The Phillies non-roster invitees and hidden gems heading into 2018.
Non-roster invitee to spring training, last place team. It’s not exactly a resume cornerstone. Nonetheless, the Philadelphia Phillies have enabled several persons to type that line into their CVs for 2018 if they so choose. On Jan. 17 the team announced eight non-roster invitees for spring training this year.
Who are they? We do have the names: pitchers Tom Eshelman, J.D. Hammer, Enyel De Los Santos, Cole Irvin and Brandon Leibrandt; catcher Edgar Cabral, infielder Scott Kingery, and outfielder Andrew Pullin.
Do any of them stand a chance of making the team? How about a hidden gem? How about just a story?
Actually, there’s a gem story.
OK, maybe it’s only a cute story, and it’s only if you’re old enough to have seen Major League. Yes, it’s a real question now whether or not even some working journalists have seen that film. It’s almost 30 years old, but yeah, the Phillies have a Major League pitcher coming to camp, their own Ricky Vaughn, the “Wild Thing” of the film. He’s J.D. Hammer, 23, acquired from Colorado in the trade that sent reliever Pat Neshek there. (Ironically, Neshek is back with the Phillies now and will report to Clearwater with Hammer.)
As Todd Zolecki has reported, like Charlie Sheen’s character in Major League, Hammer had to get glasses recently to see properly on a baseball field, and he’s a fireballer – although not quite the 100-mph phenom Sheen’s character is.
However, while Hammer’s numbers in two minor league seasons are decent (6-4, 2.75 ERA), he’s never pitched above the high Single-A level. He’s likely in camp this year simply to provide MLB type velocity, grapefruit style. He could start the season with Reading.
At least the young man has had the good sense to be modest about the Vaughn comparison. Claiming others have suggested he find glasses featuring Ricky Vaughn’s skull and crossbones, he has waved that away, saying, “You’ve got to be a stud to have those.”
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What about the others? There will certainly be some excitement in seeing Kingery in a Phillies uniform, but it’s widely expected that he will start to season at Triple-A to push off his earliest free agency until 2024.
If he gets a few hits early, expect a clamor to have him stay with the big club, but the fact is that the Phillies just signed Cesar Hernandez to a new contract to play second base, albeit a contract that is probably moveable at mid-season if need be. Competition at second base, even if it’s taking place on different fields for several weeks, will be a Phillies high-interest matter come April.
There is an argument that Eshelman should be given a real chance to compete for a spot in the major league rotation, even given his relative inexperience. We’ll see if that happens.
Another hurler who could be looking to leap from Double-A to The Show, like Eshelman, is De Los Santos although his numbers at that level aren’t quite what Eshelman’s are.
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Irvin, Leibrandt, Cabral, and Pullin are true sleepers. The gem of the group is Kingery, but the Phillies will likely keep him in a velvet pouch until at least early summer.