Weston Wilson has a moderate oblique strain, sidelining him six weeks and opening up competition for the last roster spot on the Phillies bench:

The Phillies can go in a few directions. Kody Clemens is an experienced bat who is out of options. I don’t think the Phillies want to risk losing Clemens to waivers, but I don’t this job is locked in with his name on it. Clemens appeared in 43 games in 2024, holding a .706 OPS with a .447 slugging percentage from the left side of the plate. Nothing has been seriously noted, but it seems like the Phillies could lean towards a right-handed bat, which could hurt Clemens and line up Buddy Kennedy for the spot.

Kennedy is a cool story. The Millville, NJ native got his shot with the Phillies last year. How could you not remember the Buddy Kennedy game? Kennedy had a .900 OPS with Lehigh Valley last season. The only issue with Kennedy is that he’s never logged a Major League outfield inning. He played one game in left for Lehigh Valley last year. The Phillies are going to start testing him out in the outfield more up until Opening Day. Kennedy visited Mike Trout every weekday during the offseason outfield tips, and those meetings have a little more meaning now.

Edmundo Sosa has been shagging fly balls in Clearwater and the Phillies have been working a lot with him in the outfield. Sosa has worked out with Paco Figueroa on multiple occasions so far this Spring. They tinkered with the Sosa-to-the-outfield idea a few years ago and it didn’t work. Now they’re going to have to make it work.

The news of Sosa working out in the outfield came before Wilson’s injury, so the Phillies are continuing to stick to their plan to see what they’ve got there. Sosa is a very good bench bat. Learning a new position can only help his chances of playing more and more.


Matt Gelb of The Athletic also reported that the Phillies are “active in trying to obtain righty outfielders on minor league deals.” He said that the Phillies could wait until later in the spring when teams start to cut players. I assume the Phillies would lean towards the veteran route if that’s the way they went:

  • Kody Clemens
  • Buddy Kennedy
  • Cal Stevenson
  • Other

Who has your pick?