{"id":112755,"date":"2026-01-23T19:42:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T00:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=112755"},"modified":"2026-01-23T19:42:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T00:42:01","slug":"phillies-announce-spring-training-non-roster-invitees-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/01\/23\/phillies-announce-spring-training-non-roster-invitees-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Phillies Announce Spring Training Non-Roster Invitees"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Philadelphia Phillies have announced their spring training non-roster invitees<\/a> for 2026. In total, the Phillies have invited 28 players who are not currently on their 40-man roster to spring training. Of those players, 19 are position players, and nine are pitchers. Some are top prospects in the Phillies’ farm system, and others are looking to make the team. Furthermore, the contenders for the open bullpen spots include players who are on the Phillies’ 40-man roster as well as non-roster invitees. The Phillies currently have a full 40-man roster. However, Nick Castellanos<\/a> is expected to be traded or released<\/a> at some point, which would clear a spot for Justin Crawford<\/a>. It is expected that Crawford will be the Phillies’ center fielder in 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n

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Feb 25, 2025; Port Charlotte, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Justin Crawford (80) runs home to score against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fourth inning at Charlotte Sports Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Phillies Announce Non-Roster Invitees To Spring Training<\/h2>\n

Notable Prospects Who Might Play A Role In 2026<\/h3>\n

Crawford is a non-roster invitee to spring training since he is not currently on the Phillies’ 40-man roster. Eventually, he will be added to the 40-man roster. Expect Crawford to be one of the starting outfielders for the Phillies on Opening Day unless something drastically changes. Aidan Miller<\/a> is also a non-roster invitee again. He could see playing time in the majors<\/a> at some point this season. Given the current lack of outfield depth, the Phillies may think it useful for Miller to get reps at one of the three outfield spots. If Miller were to play in the outfield during spring training, it would most likely be in left field. Miller has played shortstop in the minor leagues but has not played any other infield or outfield spot.<\/p>\n

Additional Prospects To Watch<\/h3>\n

While not expected to make the roster this year, Aroon Escobar<\/a>, Keaton Anthony<\/a>, and Dante Nori<\/a> have a chance to impress. Escobar is the Phillies’ second-ranked infield prospect<\/a> behind Miller. Meanwhile, Nori is the Phillies’ second-ranked outfield prospect behind Crawford. Anthony is entering his age-25 season after having a breakout year in 2025. While not a traditional prospect, Anthony does not have any major league experience. He had a .323\/.378\/.484 line with six home runs and 39 RBI, but was limited by injuries, playing in 82 games. Anthony also had a 138 wRC+ and a career-best .402 BABIP in the minor leagues last year across Double-A and Triple-A.<\/p>\n

Other Players Who Could Make The Team<\/h3>\n

There are a few non-roster invitees with prior major league experience this spring. They could work their way onto the team with a good showing. Bryan De La Cruz<\/a> had an outstanding season in the Dominican Winter League and could become the right-handed platoon bat in left field. While the Phillies believe in Otto Kemp<\/a>, De La Cruz could force their hand. On the pitching front, Bryse Wilson<\/a>, G\u00e9nesis Cabrera<\/a>, Jonathan Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a>, Trevor Richards<\/a>, Tucker Davidson<\/a>, and Tim Mayza<\/a> could all be competing for bullpen spots. Two or three spots in the Phillies bullpen are going to be up for grabs. Zach McCambley<\/a>, whom the Phillies selected in the Rule 5 Draft, could get one. If McCambley is viewed as a lock, that leaves two spots. There will be a lot of competitors regardless.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Philadelphia Phillies have announced their spring training non-roster invitees for 2026. In total, the Phillies have invited 28 players who are not currently on their 40-man roster to spring training. Of those players, 19 are position players, and nine are pitchers. Some are top prospects in the Phillies’ farm system, and others are looking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4566,"featured_media":112778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,926,1071,35],"tags":[6459,28948,5150,2185,5108,5799,28588,5901],"class_list":["post-112755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-phillies","category-milb","category-mlb","category-news","tag-aidan-miller","tag-aroon-escobar","tag-bryan-de-la-cruz","tag-bryse-wilson","tag-genesis-cabrera","tag-justin-crawford","tag-michael-mercado","tag-tim-mayza"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4566"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112755"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112779,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112755\/revisions\/112779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}