Phillies Notes: Outfield, Castellanos, Rotation

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke with the media this week and said that the club was mostly set with their outfield after the Adolis García signing. Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that the club is looking for a right-handed platoon bat to add into the mix.

That’s a sensible target, given the current setup. García should have right field spoken for with Brandon Marsh in left. The Phils want to give Justin Crawford a chance to take over the center field job. Both Marsh and Crawford are lefties. Marsh has notable career splits, with a .213/.278/.303 line and 61 wRC+ against southpaws in his career. Crawford actually fared slightly better against lefties in the minors this year but in a tiny sample of just 91 plate appearances against southpaws.

Having another righty bat who hits lefties well would make sense, particularly to platoon with Marsh. Crawford is more of a speed-and-defense guy anyway. He has hit well in the minors but with a high-contact, low-power approach that might be harder to pull off when facing better pitching and better defense in the majors. Time will tell how it plays but the Phils might be willing to live with whatever offense he can provide against lefties if he’s stealing bases and running the ball down on the grass.

Gelb mentions Rob Refsnyder as the kind of profile the Phillies are looking for, a righty bat who has mashed lefties in his career. He is one of many free agents to fit this profile, alongside guys like Miguel Andujar, Randal Grichuk, Austin Hays, Tommy Pham, Austin Slater and others. Old friend Harrison Bader would be a nice fit but he can probably get an everyday center field job elsewhere.

The Phils also have a potential solution already on the roster in Nick Castellanos. His offense has tailed off in recent years but he has largely stayed effective with the platoon advantage. He didn’t hit well against pitchers of either handedness in 2025 but still hit lefties as recently as 2024, when he had a .269/.324/.506 line and 124 wRC+ in the split.

Gelb reported back in October that the Phils would likely trade or release Castellanos. He re-asserted that position in this week’s column, linked above. It’s an interesting dynamic for the Phils as Castellanos is potentially the profile they are looking for but it seems they will look elsewhere. Perhaps that’s due to his defensive shortcomings or the fact that he hit just .243/.293/.387 against lefties in 2025 for an 87 WRC+.

It’s also theoretically possible that it’s due to off-the-field dynamics. Castellanos and manager Rob Thomson don’t seem to have the best relationship. Castellanos was benched in June for some kind of inappropriate comment made to the skipper, per ESPN. Castellanos also publicly criticized Thomson for his communication skills. With the apparent friction, perhaps things would get even worse if Castellanos were bumped into a part-time, short-side platoon role.

Whatever the reasoning, it seems the Phils are in a strange position. Castellanos is still owed $20MM next year. If they can’t find a trade partner, they could end up releasing him. It appears they will also look for a replacement, probably spending another $5MM or so on some new guy. The Phillies are a repeat tax payor and are over the top line, meaning that they pay a 110% tax on any additional spending. In the end, it’s possible they give Castellanos $20MM to go away, then spend a few million more on his replacement, plus taxes.

On the pitching side, Gelb reports that the Phils are looking for rotation depth but don’t appear to be looking for any guys on multi-year contracts. That makes some sense with what they have in place already, as they have a few questions but might have enough arms.

Zack Wheeler is recovering from surgery to address venous thoracic outlet syndrome. He is expected to begin the season on the injured list but could rejoin the rotation fairly early in the campaign. While he’s out, the Phils should start the season with a rotation consisting of Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker and Andrew Painter.

There’s an argument for the club to sign another starter but things could theoretically get tight once Wheeler is back. If they did sign a big free agent, then there’s a scenario fairly early in the season where this free agent, Wheeler, Sánchez, Luzardo and Nola have the five rotation spots. That would bump Walker to long relief and Painter to Triple-A.

The Phils might actually want to have a path open for Painter in case 2026 is his breakout year. His 5.40 earned run average in Triple-A this year wasn’t pretty but that was mostly due to a home run spike, unusual for him. 17.6% of his fly balls allowed went over the fence, whereas he was at just 5.6% in 2022 before getting hurt. This year’s 23.7% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate were pretty close to average.

While Wheeler is out, the Phils can give Painter a chance to hold a rotation spot. By the time Wheeler gets back, the Phils can decide whether Painter needs more Triple-A time or if he’s ready to take off.

This all assumes everyone is healthy at the same time. Given the likelihood of injuries to the pitching staff, perhaps the Phils should bolster the group anyway. With Walker and Luzardo impending free agents, signing a multi-year deal now would also help the club in 2027.

However, the club’s 2026 payroll is already pretty close to where they were in 2025. According to RosterResource, they are within $14MM of where they finished the most recent season. If they re-sign J.T. Realmuto as hoped, they would end up making up most or all of that difference. In terms of CBT, as mentioned, they are already over the top line and facing a 110% on further spending. Rather than go after a big splash for the rotation, they will add some depth but will mostly be hoping that the guys they already have can step up.

Photo courtesy of Kyle Ross, Imagn Images