March 06, 2026
Sam Navarro/Imagn Images
Edmundo Sosa will give the Phillies an incredible boost of insurance on the MLB roster.
Baseball is back — and so are most of the Phillies.
After a dominating 96-win season in 2025 and a devastating early exit to the eventual World Series champions, the Dodgers, the championship window is still open for the Phils, but for how long?
The Phillies will enter 2026 with the fifth best World Series odds (+1500, via FanDuel). Expectations are still high, as is the level of talent in the clubhouse.
Sticking to their organizational mentality that keeping the window open requires keeping the core together — while also opening up some space for an infusion of young talent — a largely familiar group will be returning to comprise the 26-man roster when camp breaks in March.
As we do every preseason, here's a deep dive into each position on the roster and its outlook heading toward Opening Day. Today, it's a look at the likely four bench spots on the 26-man roster
The Phillies will have four bench spots on the 26-man roster and three of them are more or less locked up.
Rafael Marchán (or theoretically Garrett Stubbs) will be the backup catcher to J.T. Realmuto. Marchán did it last year after Stubbs accepted a demotion to the minors last season following three seasons as a backup himself. Marchán is the better player offensively, but not by a lot. He is five years younger and does have more upside and better numbers across the board — however with a smaller sample size.
Edmundo Sosa had a second straight season with a 2.3 WAR in 2025, an impressive feat for a part-time player. In his 89 games, spanning five different positions including in the outfield, Sosa hit .276 last year with 11 homers and 39 RBI. Add to that the plus defense wherever you put him, and you've got a pretty stellar utilityman. He'll be the first guy up when a position player needs a day off, or if there's a tricky lefty pitcher facing Bryson Stott or Brandon Marsh in a pinch hitting situation.
Otto Kemp (or Brandon Marsh, depending who's platooning in left field) will take the third bench spot. Kemp can play all positions, so while the Phillies do want to see him in left field against left-handed starting pitchers, he spent time at first, second and third bases last season. He has power but it hasn't translated to the majors yet.
The final spot is up for grabs — even more so now with Johan Rojas suspended for 80 games. Utilityman Dylan Moore seems to be the current favorite for the spot, though he's struggled at the plate in spring training. The non-roster invitee checks all the boxes, he won a Gold Glove in 2024, has played every position on the field, and does have a little bit of pop with three double-digit home run seasons. Other candidates to seize that final role include Liover Peguero, who has played 96 career MLB games and is an infielder by trade, or outfielders Pedro León, Bryan De La Cruz and Gabriel Rincones Jr.
Last year the Phillies had 95 pinch hit opportunities — the third fewest in the majors. Manager Rob Thomson doesn't tinker much. He didn't pull Nick Castellanos late in games for better defense, for example, when he probably should have regularly. And the simple fact that he wanted to was a factor in Casty's ouster from Philly.
Regardless, they didn't pinch hit much, which is a good thing. In 2025 the Phillies were one of five teams not to have a pinch hit home run and they had the fewest RBI in baseball from pinch hitters with just five.
If we expand the scope a little bit to include any plate appearance when a player enters a game as a substitute, last season there was a healthier 190 total plate appearances but, to no one's surprise, those substitutes hit just two homers and slashed an ugly .232/.293/.298. Sometimes it's nice to have a Matt Stairs-type.
Sosa had a great year, as we mentioned above, but he did most of his damage when starting. For whatever reason, Phillies hitters were way more productive when they weren't entering the game cold, off the bench. It's something to be mindful of next season.
The problem with looking at the bench with a lens for the future is that it's not a place for player development. As we mentioned just before, the Phillies generally don't sub much, or pinch hit much. So unless there's an injury — there aren't at bats for prospects on the bench.
Position prospects like Aidan Miller and Danti Nori — two promising former first-round picks — won't get called up until they can get everyday at bats, like centerfielder Justin Crawford is expected to get this season.
The depth is moderate, as the Phils don't have a ton of major league experience by way of hitters in their minor league ranks. But the spot is not all that important. We outlined their injury succession plan and the Phillies are well-structured to withstand the losses of hitters due to their cross-positional versatility.
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