Mixed Results From Phillies Who Made Their First Opening Day Roster

Five of the 26 Phillies who made the team out of camp experienced their first Opening Day on Thursday and three of them played.

One, Andrew Painter, will wait until Tuesday when he starts the fifth game of the season against the Nationals. Another, Otto Kemp, should make his first start on Sunday against Rangers left-hander Mackenzie Gore.

The other three played on Thursday, with Justin Crawford collecting two hits, Jonathan Bowlan pitching the seventh inning and Kyle Backhus attempting to finish the game.

A closer look at all three of their performances:

Justin Crawford

It's hard to have a better introduction to the majors than to single sharply up the middle on the first pitch you see from an established, successful starter in Nate Eovaldi.

Crawford later singled up the middle again off Eovaldi, setting the stage for Alec Bohm's game-changing, two-out, three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth.

Justin Crawford just singled again. He is 2 for 2 today #Phillies pic.twitter.com/Dk3OXPR3QL
— Phillie Phacts (@PhilliePhacts) March 26, 2026

He's not going to hit .500 and might not hit .300, but it was encouraging to see Crawford feel so comfortable right away. Walking around the clubhouse in spring training, he looked like a big-leaguer based on his body and the way he carries himself. Having a former All-Star for a dad in Carl Crawford doesn't hurt, either.

Crawford said postgame that he would be lying if he said he didn't feel nerves but that he thought pops felt them even more.

He will play every day in center field and hit ninth. Crawford has a chance to form a dynamic 9-1 combination with fellow speedster Trea Turner. We saw it play out in the fifth inning Thursday when both singled ahead of strikeouts by Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper and the Bohm home run.

Jonathan Bowlan

Bowlan was the first reliever used by the Phillies after Cristopher Sanchez ended his day by striking out the side in the sixth.

Bowlan's bread-and-butter is his high heater, and the first two at-bats ended with them. The first was a Jake Burger single, the second a Joc Pederson flyout. Bowlan threw just eight pitches in his scoreless inning, maxing out at 98.5 mph and averaging 96.0.

He was the Phillies' return from Kansas City in the Matt Strahm trade and is under team control through the end of 2031. Bowlan is a prime candidate to pitch more than an inning when needed this season, having done so in 16 of 34 appearances last year.

Kyle Backhus

The low-sidearm lefty with the unique look was given the ninth inning with a five-run lead but couldn't navigate his way through it, allowing a leadoff single to lefty Corey Seager, then a two-run homer to right-handed Burger on a high fastball that wasn't high enough.

Backhus allowed three hits, recorded one out and was pulled for closer Jhoan Duran, who picked up two outs for his first save. He handled lefties last season but righties hit .365. A lefty specialist will face right-handed hitters nearly half the time, so having a way to consistently retire them is crucial and has been a focus for Backhus and the Phillies since they acquired him.

Backhus debuted with the Arizona Diamondbacks last season but this was his first Opening Day roster.

"I had a little fire under my ass, for lack of a better word, when I got traded here," he said pregame, "knowing the club that's here and the aspirations to win the World Series. I want to work hard, help the team and contribute to that."