CLEARWATER, Fla. — Tyler Phillips achieved a lifelong dream last season when he pitched for his hometown team.
But it isn’t lost on him that his major-league future might be elsewhere.
Phillips, who grew up in South Jersey and attended Bishop Eustace, is out of options and can’t be sent to the minors without clearing waivers. The Phillies have a five veteran starting pitchers — six, if you count embattled Taijuan Walker, who has $36 million left on a contract that runs through next year.
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It’s possible, then, that Phillips will be pitching for other teams’ scouts each time he takes the mound this spring. Sunday, in his first Grapefruit League start, he allowed three runs in two innings on two hits, a walk, and a hit batsman in a 7-3 loss to the Orioles in the spring opener at BayCare Ballpark. Baltimore got a two-run single by Coby Mayo in the first inning and an opposite-field solo homer by Vimael Machín in the second.
“There are 29 other teams. This is the team that I really like, obviously,” said Phillips, who tossed a four-hit shutout against the Cleveland Guardians in his third career major-league start last July but finished with a 6.87 ERA in eight games last season. “I am out of options. I understand that. Again, this is a team that I want to be with. I have a lot of passion for this team, the guys in here, the city.
“If I continue to go about my business like I have nothing to lose, I think that will show the best of me.”
Who stood out: Remember the name Christian Arroyo.
It wasn’t so much that Arroyo banged a solo homer in the third inning on a 97-mph heater from Orioles righty Rodolfo Martinez. He’s in camp as a nonroster invitee on a minor league contract but has 295 games of major-league experience. He’s also a right-handed hitter, and although he’s naturally an infielder, he did play 17 games in right field for the Red Sox in 2022.
“He can play corner outfield in a short stint,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s been good. Obviously he’s got big power. That was an impressive home run.”
Center field prospect Justin Crawford hit a line single and scored on outfield prospect Gabriel Rincones’ two-run homer in the seventh inning to account for the rest of the Phillies’ runs.
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Quotable: “It was a missile. He’s a really impressive guy. Very strong, great body, can hit the ball all over the place. He can hit it out of any part of the ballpark. He’s a gamer. He plays every pitch.” —Thomson on Rincones
On deck: The Phillies will get their first up-close glimpse of Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes — and his blazing fastball. The reigning National League Rookie of the Year is slated to start Monday’s 1:05 p.m. game at BayCare Ballpark. Cristopher Sánchez is expected to start for the Phillies. NBC Sports Philadelphia+ will televise the game.