Notes on Every Phillies Starter in Their First Lineup of the Spring

The Phillies are in action Saturday afternoon for their Grapefruit League opener in Dunedin against the defending AL Champion Toronto Blue Jays.

The game can be seen on NBC Sports Philadelphia at 1:07 p.m. (full broadcast schedule here), with right-hander Bryse Wilson starting for the Phillies. Based on past spring usage early in camp by manager Rob Thomson, Wilson is unlikely to go longer than two innings.

Right-handers Zach McCambley, Nolan Hoffman, Max Lazar and lefty Andrew Walling are expected to follow after Wilson. The three righties are part of a large bullpen competition this spring.

As anticipated, the first lineup of the spring includes a few regulars but not all. The Phillies in past seasons have tended to roll out their everyday players gradually over the first week of Grapefruit League games.

1. Justin Crawford, CF
2. Adolis Garcia, RF
3. Edmundo Sosa, SS
4. Otto Kemp, LF
5. Bryan De La Cruz, DH
6. Rafael Marchan, C
7. Dylan Moore, 2B
8. Christian Cairo, 3B
9. Keaton Anthony, 1B

Here are some notes, thoughts and camp outlooks for all nine guys:

Justin Crawford

The 22-year-old rookie might lead the team in plate appearances this spring because he figures to lead off a lot and be given as many reps as possible to ready himself for his first regular season in the majors.

Crawford hit .334/.411/.452 last season at Triple A and has nothing left to prove at that level. He creates some useful variance for the 2026 Phillies and could be a major X-factor. If his contact and on-base skills can translate quickly, it's one of their paths to elongating the lineup.

Adolis Garcia

He is the other true path to elongating the lineup. If Garcia can solidify himself in the cleanup spot by either having a strong spring or hot start to the regular season, then the Phillies could finally have consistent power in the spot behind Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.

It's a big if, obviously. Garcia slugged just .397 the last two seasons compared to .483 the prior two. He has four seasons of 25-plus home runs and three with 90-plus RBI and that's ideally what he produces here. He's not going to take or walk a ton but that's not what the Phillies brought him here for.

Edmundo Sosa

This is now Year 5 with the Phillies for Sosa, who remains their most important extra man. He enters the season as the backup shortstop, second baseman and third baseman.

Sosa's offensive numbers have improved three years in a row, from .251 with a .719 OPS in 2023, to .257 with a .734 OPS in 2024, to .276 with a .777 OPS in 2025.

He opened last season 11-for-20 with four doubles, ended April at .359 and didn't dip below .300 until the final day of May.

This is Sosa's last year under contract. He's set to earn $4.4 million.

Otto Kemp

Barring injury, Kemp will also be on the Phillies' Opening Day bench. He's able to back up at both infield corners, left field and second base.

The left field part of it could be the most interesting. Kemp may end up becoming part of a platoon at the position with Brandon Marsh, so long as he hits lefties. He was much more powerful and selective as a rookie last season vs. lefties (.324 OBP, .462 SLG) than vs. righties (.285 OBP, .386 SLG).

Kemp also had a .424 OBP against lefties in 245 plate appearances at Triple A and Double A in his final two minor-league seasons.

He's excited to see what he can do in the majors this time without being saddled by injury.

Bryan De La Cruz

In play with Johan Rojas and Dylan Moore for the Phillies' fourth and final bench job.

De La Cruz hit 19 homers for the Marlins in 2023 and 21 the next year. He raked all winter against decent competition, leading his Dominican Winter team by hitting .301 with eight homers, 40 RBI and an .888 OPS to win the league's MVP award.

De La Cruz was traded from the Marlins to the Pirates at the 2024 deadline but he did not hit in Pittsburgh and became a free agent after the year.

He landed with the Braves for 2025 and played a lot in left field in the opening month but didn't hit there, either, ending up with the Yankees where he played the rest of the year at Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The Phils have De La Cruz in camp to see if he can win an Opening Day bench job. If he doesn't, he could still find himself up with the Phillies the first time there's an outfield injury.

His offensive performance matters as much as any Phillie's this spring.

Rafael Marchan

Again has in the inside track to the backup catching spot because he's out of minor-league options and six years younger than Garrett Stubbs.

Marchan played more last year than he did in three prior tastes of the big leagues, hitting .210/.282/.305 in 118 plate appearances. He started 30 games as J.T. Realmuto once again assumed the largest workload in the league.

Realmuto has caught 1,183 more innings than anyone else in the majors since 2019 so it's been an annual goal to reduce that by a bit. It just hasn't happened, largely because of the massive gap between starter and backup.

Dylan Moore

In the bench battle, De La Cruz offers right-handed pop, Rojas has the speed and center field defense, and Moore has the versatility to play everywhere.

In seven seasons with the Mariners, Moore played everywhere but catcher, receiving his most reps at second base, shortstop and left field. He won the 2024 AL Gold Glove at Utility.

He just hasn't hit much, .202/.302/.381 since 2023.

The Phillies invited Moore to spring training a week before pitchers and catchers reported.

Christian Cairo

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.

Keaton Anthony

The Phillies signed Anthony as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and the 24-year-old has hit everywhere he's been — .372 in college at Iowa, .307 in Single A, .356 in High A, .304 in Double A and then .313 last season at Triple A.

He hasn't shown much power for a first base prospect but you can't argue with the contact. Through the Phillies' entire minor leagues last season, Anthony ranked Top 4 in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage among players with at least 300 plate appearances.

He played in eight games with the Phillies last spring, going 2-for-7 with a homer.