CLEARWATER, Fla. — Phillies general manager Matt Klentak on Tuesday afternoon discussed the team’s remaining roster decisions and the ones that have already been made.
Barring an injury or late addition from another camp, the Phillies appear to have three roster spots open — one in the bullpen and two on the position-player side — as they prepare to exit Florida on Wednesday.
Bullpen
David Hernandez, Jeanmar Gomez, Dalier Hinojosa, Brett Oberholtzer, James Russell and Daniel Stumpf appear to be set. That leaves Andrew Bailey, Ernesto Frieri and Hector Neris vying for the last spot.
Bailey and Frieri are both veterans on minor-league contracts. Neris is on the 40-man roster and pitched in 32 games in the majors with the Phils last season. All three of these pitchers can be sent to the minors so the Phils have much flexibility here.
Manager Pete Mackanin has openly said he wants to see more from Bailey, so that could point to the former American League Rookie of the Year opening the season in Triple A. He has an out in his contract on May 1. Frieri has been working on a mechanical adjustment and a case could be made for him continuing to work in the minors.
Klentak said the club was monitoring the market for pitchers that become available, but was not actively pursuing anyone.
“We want the best seven guys who can get outs,” he said of the bullpen decision.
MLB
Position players
Three players — Emmanuel Burriss, Cedric Hunter and Will Venable — are vying for two spots.
Hunter and Venable are both outfielders who hit from the left side and that’s attractive because the Phils would like to have a lefty-hitting outfielder to platoon at least part of the time with rookie Rule 5 player Tyler Goeddel.
The switch-hitting Burriss is an infielder by trade but can play enough outfield that he could fill the final spot on the bench. He is a good baserunner, which could come in handy when the team needs a pinch-runner for Ryan Howard. His ability to play infield would provide some insurance if Andres Blanco was burned as a pinch-hitter.
Manager Pete Mackanin is high on Hunter, a 10-year pro who has appeared in just six big-league games in his career.
Klentak likes Hunter, too.
“I’m impressed as much with the style of his play as the results,” Klentak said. “He’s a very energetic player and he’s had success. He’s very much in the mix.”
Klentak’s affection for Hunter didn’t stop him from signing Venable and bringing him in for a final-week outfield audition after the veteran big-leaguer opted out of his deal with Cleveland.
“With the injuries to (Cody) Asche and (Aaron) Altherr and the time frames for them to come back, we thought it was the right decision to add some depth in the outfield to the organization,” Klentak said. “Will is a guy we’d been monitoring all spring. He can play all three outfield spots, he’s a good base runner and he’s been a productive offensive player. Whether he makes the opening day club or goes to Triple A, he provides good depth in the organization. We’re going to get him into five games. We’ll have five games to evaluate him and we’ll make the best decision we can. However it breaks, we think he’s going to be a valuable depth outfielder for us.”
Earlier in the day, Venable said he would be willing to go to Triple A, though he was conceding nothing (see story).
Venable can opt out of his contract on May 1 if he is not in the majors.
The fifth starter
Klentak spoke of the team’s reasoning for awarding the final spot in the starting rotation to Vince Velasquez over Adam Morgan. Both pitchers performed well in camp. That announcement was made Monday.
“There’s not much more (Morgan) could have done,” Klentak said. “It was a numbers game. Organizationally, it’s been a goal to add starting pitching depth. We brought 13 starters to camp, got down to six, and the reality is they all pitched well enough to be in the rotation, but we’re only going to break with five. Adam had a great camp.”
Morgan will open in Triple A alongside prospects Jake Thompson, Mark Appel and Zach Eflin. It’s possible all of these pitchers will make it to Philadelphia this season.
Velasquez is a hard-throwing Tommy John surgery survivor who pitched just 88⅔ innings last season. The Phillies will watch his workload, particularly later in the season.
“We will monitor all our young pitchers,” Klentak said. “We’re not going to come out and broadcast on opening day if or when we’re going to shut anyone down, but it’s something we’re very well aware of. Pitcher health in general is something we’re going to be very conscious of.”