Early Spring Training baseball is not about results.
It is about indicators.
Small sample sizes can lie, but trends often whisper before they shout. Through the first week-plus of games in Clearwater, a few Phillies have begun to suggest something worth watching.
The starting second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies has been putting on a show early on. In five games, he’s batted 5-for-8 with two home runs. Yesterday, Stott slugged one just over the wall in straightaway center field against the New York Yankees. Hitting his most recent at an optimal 29 degrees, Stott has been getting strong contact on the ball consistently in the early days. Four of his five base hits were line drives, with the last being an opposite-field grounder.
Stott is a solid defensive infielder, especially since his transition from shortstop to second base. The glove has rarely been the question.
The bat has.
A player with good speed and a lighter stature, such as Stott, would line up well for a high-average hitter profile. The issue has been Stott’s low hard-hit percentages. He seldom barrels the ball.
With four solid hard hits in his first eight at-bats, it appears Stott is working on making better contact this Spring, which will inevitably result in more base hits for the former Daycare member.
Speaking of middle infield prospects, shortstop Bryan Rincon has been turning heads early in the Spring. Rincon, the Phillies’ No. 17-ranked prospect, spent all of 2025 with the Jersey Shore BlueClaws. In 299 at-bats, the 22-year-old hit a measly .181/.304/.298 slash line despite swiping an impressive 40 stolen bases.
So far, the Phillies have been giving him a good look, appearing in seven games and clocking 11 at-bats. He’s tallied three hits so far, with two of them going for extra bases, while accruing four RBI. With 16 players leaving camp for the WBC, expect to see even more of Rincon in the weeks to come. If all goes well, he might start the year with the Reading Fightin’ Phils.
Then there is Andrew Painter, who made his first start (and appearance) of the Spring on Sunday against the Yankees. Painter threw two innings of action, allowing no baserunners while striking out one batter. He required only 20 pitches to do so.
While two innings is about what one would expect from a first start of the Spring, what was impressive was the velocity that Painter brought. Typically, starting pitchers ramp up their velocity over the course of the Spring. Painter was already hitting 97 mph in his first inning of action, a positive sign for the young pitcher nearly three years removed from Tommy John surgery.
If Painter can continue to build up properly and show improved control from his 2025 minor league season, there will be nothing stopping him from claiming his spot in the Major League rotation for the first time in his career.
The Phillies have a scheduled off day on Monday before returning to action on Tuesday down in Port Charlotte against the split-squad Tampa Bay Rays.
They will then return home on Wednesday for their next televised game, a scrimmage against the WBC Team Canada squad.
