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Phillies' new-look bullpen shines against big bats originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Phillies’ revamped bullpen was the talk of spring training on Thursday.

Brad Keller, Jonathan Bowlan and Kyle Backhus each threw live sessions against the Phillies’ best hitters, a group that included Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber.

The new arms were impressive.

Keller retired Harper and Schwarber on routine fly balls in the first session of the afternoon. Bowlan then struck out Turner and Schwarber in consecutive at-bats. Backhus kept everyone off balance with his funky sidearm delivery from the left side.

Adding Keller, Bowlan and Backhus to a returning nucleus of Jhoan Duran, Orion Kerkering, Jose Alvarado and Tanner Banks makes for a potentially dominant collection of relievers.

“It’s probably the best group of arms that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Rob Thomson said following Thursday’s workout.

The manager was especially impressed with how Bowlan and Backhus fared against the club’s veteran bats.

“They were really good,” Thomson said. “Bowlan was outstanding. He has a great arm, but he can really spin it too and he was throwing strikes. Backhus is a completely different look for people, that really low sidearm slot with velocity and sink. He filled up the strikes zone with sliders. He’s really difficult on lefthanded hitters.”

The Phillies acquired Bowlan from the Royals in the offseason trade that sent Matt Strahm to Kansas City. Bowlan, a 28-year old righthander with three years of major league experience, posted a 3.86 ERA in 33 relief appearances and one start for the Royals last season.

Backhus came to Philadelphia via a separate offseason trade in which the Phillies sent minor league outfield prospect Avery Owusu-Asiedu to the Diamondbacks. Backhus, a 28-year old lefty, had a 4.62 ERA in 32 relief appearances for Arizona last season as a rookie.   

Keller is the most notable bullpen addition. He received a two-year, $22 million free agent contract after posting a 2.07 ERA in 68 appearances for the Cubs in 2025. The 30-year old righthander is a converted starter who shined in his first full season in a relief role.

Keller has been welcomed with open arms in his new clubhouse.   

“Everything has been awesome,” Keller said. “All the guys here have been great. It’s been amazing. Everyone is super laid-back, which is awesome. Coming into a camp with a lot of veteran guys helps out a ton. I’m just getting my feet underneath me and ready for the season.”

 Keller echoed Thomson’s sentiments about the potential of the Phillies bullpen.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “Obviously we have a lot of dogs down there, a lot of guys who throw hard. I’m just trying to fit right in, go out there and do my job, put up a zero and pass it to the next guy. I’m excited just to be a part of it.”

*In an effort to make the nomination voting easier for everyone, I will comment, “NOMINATIONS”, and you may reply to that with your picks and upvote the player you’d like to see on the next nominee list.

We have our third straight right-handed pitcher winning another round of voting, with 20-year-old Cole Miller taking the 15th spot in our CPL. Drafted a couple of years ago but only making his pro debut this past season due to Tommy John surgery, Miller is a project that may take some time but one that has the A’s excited to see his progression. He’s got a wicked fastball that sits mid-90’s and he pairs that with a solid slider and a developing changeup. The A’s are developing him as a starter but a future as a high-leverage arm isn’t a bad floor to have.

Our next nominee will be Yunior Tur, a right-hander that pitched across three levels this past season culminating in a a few starts with the Aviators. A signee out of Cuba in 2023, Tur relies on an improving mid-90’s fastball that’s now touching 99, hard slider that is his second-best pitch, but he’s also been developing the third pitch necessary to be a starter in the big leagues, a splitter. He set a career-high in innings pitched this past season but like Miller, his future might be brightest in the bullpen where he can really let that fastball do some damage to opposing batters. If he continues on his current trajectory Tur will surely be a name to watch as a possible summer option for the big league squad this coming season. We won’t have to wait long because he’s already in camp with the A’s this spring, forgoing a chance to play in the WBC to instead try to impress the A’s coaching staff. Gotta love the commitment.

The process for this public vote is explained below. Please take a moment to read this before participating:

• Please only vote for one. The player with the most votes at the end of voting will win the ranked spot. The remaining four players move on to the next ballot where they are joined by a new nominee.
• In the comments, below the official voting, the community will nominate players to be put onto the ballot for the next round. The format for your comment should be “Nomination: Player Name”.
• If a prospect is traded, his name will be crossed out, and all other players will be moved up a space. If a prospect is acquired, a special vote will be put up to determine where that player should rank.

Click on the link here to vote!

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A’s fans top prospects, ranked:

1. Leo De Vries, SS
2. Jamie Arnold, LHP
3. Gage Jump, LHP
4. Wei-En Lin, LHP
5. Braden Nett, RHP
6. Henry Bolte, OF
7. Johenssy Colome, SS
8. Edgar Montero, SS
9. Steven Echavarria, RHP
10. Devin Taylor, OF
11. Mason Barnett, RHP
12. Tommy White, 3B
13. Henry Baez, RHP
14. Zane Taylor, RHP
15. Cole Miller, RHP

The voting continues! Time for A’s fans to pick the 16th-best prospect the A’s have down on the farm. Here’s a quick rundown on each nominee— the scouting grades (on a 20-to-80 scale) and scouting reports come from MLB Pipeline.

Nominees on the current ballot:

Kade Morris, RHP

Expected level: Triple-A | Age: 23

2025 stats (AA/AAA): 4.38 ERA, 28 starts, 150 IP, 128 K, 48 BB, 16 HR, 4.71 FIP

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 40

Morris runs up his four-seam fastball to about 95-96 mph and also throws a sinker with good arm-side run in the 92-95 range. His mid-80s slider has developed into an above-average secondary offering. His mid-70s curveball provides a good variation of pitch speeds, though he is still working to make it a more consistent pitch, along with his improving upper-80s changeup.

Morris is athletic with his 6-foot-3 frame. His competitive drive stands out whenever he takes the mound. Discovering the right arm slot that allows for the most consistency is the next big step in his development. How that pans out as he moves through the system will likely determine his long-term role, though he profiles as a back-end starter given his overall pitch mix and solid control.

Shotaro Morii, SS/RHP

Expected level: Low-A | Age: 19

2025 stats (Rookie Affiliate): 188 PA, .258/.399/.384, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 36 BB, 47 K, 4 SB

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades (hitter): Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 50 | Overall: 40

Scouting grades (pitcher): Fastball: 55 | Slider: 40 | Curveball: 45 | Splitter: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40

At the plate, Morii features a smooth left-handed swing with tremendous balance. His power stands out, as he clubbed 45 home runs as a high schooler. He is considered an advanced hitter with good barrel control. On the mound, his fastball has been clocked as high as 95 mph and sits around 92-93. He also brings a splitter with nasty movement, a true 12-to-6 curveball and a tighter slider with solid bite and depth, though that offering will probably require some fine-tuning. Having only been pitching with regularity for less than two years, Morii’s arm is relatively fresh as he enters the organization.

Morii’s high-octane throwing arm plays well at shortstop, but some evaluators see a possibility of moving to third base as his 6-foot-1 frame fills out. While scouts see Morii’s long-term future in the batter’s box, the A’s plan on giving him every opportunity to succeed as a two-way player, with excitement already building over his impressive physical traits and desire to become one of the next great players out of Japan.

Junior Perez, OF

Expected level: Triple-A | Age: 24

2025 stats (AA/AAA): 587 PA, .231/.348/.473, 29 doubles, 6 triples, 26 HR, 87 RBI, 87 BB, 165 K, 27 SB

Per Billy Owens, Athletics director of player personnel and assistant GM: “Perez is a live-bodied specimen with high-caliber tools. His range and athleticism stand out defensively. Offensively, he can be streaky, but he has displayed plus bat speed, patience and real power. Solid package. Development is not linear. Patience will be required to realize his significant potential.”

Gunnar Hoglund, RHP

Expected level: Triple-A/Majors | Age: 26

2025 stats (Triple-A): 2.43 ERA, 6 starts, 29 2/3 IP, 30 K, 7 BB, 3 HR, 4.17 FIP

2025 stats (Majors): 6.40 ERA, 6 starts, 32 1/3 IP, 23 K, 11 BB, 10 HR, 6.75 FIP

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 45 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 60 | Overall: 45

Though Hoglund may never get back the electric stuff he possessed earlier in his career, the A’s were encouraged to see his fastball velocity tick back up to the low-90s. He has also experimented with adding a two-seamer and cutter. His low-80s slider now features more sweeping action and works as his main secondary pitch. He has also improved his low-80s changeup, creating a solid three-pitch mix that is enhanced by a strong ability to consistently throw strikes.

Now three years removed from Tommy John, the A’s are hopeful that Hoglund can develop into a solid back-end rotation piece, especially if he can successfully develop a fourth pitch. The Florida native was regularly going deep into starts in his big league cameo (6.40 ERA with 23 strikeouts to 11 walks across 32 1/3 innings) before going down with the injury and is expected to make a full recovery before the 2026 season.

Yunior Tur, RHP

Expected level: Triple-A | Age: 26

2025 stats (A+/AA/AAA): 3.29 ERA, 26 starts (30 appearances), 125 2/3 IP, 130 K, 60 BB, 7 HR, 3.79 FIP

Per The Athletics’ Keith Law:

Tur is 26 but only signed with the A’s before the 2023 season after several seasons pitching in the Serie Nacional in Cuba. He started almost all of last year, going from High A to Triple A, although I think he’s a straight reliever. He comes straight over the top, sitting 96 with some ride along with a 55 splitter and a low-90s cutter that doesn’t miss many bats. The slider is fringy and he’s very north-south because of the arm slot. He could pitch in the big-league bullpen right now.

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Programming Note: Each CPL vote will run for around 48 hours, so don’t delay in making your vote!

Jordan Westburg reported to Orioles spring training and landed on the “surprise offseason injury” list immediately with a reported sore oblique. Within the last day, rumors swirled up out of places that aren’t usually worth taking seriously as sources of reliable baseball information about concerns about Westburg’s elbow. Unfortunately, those concerns have now hit the mainstream press, with The Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka being the first to report that Westburg has had imaging done on his elbow.

As of yet, nothing has been reported by the Orioles regarding this injury. Reporters including Kostka and MASN’s Roch Kubatko tried to pin down manager Craig Albernaz about what was going on with Westburg, whether there were additional concerns for him than just the previously-reported oblique. “He’s physically unable to participate right now,” was the manager’s cagey response, dodging away from directly responding about the elbow.

More concerning for me is this one from the manager, relayed from Kubatko’s article:

Asked about possible concerns within the organization that Westburg is hurt worse than assumed, Albernaz said, “Oh, just want to make sure we’re doing our due diligence and make sure Jordan is in the best chance to play this year.”

I’ve added the bold for emphasis because for me that’s the classic tell about when an injury is worse than anyone with the team has openly said. Until 24 hours ago, there was no indication that there might be any reason why Westburg would not play this year. Even if you were glum about the oblique, that’s not a miss all season injury. Albernaz wouldn’t have referred to it that way.

With Kostka’s report following shortly after that scrum, it’s not looking good. Secret elbow imaging with delays for “due diligence” pretty much only end up one way, even if it is much less common for an infielder to require surgery on the elbow. For now, there’s no precise news.

Exhibition games haven’t even begun yet for the Orioles and we already know they’re going to have to resort to backup plans at multiple positions in the infield. Westburg’s situation added to Jackson Holliday’s broken hamate bone means that second base and third base will have different players on Opening Day than we all would have assumed two weeks ago.

If Westburg is missing a substantial amount of time, the question of whether Coby Mayo can semi-competently handle third base at the major league level is something the Orioles are going to need to figure out over the course of the Grapefruit League schedule. If Mayo is able to do this, and also if he is able to hit like he showed last September, then Westburg’s absence will be far less bruising. If Mayo is not the answer, the team will need to scramble for Plan C.

Recently-acquired infielder Blaze Alexander seems like the candidate to get several weeks worth of starts at second base until Holliday returns to action. That’s not why the Orioles acquired him, since Holliday’s injury hadn’t even happened yet when the Orioles made the trade. The way things have played out, it seems like that’s the use he should get.

Nobody else get hurt for the rest of camp. Thanks!

The Phillies traded Matt Strahm this winter in an effort to lower payroll get more long term flexibility with their bullpen options. Once the trade was finalized, a ripple effect of that trade, unforeseen or not, was that the depth chart from the left handed side of the bullpen took quite the hit. Those three left handers from 2025 – Strahm, Jose Alvarado and Tanner Banks – were among the better options at getting left handed hitting out and were somewhat successful in keeping right handed hitters at bay as well. However, no longer would they have three left handers trotting in from the bullpen, meaning they had to backfill a little bit.

While the team still may keep only Alvarado and Banks as the left handers in the bullpen to begin the season, Rob Thomson has shown an affinity to keeping at least three southpaws out beyond center field at all times. If we were to assume that he was going to do the same for 2026, that means there is suddenly a spring battle to be followed. The bullpen hierarchy, as it stands right now, likely looks like this:

1. Jhoan Duran
2. Jose Alvarado
3. Brad Keller
4. Orion Kerkering
5. Tanner Banks
6. Jonathan Bowlan
7. Zach McCambley
8. ???????

While we could debate keeping McCambley at all, it’s probably a decent assumption that these seven pitchers will comprise the majority of the bullpen, leaving that eighth and final spot the one coveted by a handful of options that have been cultivated by the front office. If we continue to assume things and believe that Thomson will want another left handed pitcher for that spot, some of the options he has to choose from each has their own set of skills to stake their claim.

Tim Mayza

Mayza was the one that the team picked up last season with the hopes of being able to replace Alvarado. Once Alvarado was deemed out for the season, the Phillies claimed Mayza off of waivers and, coming off his own injury, put him into the bullpen to have him throw 16 2/3 innings of uneventful baseball.

His past success with Toronto suggested that once he was healthy, the team might have had quite a decent find for free from waivers, but there just never seemed to be any trust in him. Anything he could have done that would have been a leveraged situation simply went to Banks.

Still, there were some encouraging things that he did that earned him another minor league deal from the Phillies with a spring training invite. His velocity was perfectly fine, averaging 93.6 miles per hour on the fastball. It being a sinker that he threw most of the time, he kept the ball on the ground rather often, something the team likes from their relievers.

You just didn’t want him in the game with any right handed hitters in the lineup. His splits (.874 OPS against RHH, .499 OPS against LHH) were such that he is more or less unpitchable when a right handed hitter approaches the plate. In the age of the three batter minimum, that’s something that can’t be used too often.

Now I see why Rob Thomson used him sparingly.

Kyle Backhus

This does not look fun.

We are past the days of the LOOGY, the guy that only pitches to one, maybe two, left handed hitters, then departs for the showers. If that job were still available, Backhus would probably be in higher demand around the game. His wOBA against left handed hitters (.227) was 23rd among 134 left handed pitchers, starter or reliever, in 2025. That’s an incredible skill to have and makes one wonder why he was available for only a minor league deal.

As with Mayza, the story remains the game: right handed hitters destroy him. Of the 73 right handed batters he faced in 2025, he allowed five doubles, a triple and two home runs. His velocity, or lack thereof, means he can just throw the ball by them and the funk he shows against left handed hitters doesn’t have quite the same effectiveness against righties.

Starting to sense a theme here?

Genesis Cabrera

Probably the longest of shots among the three listed here, Cabrera does do one thing better than the other two: get hitters to swing and miss.

In 2025, Cabrera bested Mayza and Backhus in whiff rate, his 27.1% whiff rate beating Mayza by two percent, Backhus by five. For a team that has focused on this particular trait quite a bit this offseason, that is going to carry some weight. How he went about it is somewhat counterintuitive to what I had previously thought. At first, I believed that Cabrera was getting these whiffs based on being able to throw his fastball by hitters, but in fact, his 95.7 average fastball velocity wasn’t being missed much (22.5% whiff rate) and his sinker was getting tattooed by opposing lineups (.639 SLG against). Getting swings and misses on his breaking pitches? Nope, his whiff rate on breaking pitches was the worst of the trio.

Where Cabrera excelled in getting swings and misses was a splitter that he started throwing for the first time in 2025. On this pitch, he got swings and misses 52.1% of the time. That might sounds like a weapon that can be unleashed for good, but when hitters did square it up, they did damage (two home runs in 20 plate appearances). If he can keep the pitch in the park and he can focus on refining a much better cutter, there could be something there the team can work with.

Now, this all sounds great, raising the same question with Cabrera that was raised with Mayza and Backhus and arriving at the same destination seems inevitable: why was he available for only a minor league deal?

You guessed it!

That .418 wOBA Kyle Backhus had against right handed hitters? It looks rough until you compare it Cabrera, whose .437 mark was the fourth worst among 122 southpaws.

If the Phillies are going to carry a third left handed reliever in 2026, someone is going to have to improve against right handed pitching. The options that are in camp on minor league deals are not without their warts, yet have demonstrated some modicum of success in the past. Backhus probably has the headstart on either Mayza or Cabrera by virtue of being on the 40 man roster already, yet he also needs to improve at getting righties out as well if he wants to have any kind of leveraged opportunities with the team. It also wouldn’t be surprising if the team continues to scour the league in search of a deal, a waiver claim, a free release that would be an improvement over what is in camp now.

For now, the battle continues….

With the 2025 Texas Rangers season having come to an end, we shall be, over the course of the offseason, taking a look at every player who appeared in a major league game for the Texas Rangers in 2025.

Today we are looking at outfielder Sam Haggerty.

Well that worked out okay, I think.

The Rangers needed a righthanded bat who could play the outfield for their bench in 2025. They signed Sam Haggerty — a switch hitter, but one who has been much stronger against lefties than righties in his career — to a minor league deal.

Haggerty started the season in Round Rock on the injured list, got healthy, then was brought up in early May to replace Dustin Harris. There was an open 40 man roster spot because the Mariners — Haggerty’s old team — had just claimed Leody Taveras on waivers.

Haggerty played well enough for his role when he was healthy. The healthy part was an issue, as he spent 10 days on the injured list in mid-July, then was one of the myriad of players who landed on the injured list in mid-August. He went on a rehab assignment in September, but ultimately was shut down for the season.

Both times Haggerty went on the injured list it was list as being due to left ankle inflammation. Seattle had non-tendered Haggerty after the 2024 season, which he missed most of due to a torn Achilles tendon. I thought maybe the ankle issues were related to that, but he tore his right Achilles tendon, so apparently not. Though it may be that the Achilles injury resulted in him putting more weight, subconsciously, on his left foot, thus impacting his left ankle.

I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. I don’t even play one on television.

And note that I said television, not TV, because TV is a nickname and nicknames are for friends and television is no friend of mine.

Anyway, when Haggerty was on the field, he was perfectly fine. Wasn’t great defensively, probably shouldn’t be playing center field, but needs must. 88th percentile in spring speed, per Statcast, so apparently he recovered pretty fully from the Achilles tear. 812 OPS against lefties, 575 OPS against righties, pretty much in line with his career splits (808/555).

Haggerty’s splits are so extreme, in fact, that one has to wonder if he wouldn’t be better off giving up switch-hitting altogether. For MLB as a whole last season, righthanders put up an OPS against lefties that was 44 points higher than against righties. When you are a switch hitter who hits very well against lefthanders and is unplayable against righthanders, at a certain point, don’t you have to consider giving up the switch hitting thing?

So Haggerty was useful in 2025, and likely will spend 2026 being useful in between trips to the injured list.

Previously:

Gerson Garabito

Tyler Mahle

Kyle Higashioka

Adolis Garcia

Luis Curvelo

Alejandro Osuna

Blaine Crim

Jake Burger

Jacob Webb

Nick Ahmed

Jon Gray

Carl Edwards Jr.

Josh Jung

Leody Taveras

Dustin Harris

Marc Church

Luke Jackson

Danny Coulombe

Wyatt Langford

Dylan Moore

Michael Helman

Evan Carter

Cole Winn

Rowdy Tellez

Dane Dunning

Marcus Semien

Billy McKinney

Jose Corniell

Jonah Heim

Cody Freeman

The Grapefruit League schedule is upon us. From February 20 through March 23, the Orioles will be playing near-daily games to help them get ready for Opening Day on March 26. Over the course of camp, cuts will gradually be made until they get down to the 26-man roster at the end. Young players and journeymen will have an opportunity to make an impression early on. Later, it’ll be about the expected regulars getting in the reps to hit the ground running.

Orioles fans get an uncommon treat this spring training. After several years of the team-owned television network not bothering to broadcast more than a handful of spring games, this year will see more than half of the schedule with a local television broadcast. This does still come with the disappointing fact of the broadcasters calling the games remotely, but it’s better than we’ve gotten recently, with not many games and those called remotely as well.

All but seven of the spring training games will be on either one team’s TV broadcast or the other, and when adding in radio broadcasts for both teams, only one game will have no TV or radio at all: a warmup game against the Netherlands WBC team on March 3 before that tournament begins.

Here’s the full schedule for this spring’s Orioles action:

The Cincinnati Reds will open their 2026 season on March 26th in Great American Ball Park with the Boston Red Sox in town. Cincinnati’s Cactus League slate at their home in Goodyear, Arizona will begin this Saturday, February 21st, with the Cleveland Guardians both their home complex compatriots and opponents for the day.

With competitive baseball firmly on the horizon, here’s Red Reporter’s first stab at how the 26-man roster will look when regular season ball commences just five weeks from now.

Starting Rotation

RHP Hunter Greene

LHP Andrew Abbott

LHP Nick Lodolo

RHP Brady Singer

RHP Chase Burns

Notes: The storyline here is the battle for the fifth and final spot in the rotation, as each of Burns, Rhett Lowder, Brandon Williamson, and Julian Aguiar are among the candidates – each of whom already has big league experience under their belts. Burns, though, seems poised to launch into the stratosphere of elite pitchers in the game today, and I don’t think the Reds are in a position to throttle that to begin the season (even if they need to limit his innings at some point later in the year).

Given that each of Lowder, Williamson, and Aguiar is coming off lost 2025 seasons due to major injuries, I think each will get slow-played to start 2026 in order to be built up and ready for the inevitable mid-season needs of the big league club.

Bullpen

RHP Emilio Pagán

RHP Tony Santillan

RHP Graham Ashcraft

LHP Brock Burke

LHP Caleb Ferguson

RHP Pierce Johnson

RHP Connor Phillips

LHP Sam Moll

Notes: The final spot here is the lone one about which I’ve got questions, but usually when that’s the case it’s the larger, administrative factors that win out. In this case, Moll is out of options, and I think that will give him the leg up on the final spot over the likes of Zach Maxwell and Luis Mey. It gives the Reds a third lefty, which might not be ideal, but would buy time for Terry Francona to figure out just how much he really needs a third southpaw (and for Moll to show he’s healthy again), with Big Sugar and Mey around for immediate depth if anything goes askew.

Position Players

C Tyler Stephenson

C Jose Trevino

1B Nathaniel Lowe

DH/IF Eugenio Suárez

IF Sal Stewart

IF Matt McLain

IF Elly De La Cruz

3B Ke’Bryan Hayes

IF/OF Spencer Steer

OF TJ Friedl

OF Noelvi Marte

OF Will Benson

OF Dane Myers

Notes: The recent signing of Lowe to a non-roster contract put this projection into flux, but I do truly think there’s plenty left in his tank and that will show in spring camp. That means he’ll be in the mix at 1B more often than anyone originally thought, and while initially that would look like a major impact to the playing time of Stewart, I think it will actually impact JJ Bleday more than anyone due to Lowe hitting from the left-hand side. Bleday has options remaining – as does Benson, as they’ll be competing directly with one another – but I think Benson gets the inside edge for the time being.

What carrying Lowe, a solid defender at 1B, does though is push Spencer Steer into more time in LF. Stewart, Lowe, and Suárez will rotate through 1B/DH on most days, though I do still expect Suárez to get at least one start a week at 3B until the point at which he proves unplayable there. Steer will also likely get time at 2B on days when McLain either a) takes over SS to give Elly a break or b) when McLain needs a break himself, with Stewart hopefully getting in that mix a time or two here and there, too.

While I’m still highly skeptical of the concept of Myers at all, I think he gets the nod as the right-handed outfielder who can play CF for the time being.

NBCSP launches multi-platform coverage details for Phillies spring training originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NBC Sports Philadelphia is kicking off Phillies spring training with extensive coverage, highlighted by 17 live games and extensive TV, digital and social content.

The 17-game slate includes seven matchups on NBCSP, 10 on NBCSP+ and gets underway with the team’s exhibition opener against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. ET. A look at the NBCSP broadcast production schedule below:

*WBC Exhibition
**Spring Breakout Prospects

NBCSP is extending bonus coverage in partnership with other regional networks including Sportsnet, YES Network and MLB Local.

Live games will feature play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy and veteran analysts Ruben Amaro Jr., Ben Davis and John Kruk rotating in the booth. Phillies legend Cole Hamels will also return as a game analyst on a part-time basis.

Digital reporting will feature work from both Jim Salisbury and Cole Weintraub, who will also spearhead coverage through the regular season.

Salisbury, who previously served as the Phillies writer/reporter for the network from 2010 to 2022, returns in a similar role covering the team. The veteran sports reporter brings more than 30 years of experience reporting on baseball and 26 years covering the Phillies.

“I’m excited to return to NBC Sports Philadelphia and once again be part of its great baseball coverage team,” said Salisbury. “Opening day can’t come fast enough. I’m sick of the cold and ready for some ball. Hopefully I won’t dangle any participles.”

Weintraub also joins the team as a digital reporter, previously spending time as a contributor for MLB Pipeline and MiLB.

“[Philadelphia is] a fantastic baseball town,” Weintraub said. “The opportunity to bridge the gap between younger and older audiences through our coverage of Phillies baseball is beyond exciting.”

Special edition episodes of the Phillies Talk Podcast, featuring hosts Spencer McKercher and Sean Kane, will feature comprehensive team/player progress reports and special guest interviews.

“Sean and I are incredibly excited about the growth of the Phillies Talk podcast coverage, which continues to exceed expectations and deliver fans the best Phillies content, especially down in spring training,” said McKercher. “Most importantly, the engagement and feedback from Phillies fans has been overwhelming and we’re grateful for the passion and support that’s fueling this momentum.”

You can stay up to date on all things Phillies with wall-to-wall coverage on NBCsportsphiladelphia.com and social/digital platforms.