Phillies invite 15 non-roster players to spring training – NBC Sports

The Phillies announced Thursday that they’ve invited 15 players to spring training as non-roster invitees.

Seven are pitchers, all right-handers: Mick Abel, Griff McGarry, Jose Ruiz, Ryan Burr, Tyler McKay, Tyler Phillips and Nick Snyder.

Three are catchers: Aramis Garcia, Cody Roberts and William Simoneit.

Two are infielders: Scott Kingery and Nick Podkul.

Three are outfielders: Carlos De La Cruz, Matt Kroon and Cal Stevenson.

These are all players under Phillies control who are not on the 40-man roster. Abel and McGarry, two of the Phillies’ top pitching prospects, will have to be added to the 40 after the 2024 season to be protected from the next Rule 5 draft.

Abel was the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2020, the highest high school arm selected (15th overall). He entered last season as a Top 50 prospect by Baseball America and MLB.com and went on to make 23 starts — 22 at Double A and one at Triple A — while also starting for the National League in the Futures Game. The 22-year-old posted a 4.13 with 132 strikeouts and 65 walks in 113⅓ innings.

The Phillies will want to see better control from Abel in 2024. He’s their No. 2-ranked prospect behind Andrew Painter, who is likely out until 2025 after undergoing Tommy John surgery last July. Abel figures to spend a good portion of 2024 at Triple A.

McGarry, like Abel, opened last spring training as a distant candidate in the Phillies’ fifth starter competition, which was eventually won by default by Bailey Falter after Painter’s elbow injury on the first day of March. There will be no fifth starter battle this spring, barring an injury to Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker, Ranger Suarez or Cristopher Sanchez.

The 24-year-old McGarry began last season on the IL because of an oblique injury, then made 13 starts at Double A and struck out 74 batters in 52.2 innings with a 3.13 ERA, though he walked 36.

He was promoted to Triple A in early August and the results were disastrous: 14 walks and 20 earned runs allowed in just 4⅓ innings. He was placed on the development list later in the month.

The Phillies are still saying they see McGarry as a starting pitcher long-term, but his best role may come as a hard-throwing late-inning reliever. Control is obviously the key for him in 2024, as well.

Notes on the other pitchers:

Jose Ruiz (29): Has amassed 212 big-league appearances in parts of seven seasons with the White Sox, Diamondbacks and Padres. Ruiz has a 4.51 career ERA and pitched for Team Venezuela in last year’s World Baseball Classic.

Ryan Burr (29): Spent parts of four seasons with the White Sox from 2018-22. His most work came in 2021 when he pitched to a 2.45 ERA in 34 appearances.

Tyler McKay (26): The Phillies’ 16th-round pick in 2018, McKay made big strides in 2023 with a 2.60 ERA and better than a strikeout per inning in 48 relief appearances split between Double A and Triple A.

Tyler Phillips (26): Made 25 starts last season…