Notes on Every Phillie in Monday's Lineup at Faraway West Palm Beach

A similar group of position players to the one that played in Dunedin Saturday in the Phillies' Grapefruit League opener took the near-four hour trip across Florida from Clearwater to West Palm Beach for Monday's game.

Monday was a 6:05 p.m. first pitch, a rare night spring training game for the Phillies, who play only a few each year.

They remain on the East Coast of Florida on Tuesday for an afternoon game against the Marlins in Jupiter, about a 20-minute drive from West Palm Beach. And then the Phillies are back in Clearwater Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday with another road game in nearby Dunedin Saturday.

Rangel and Curet

Monday's start went to 28-year-old Mexican right-hander Alan Rangel, who made five appearances last season with the Phillies and 25 starts with Triple A Lehigh Valley. Rangel, who will likely spend the season at Triple A, is one of the few starting pitching depth pieces in Phillies camp, along with Saturday's starter, Bryse Wilson.

Another arm in camp with starting experience is Yoniel Curet, who made 80 starts in Tampa Bay's minor-league system. He is expected to pitch after Rangel Monday. The plan for Rangel could be two innings, just as it was for Wilson. Curet may see more than an inning, as well. (Update: They each went an inning apiece, likely because Rangel needed 27 pitches to complete his and Curet 28.)

Curet led all of minor-league baseball in strikeouts while at Single A and Double A in 2023 and' 24 with 303 in 223 innings. He actually entered last season ranked 61st on Fangraphs' Top 100 prospects list. He pitched well in five starts at Double A and poorly in seven starts at Triple A in 2025.

The Rays designated Curet for assignment after the season and the Phillies took advantage of having open 40-man roster spots, acquiring him in exchange for Tommy McCollum, a 26-year-old reliever.

The lineup

Justin Crawford, Adolis Garcia, Edmundo Sosa, Otto Kemp and both backup catchers were in Monday's lineup against Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin, who has made 90 starts the last three seasons for Washington.

Here was the lineup:

1. Justin Crawford, CF (L)
2. Adolis Garcia, RF
3. Edmundo Sosa, 3B
4. Otto Kemp, LF
5. Garrett Stubbs, C (L)
6. Rafael Marchan, DH (S)
7. Liover Peguero, 1B
8. Christian Cairo, 2B
9. Bryan Rincon, SS (S)

And here is a closer look at each starter:

Justin Crawford

The Phillies' starting centerfielder had an impressive Grapefruit League debut against the Blue Jays, leading off the game with a 390-foot double and later singling over the shortstop's head. Crawford went 2-for-3, striking out on a pitch clock violation.

Crawford is going to play a ton this spring. On Saturday, he faced a left-handed starter in Eric Lauer and doubled. Monday night, he draws Irvin, a right-hander who throws his curveball a ton to lefties.

Adolis Garcia

In three at-bats Saturday, Garcia flied out softly to right field, flied out softly to left field and grounded out to the left side. He chased some fastballs above the zone, as he's been prone to do throughout his major-league career.

Selectivity is a point of emphasis with Garcia for the Phillies and it will be interesting to see whether he's able to adopt it in the spring or will be in swing-happy mode like many players are when trying to find their timing.

Edmundo Sosa

After starting at shortstop Saturday, Sosa plays third base in his second appearance of the spring. It has always stood out how much smoother Sosa is at shortstop or second base than he is at the hot corner, though he's still an above-average defender there.

Sosa is one of the rare Phillies players who's seen some carryover the last few years between a hot spring and fast start to April.

He hit .364 in the spring of 2023, then hit .305 with eight extra-base hits in 62 April plate appearances that season.

He hit .292 and slugged .500 with 11 RBI last spring, then raked in April with a .359 batting average.

He's a streaky hitter who tends to start hot.

Otto Kemp

Who will have more plate appearances in 2026: Sosa or Kemp?

Sosa will be the primary backup at shortstop and second base.

Kemp will be the primary backup in left field and at first base.

Both will play some third base.

The majority of Kemp's starts figure to come in left field as the right-handed hitting portion of a platoon with Brandon Marsh.

The majority of Sosa's starts figure to come at second base in place of Bryson Stott, though the Phillies haven't platooned Stott quite as much as Marsh in recent seasons.

Stott has 419 plate appearances vs. lefties since 2023 to Marsh's 258. Stott has hit .251 with a .324 OBP against them compared to Marsh's .213 and .278.

Stubbs and Marchan

Using one as the DH — Marchan in this case — is a way to get him even more at-bats this spring. He and Stubbs are, of course, battling for the second straight spring to be J.T. Realmuto's backup.

It's a rather boring spring storyline between these two because, for the second straight spring, it comes down more to roster flexibility than pure competition. Both are out of minor-league options but Marchan is six years younger and the likelier of the two that the Phillies would lose if placed on waivers, so the advantage appears his again.

Liover Peguero

The Phillies signed the 25-year-old Peguero to a minor-league deal in November. He played in 96 games from 2022-25 with the Pirates and hit .227/.278/.368 with 11 home runs in 315 plate appearances.

Peguero is a depth utilityman likely to play at Triple A Lehigh Valley. The majority of his minor-league career has come at shortstop and second base but he starts at first in this one.

Christian Cairo

As mentioned Saturday, the son of former Phillie and longtime MLB utilityman Miguel Cairo. Christian Cairo, 24, signed a minor-league deal with the Phillies in December after six years in the Cleveland Guardians' system.

He played all of last season at Triple A Columbus and hit .237/.338/.331 with 33 stolen bases in 40 attempts. Cairo has a good amount of minor-league experience at second, third, short and the corner outfield.

He played six innings at second base Saturday and went 0-for-2 with a groundout to shortstop and swinging strikeout.

Bryan Rincon

Named the best defensive infielder and best infield arm in the Phillies' farm system by Baseball America after last season.

Rincon, who turned 22 earlier this month, missed the final six weeks last season with a left hamate bone fracture. Before doing so, he hit just .181 with High A Jersey Shore, albeit with decent patience (50 walks) and 40 stolen bases in 45 attempts.

Rincon will need to hit more as he develops but the Phillies obviously love the glove. He appeared in seven spring training games last year, going 3-for-8 with a double and triple.