Phillies Face Opening Day Decisions With Three Players This Weekend

The Phillies are nearing the March 23 finish line of spring training, and two days before the end of camp comes an important deadline. Teams must decide by noon ET five days before Opening Day whether to add their Article XX(B) free agents to the 26-man roster or MLB injured list.

If they don't, they must either grant the player his immediate unconditional release or agree to pay him a retention bonus of $100,000.

This affects three Phillies in particular: utilityman Dylan Moore, right-handed reliever Lou Trivino and left-handed reliever Tim Mayza. All three are in camp on minor-league deals and all three can request their release on Saturday if the Phillies don't assure them an Opening Day roster spot.

The criteria

To qualify as an Article XX(B) free agent, a player must have at least six years of MLB service time and have finished the previous season on a team's 40-man roster or 60-day injured list. Moore ended 2025 with the Texas Rangers and Trivino and Mayza finished with the Phillies.

If the player accepts the $100,000 retention bonus to remain in the organization, he can request to be granted his unconditional release on June 1 if not added to the 26-man roster or MLB injured list by then.

Phillies who don't meet the criteria are corner outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, right-handed reliever Trevor Richards and lefty reliever Genesis Cabrera. De La Cruz does not meet the service time requirement, nor did he end 2025 on a team's 40-man roster. Richards has the service time but wasn't on a 40-man roster to end the season. Cabrera doesn't have the service time.

Let's take a closer look at the Phillies' three Article XX(B) free agents:

Dylan Moore

Moore has a good chance to make the team as the final position player. The Phillies' bench will include Edmundo Sosa, Otto Kemp and the backup catcher. In the fourth spot, manager Rob Thomson wants someone who can play both infield and outfield. Moore can; De La Cruz cannot. Moore can request his release five days before Opening Day; De La Cruz cannot.

Moore's value over the years has come primarily from his defensive versatility. He considers shortstop his most natural position but he's played 1,308 big-league innings at second base, 900 at short, 885 in left field, 605 in right field, 432 at third base, 156 at first base and 105 in center. The only position he's never played is catcher.

He even won a Gold Glove award in 2024 as a utilityman.

"You've got to hit to be in the big leagues," Moore said last month, "but defense for me, I take a lot of pride in, especially being that versatile bench option for winning a close game late."

Lou Trivino

The 34-year-old veteran of five MLB teams pitched two scoreless innings on Monday in Lakeland against the Tigers, striking out three. He needed a quality outing because he allowed runs in the previous four.

Trivino has put 15 men on base and allowed seven runs (six earned) in seven Grapefruit League innings. Spring training results do matter for pitchers in his position, fighting with more than a handful of competitors for one or two bullpen spots.

One advantage Trivino might have is that this front office and coaching staff has seem him pitch well in a Phillies uniform. He did so last August and September, appearing in 10 games and allowing an earned run in only two of them. Six were hitless.

Tim Mayza

Mayza, also 34, faces longer odds than Trivino to make the Opening Day roster. The Phillies will likely carry Kyle Backhus as the third left-hander in their bullpen after Jose Alvarado and Tanner Banks. Their eighth and final reliever will probably be a fifth righty rather than a fourth lefty.

There's a chance that right-hander Orion Kerkering is not ready for Opening Day. He was slowed in camp by a right hamstring strain and appeared in his first game on the minor-league side on Tuesday. But even if he's not, that would seem to crack the door more for a right-hander like Zach Pop, Zach McCambley, Seth Johnson, Chase Shugart, Trivino or Richards than for Mayza or Cabrera.

Mayza has allowed nine hits and seven runs (five earned) in 6⅓ innings this spring. For his career, he has held left-handed hitters to a .214 batting average and .266 on-base percentage, including 5-for-25 last season with one extra-base hit, two walks and nine strikeouts.

Mayza made eight appearances for the Phils in September, four of them clean, four filled with baserunners. He pitched very well for the Blue Jays from 2021-23 (2.67 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) but has a 5.61 ERA in 65 appearances since.