CLEARWATER, Fla. — For a team that’s running it back, things looked a little different on Wednesday at BayCare Ballpark.
Non-roster invitees like Crawford and Miller traditionally dress on the other end of the clubhouse. That’s where Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels started more than 20 years ago. But times are changing. Crawford is expected to be the Phillies’ Opening Day center fielder. Miller could be promoted by midsummer. Righty pitching prospect Andrew Painter, who is lockered next to Zack Wheeler, could be in the Opening Day rotation.
The Phillies want their top prospects as comfortable as possible and soaking up knowledge from Harper, Schwarber, Turner, Realmuto and others.
“We’ve got a group that’s really special that way,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said, following the Phillies’ first workout for pitchers and catchers.
Nick Castellanos remains on the Phillies’ 40-man roster, but he has no locker. He isn’t getting one, either.
Two photos of him hanging in hallways outside the clubhouse have been removed, too.
Castellanos will be traded or released before the Phillies’ first full-squad workout on Monday. He knows his situation will be resolved soon, which is why he isn’t coming to Clearwater in the coming days. The Phillies tried to trade him in each of the past two offseasons, but they received scant interest. But this time a change is happening. Castellanos’ relationship with the organization soured to the point of no return.
The Phillies change clubhouse photos whenever a player leaves the organization. They removed Rhys Hoskins’ epic bat spike photo in the spring of 2024. It explains why a photo of Ranger Suárez has been removed, too. Suárez signed a five-year, $130 million contract with the Red Sox.
Suárez and Castellanos are gone. So are Matt Strahm and Harrison Bader. But most of the Phillies’ 2022-25 core is back, which has disappointed some fans — especially once they came so close to signing Bo Bichette, only to see him sign with the Mets. Some can’t see how this group gets over the hump after watching them fall short in each of the past three postseasons, following a surprise run to the 2022 World Series.
“It’s a lot of the same crew,” Wheeler said. “I think we just have to be a little more consistent in the playoffs. I think that’s really what it comes down to. I don’t think we have a problem necessarily getting there. We’re good. We’re a good ball team. We won 90-plus games last year. We’ve just got to perform a little better when the time comes in the playoffs and get that championship.”
Thomson said on Zoom on Monday that he believes the Phillies are better this year than they were at this time last year.
It ruffled a few feathers.
“When we went into Spring Training last year, we didn’t have [closer Jhoan] Duran,” Thomson explained on Wednesday. “I think our bullpen is better right now. The NRIs that we’ve picked up, there’s a lot of talent there with a lot of options, so that makes the bullpen better.
“We knew [Cristopher] Sánchez was good, but we didn’t know Sanchez was this good last year. At this time, there were a lot of question marks, not by me, but from other people, on [Jesús] Luzardo. Now we know what we’ve got with Luzardo. Taijuan [Walker] looks really good. Hopefully the [Painter thing just keeps coming. And Nola, I think, is going to benefit from playing the WBC, just to get the blood flowing earlier.”
“We’re a really good team,” he said. “A really good team. We ran into a really good team — the Dodgers. We played them really good. They played us really good.
Obviously, they came out on top. We’ve got a lot of good guys on the team, as you know. We’ve got to get hot at the right time.
“I’m excited again to be with this group. We’re going to be really good again.”
