his 2024 season, which would have otherwise been just his second full season of professional ball after spending much of his younger life growing up in Europe where baseball leagues were tough to come by. That makes him a relatively raw prospect, but he has solid contact numbers and has displayed great power. His career slash line was .250/.349/.436. Last year he belted 11 homers in just 254 plate appearances and even though some will say Reading is a “smaller ballpark”, he’s had multiple moon shots that have gotten to or even crossed the highways outside the stadium. A healthy season would be great for his development and if he can be a bit more disciplined at the plate while maintaining his contact numbers, he has the natural power that will continue to push him through the minors.

Austin Schulfer (RHP)

Career-wise, Schulfer has a 3.84 ERA in the minors and has moved from being a starter to a reliever over the past three seasons. He has a solid strikeout to walk ratio but does have a fairly high career batting average against of .240. While he’s shown some promise, he suffered a hip impingement at the end of the 2023 season and missed about a month before moving to a new franchise and winding up posting his worst season in the minors last year with a 4.94 ERA (5.13 excluding rehab starts) with a 1.46 WHIP.

Carson Taylor (IF)

Taylor was taken in the 2023 Rule 5 draft so last year was his first season with the Phillies. He was selected as a catcher, but that’s not what he’s done with Philly. The Phillies have converted him to a full-time first baseman/DH. He did play a few innings at third base, but he’ll need to clean up defensively at first base (to be expected with a full-time position change). The move has paid off offensively so far, with Taylor posting the best season of his three and a half year pro career in 2024. He was a team leader for AA and earned a late-season promotion to AAA, posting a .279/.396/.458 slash line. He’s got a good eye and makes good contact with solid power. The Phillies are fostering him as a good hit-tool player but it remains to be seen what they may look to do with him positionally, but he could at least be a solid backup in case of injury if the development at the plate continues.

Nick Vespi (LHP)

Vespi has had a strong minor-league career and holds a 3.18 ERA across nearly 430 innings. He’s got a K:BB rate over 3 and has only given up 26 career homers in those 430 innings. In parts of the last three seasons with the Orioles, he’s thrown 53.1 innings and holds a 3.88 REA at the major league level. His K:BB rate maintained itself (46:13), but he wasn’t missing as many bats (.271 batting average against) and the homer has hit him hard (1.35 HR/9 compared to his 0.54HR/9 rate in MiLB). His 2024 minor league season was easily his career worst with a 7.23 ERA and a .313 BAA mostly coming after his demotion from the majors again. Maybe the change of scenery helps someone who’s confidence appears to have been broken a bit last season or maybe they see a change that could help translate his minors success to the majors, but either could make Vespi an option to watch for a call-up later this season.

Guillo Zuñiga (RHP)

Zuniga can get the fastball up there and averages about 97 mph with the pitch. He’s had a few brief stints in the majors without much success and is as stuff guy. He averages about 1.1 strikeouts per inning in his minors career but has struggled to convert those punchouts to routine success on the mound and holds a career 4.59 ERA and .250 BAA, both of which are elevated to 6.51 and .258 when pitching at AAA. He’s a wildcard that has the punchout pitch and the Phillies hope they can help him pitch around that otherwise.