The Phillies’ 2021 opening day roster

Andrew Knapp (29): Always known for having a good rapport with his pitchers, the backup catcher produced offensively last season with a.278 average and .849 OPS in 89 plate appearances. Knapp caught Zach Eflin’s final seven starts last season and the pitcher went 6-1 with a 3.83 ERA. The Phillies will likely pair the two again this season.

J.T. Realmuto (30): He fractured his thumb on the first day of spring training but will be in the lineup on opening day. Despite the injury, Realmuto familiarized himself with the new pitchers by catching bullpen sessions with his right hand in a cast. The Phillies plan to ease up on him this season, but that could be a challenge with the need for his offensive production.

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Alec Bohm (24): He hit .452 last season with a 1.043 OPS with runners in scoring position. As a rookie, the moment never seemed too big. His defense has improved and concerns about his ability to play third base have dimmed. Bohm will bat near the top of the lineup and he could find himself batting behind Bryce Harper. It could be hard to pitch around Harper if Bohm is waiting.

Didi Gregorius (31): His production last season (121 OPS+) returned to where it was before his Tommy John surgery in 2018 and was enough for Gregorius to be the only free-agent shortstop this winter to earn a multi-year contract. He hit two grand slams last season and his seven slams since 2015 are the second-most in baseball.

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Rhys Hoskins (28): Hoskins started last season in a wicked slump before rallying to post a .991 OPS in his final 25 games before suffering a season-ending elbow injury in September. After finishing the previous two seasons in slumps, Hoskins showed in 2020 that he could pull himself out. He was the team’s most productive hitter when he was injured while tagging a runner out at first base. The Phillies likely would have reached the postseason had the fluke injury not occurred.

Matt Joyce (36): Joyce won a bench job after going to camp on a minor-league deal. He struggled last season in Miami, but it’s tough to put too much stock in his 46 games after he missed all of summer camp following a positive coronavirus test. Joyce hit .295 with an .858 OPS in 2019 with Atlanta and will be a left-handed hitter off the bench.

Brad Miller (31): The utility player can handle nearly every position, providing flexibility off the bench but also good depth in case the lineup needs a replacement because of injury. He batted fourth last season in St. Louis and hit seven homers with an .807 OPS. He’ll help manage the workload on Andrew McCutchen in left field.

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Jean Segura (31): He traded hits last season for walks and his batting average dropped 14 points while his on-base percentage climbed 24 points. The Phillies will take that again as they challenge the second baseman to get on base and provide RBI chances for the heart of the order.

Ronald Torreyes (28): With Scott Kingery in the minors, Torreyes will be the bench player who can play the middle infield. He didn’t do much offensively this spring, but he’s a favorite of Joe Girardi. Perhaps because Torreyes hit .292 with the Yankees in Girardi’s last season in the Bronx. He was a part-time player that season who started games at four positions. The Phillies like his versatility.

Bryce Harper (28): Harper says his back feels fine, which is significant after it bothered him so much last September that he couldn’t throw. He re-taught himself to throw from the outfield this spring, using a form that should be less harmful for his body. With Harper, the Phillies are just 104-113 while the Nationals (his former team) and the Dodgers (the team he almost joined) won world titles. No one has more urgency than Harper.

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Adam Haseley (24): The former first-round pick was given a chance to win a starting job this spring, prepared all winter for it, and then strained his groin in his third game of camp. Haseley recovered quicker than anticipated and forced himself back into the center-field competition. Halsey lost playing time last September, but he should get chances in 2021.

Andrew McCutchen (34): He’s now 22 months removed from tearing his ACL, and should have better mobility than he did last season. McCutchen’s offensive production was down last season, but it was still better than league average. He likely won’t be able to play every day as the Phillies find ways to rest him. But there are reasons to believe that he can increase his production after having a normal spring training.

Roman Quinn (27): One of baseball’s fastest players, Quinn is being instructed to rely on that speed to get on base. The Phillies want him bunting for hits and legging out infield singles instead of striking out while chasing extra bases. Quinn has tried in the past to play through his speed, but results have been mixed mostly because of his inability to stay healthy. They’ll try it again.

Chase Anderson (33): A free-agent this winter for the first time, Anderson thought he might have to go to Japan after posting a 7.22 ERA last season in Toronto. But the Phillies gave him $4 million to pitch in the back of their rotation. They focused more on his increased strikeout rate last season (10.2 per nine innings) than his ERA which was inflated in a short season by one horrid outing. He had a good spring and should be a stable veteran.

Zach Eflin (26): Eflin found a way last season to both increase his ground-ball rate and spike his strikeout rate as he developed an excellent curveball to pair with his reliable sinkerball. He used his curveball for 29% of his strikeouts after using it for just 6% in 2019. The Phillies expect big things from Eflin this season as he showed signs last summer of becoming a complete pitcher.

Matt Moore (31): Moore returns to the majors after using a year in Japan to get his career on track following another injury. He was once the No. 1 prospect in baseball armed with a 100-mph fastball. Moore is no longer that powerful, but he looked good this spring as he filled up the strike zone and mixed his pitches. He is the first left-hander to start the season in the Phillies rotation since Cole Hamels in 2015.

Aaron Nola (27): He’s the first Phillies pitcher since Steve Carlton to start four straight openers. Nola increased the use of his changeup last season, which helped both his curveball (.181 batting average against) and fastball (.155) become more effective. His Septembers have been difficult, but Nola would be happy to get another crack at it in 2021.

Zack Wheeler (30): Wheeler traded strikeouts last season for weak contact and finished with career bests in ERA and walk rate. He registered the highest ground-ball rate of his career and the lowest average exit velocity. He signed with the Phillies as a strikeout pitcher, but he showed a new dimension in his first season.

José Alvardo (25): He was the talk of camp after regularly throwing 100 mph in his spring outings. The left-hander can be a bit wild, but he’s close to unhittable when his powerful sinker is under control. The pitch not only maxes out at 102 mph but moves with sharp action. He joined the Phillies in a nondescript offseason trade but begins the season as a key reliever.

Archie Bradley (28): He was the big-ticket acquisition this winter to rebuild a historically bad bullpen, Bradley gives the Phillies a proven weapon in the late innings. His velocity dipped last season, but his fastball appears to be back this spring. The right-hander had reverse splits last season as he held left-handed batters to a .176 batting average while right-handers hit .314 against him.

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Connor Brogdon (26): Brogdon was sent to the minors last summer after struggling with his first taste of the majors, but he returned in September with confidence and an improved fastball. The right-hander allowed just one hit in six scoreless September appearances and struck out 14 batters in 8⅔ innings. Brogdon’s fastball zipped in September at 96.39 mph, more than two ticks faster than where it sat when he struggled.

Sam Coonrod (28): The Phillies’ focus on adding velocity to their bullpen drew them to Coonrod, who throws a fastball that consistently flirts with triple digits. The right-hander had a strong spring and gives Girardi the luxury of having a hard thrower who isn’t necessarily reserved for the late innings.

David Hale (33): Hale was used sparingly last season after being acquired from the Yankees, but he remained on the roster all winter and enters the season as a long reliever. The right-hander handled that role nicely with the Yankees in 2019.

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Brandon Kintzler (36): The bullpen’s oldest pitcher is coming off the two best seasons of his 11-year career. The right-hander had a 2.22 ERA last season in Miami and his 12 saves were the second most in the National League. He did his best work with men on base, regularly escaping trouble and stranding runners. Kintzler could handle a variety of roles.

Héctor Neris (31): No one relies more on a splitter than Neris, which is why the reliever worked this spring on a slider. His new pitch isn’t intended to replace his trusted splitter, but instead to give hitters something else to think about so they can’t sit on the split. The team’s closer for most of the last four seasons, Neris will slot somewhere in the later innings.

Vince Velasquez (28): The Phillies want to keep Velasquez stretched out, which means he’ll likely play more of a long-relief role. Velasquez didn’t earn a rotation job, but he’ll likely make spot starts this season as the Phillies will need starting-pitching depth to navigate a 162-game season.