There is a baseball adage that 162 games will expose every weakness at some point, and that has guided the Phillies this offseason. It is on every team’s mind because this 162-game season is not like those before it. Never has the sport gone from 60 games one year to 162 the next. Every decision teams make this spring will be with that in mind.
Welcome, then, to the biggest and weirdest Phillies spring training yet.
The roster is so big — a maximum of 75 players — that the team has yet to disclose everyone who will come to camp. COVID-19 intake protocols have complicated matters. The pitchers and catchers will have their first formal workout Wednesday.
The Phillies, since hiring Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations, have placed a premium on filling the edges of a flawed roster. They had large expenditures — necessary ones — but shaping a well-rounded roster became the front office’s chief task.
So,…
