Phillies Mailbag: 2025 Outlook, Walker, Rookie Impact, Relief

We are back once again with the 97.3 ESPN Phillies Mailbag.   Each week we take your questions and answer them on The Sports Bash with Mike Gill.   Tune in Tuesday afternoons to hear your questions answered on the air.  Ask your question any time to @FrankKlose on X or @frankklose.bsky.social on Blue Sky.

Is the Taijuan Walker experiment officially over?
~C.J.

Quite the opposite, C.J.   On Sunday, the Phillies pitched Taijuan Walker in the Dunedin portion of the split squad while the Baltimore Orioles were broadcast on Philadelphia television.  If only following on social media, you might have noticed that Walker surrendered a solo home run to Daulton Varsho.  But the overall story is that Walker looked pretty good.

Walker pitched two innings, striking out one.  He allowed two hits, one of which was the Varsho solo home run.

To be fair, the Varsho home run was not a bad pitch.   (If you're wondering, yes, Varsho is the son of former Phillies coach and interim manager Gary Varsho and he is named for Darren Daulton).

But the big story was that Walker seems to have regained some of the velocity that he he lost last year.  Walker's fastball and signature pitch, a sinker, were in the 93 to 94 mile-per-hour range.  Last Spring, they were about four miles less and it was clear something was off.

So I think the reclaimed velocity is a very good sign.  And for those who were not a fan of his performance last season? They probably would be happy if he was able to find success in 2025.

Where that would come if all continues to go well remains to be seen.   Right now Walker has no clear spot in the starting rotation with Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo and Ranger Suárez occupying the five spots.

But in Major League Baseball there is never enough pitching.  If Walker has something left, he will help the Phillies (or someone else?).   If he is unable to help the Phillies then I think they will let him go.

Why should Phillies fans go into this season thinking we can get over the hump and contend to win the World Series? We basically ran it back with aging core players while Mets and Braves improved, and Dodgers have no weaknesses.
~Greg

The Phillies come into 2025 likely favorites to make the playoffs.   The New York Mets added big-name slugger Juan Soto and brought back first baseman Pete Alonso.  The Atlanta Braves added Jurickson Profar.   The Phillies made some changes of their own:

OUT:
Outfielder Austin Hays
Reliever Jeff Hoffman
Reliever Carlos Estevez
Swingman pitcher Spencer Turnbull

IN:
Outfielder Max Kepler
Starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo
Reliever Jordan Romano
Swingman pitcher Joe Ross

Were you to match up each transaction, I would say that the Phillies improved in the outfield, improved by swapping a bullpen spot for a strong starting pitcher, created some uncertainty by adding a rebound candidate in the bullpen in exchange for a veteran.  And finally they probably improved the Turnbull spot with a healthy Ross.

For the returning players: I think there could be improvement in a number of areas.

Can the Phillies keep J.T. Realmuto on the field and fresh by better managing playing time?   If Rafael Marchan can take hold of a position and produce, that could be a step up.

A steady left field would be an improvement overall. It's more than simply swapping Hays for Kepler; Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas will split time rather than both playing at once most of the season.

As for the competition: I think the Atlanta Braves had a very disappointing offseason.  It seems as if the Braves knew they would be without pitcher Spencer Strider and outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. to start the season.

The Braves lost starter Max Fried, pitcher Charlie Morton, reliever A.J. Minter, catcher Travis d'Arnaud, and outfielder Jorge Soler.   Those are a lot of subtractions.

Profar is a nice player, but he cannot make up for all of them.

The Athletic's Jim Bowden recently wrote what a disappoint offseason it has been for the Braves, who were expected to run away with the division in 2024 and have taken a step back.

The Mets will benefit from Soto.  But they have some uncertainty of their own.

The Mets lost fan favorite Jose Iglesias and starting pitcher Jose Quintana.  They added Minter, formerly of the Braves and outfielder Jose Siri in a trade with the Rays.  Sean Manaea re-signed with the Mets and Frankie Montas joined the club, though he got hurt.

The impact on the Mets will all be tied to Soto.

So this division should come down to the Phillies and the Mets.   It could come down to who makes the better acquisitions at the trade deadline, or, who the teams add from within throughout the season.  Of these two teams, I think the Phillies have more star power to draw upon mid-season, especially with Andrew Painter.

Painter could make everyone fresher by being a sixth starter in the rotation.

I think most notably the young players need to develop - namely Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott.  Otherwise, they could fill their spots by the deadline.

Who is more likely to come: Justin Crawford or Aiden Miller, and what is the likelihood they play meaningful games in October?
~Dan

Justin Crawford and Aiden Miller are the two top offensive prospects in the Phillies system.  Both headed down to minor league camp this week, after showing some of what they can do in big league camp early.  I think of those two, Crawford has an easier path, given his ability to play center field and with the outfield having more spots to play should someone falter or get injured.

However: I'm going to pick another name to crack the outfield first: Gabriel Rincones, Jr. 

Rincones turned 24 years old this week, and remains in major league camp.  He has shown a combination of power and an arm that could be useful to the Phillies in the major leagues sooner or later.

Because he played college baseball, the 2022 draft pick should have a quicker path to the major leagues than the other two.  I might have had him pegged for Double-A Reading to start, but I wonder now if he might go right to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to see how he fares against some of the pitchers with major league experience to be ready to help the Phillies.

Scouts think he might be a platoon-type player, and he is limited to the corner outfield spots, but should there be an injury he could come up and get an opportunity.

As for Crawford and Miller, an injury in the right position could bring them up, too.

Does the front office really expect our bullpen to close out the clutch games in the current shape?
~Cassie

The Phillies have a pretty strong roster overall.  But as we mentioned, two notable subtractions from the roster were right-handed relievers Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez.  In a previous mailbag, I called the Phillies bullpen their biggest potential weakness.

Much hinges on two players:  newly-acquired Jordan Romano and Orion Kerkering, with some potential closing once again from Jose Alvarado if he can return to form.

Romano was an All-Star closer for the Toronto Blue Jays.  In 2024, injury led to poor performance and much of the year on the Injured List.

Will he be the All-Star closer once again, or something else?  If he is the former, that would be a really nice pickup for the Phillies and the answer to your question.

All that said - the Phillies have largely functioned without a named closer during the Rob Thomson tenure.  It's mostly worked.

I think we will see both lefties and righties getting the late outs, depending on matchups.  That could mean Matt Strahm enters the conversation from the left side, too.

But overall the bullpen has some depth:

Left-handed relievers:
Alvarado
Strahm
Tanner Banks

Right-handed relievers:
Romano
Kerkering
Jose Ruiz
Joe Ross

There is room for one more.  That could be Taijuan Walker if he continues to show something in the Spring.

There are many other arms stashed at Triple-A that could help the Phillies at some point, too.  Too many to name, even.

So there is depth this year, but is there a clearly-identified lock-down closer? No.