The Phillies must turn in their initial spring training ( ST ) roster by 4 PM on Friday. MLB has set the ST limit at 75 players 🤔.
I have formulated a list of players whom I expect or know to have been granted non-roster invitations and have been patiently waiting for the Phillies to officially post them ... 🤨
But ... as players are now beginning to leave home or are already enroute to Clearwater ... report date for Pitchers and Catchers being the 14th with first workouts being scheduled on the 17th maybe, just maybe I can let a couple names slip out 🤪.
So ...
Congrats go out to pitchers David Parkinson and JD Hammer for the NRI’s they’ve received.
Parkinson is a LHP who performed at Reading in 2019. He won the Paul Owens Award in 2018 when he went 11-1 with a 1.45 ERA in 22 games ( 124.1 IP ) between Lakewood and Clearwater and struck out 141 batters and issued just 35 free passes. I’ve watched him now for three seasons ... David is an intense competitor and I truly believe he could pick a fly off an umpires ear with his exceptional command ... he just doesn’t miss on location all that often 😎. This will be his first big league camp as an NRI.
Hammer is a RHP who made his major league debut in 2019 appearing in 20 games amassing 19 innings and posted a 3.79 ERA. He also appeared in 30 games that season between Reading and Lehigh Valley. He participated in the 2020 alternate camp in Allentown. This will be JD’s second NRI appearance in Spring camp. He’s a hard thrower who’s posted 196 strikeouts in 151 IP in his minor league career.
Just a peak at two more fellas I’m expecting to be in big league ST camp. Maybe tomorrow I’ll chat about two more. 😎
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️