Phillies spring training primer: Pitchers

Spring training starts in Clearwater, Fla., next week. So, this week, refresh your memory on who will attend Phillies camp with our player-by-player analysis.

Monday: The pitchers on the 40-man roster and non-roster invitees.

Tuesday: The infielders on the 40-man roster.

Wednesday: The outfielders.

(Age on opening day in parentheses.)

PITCHERS

RHP Drew Anderson (23): He has less experience than any pitcher on the 40-man roster, but his stock rose since Tommy John surgery two Aprils ago.

RHP Mark Appel (25): It's a make-or-break season for Appel, the former No. 1-overall pick. He needs to show progress at triple-A Lehigh Valley.

RHP Alec Asher (25): He could fill the unglamorous but essential role of swingman, bouncing between the bullpen and rotation when needed.

RHP Joaquin Benoit (39): His fastball averaged 94.2 mph last season, according to FanGraphs. A list of the other pitchers, 38 or older, in the last 10 years with a fastball that hard: Billy Wagner, Fernando Rodney, and (the original) Roberto Hernandez.

RHP Clay Buchholz (32): He changed his arm slot last July, at the suggestion of Boston's pitching analytics guru, and the results were favorable. The Phillies saw enough to make a $13.5 million wager.

RHP Zach Eflin (22): Double knee surgery sounded ominous, but the team is convinced it will correct chronic problems. Don't forget: He threw two complete games in a 17-day span last July.

RHP Jerad Eickhoff (26): He had a 3.44 ERA in his first 41 career Phillies starts, a mark bested only by Bruce Ruffin (3.19) in the last 30 years.

LHP Elniery Garcia (22): The slender Dominican will be at double-A Reading in 2017. His fastball gained velocity late in the season, making him an intriguing prospect.

RHP Luis Garcia (30): Garcia, who still has a minor-league option, survived the 40-man winter cleanse. He could be squeezed this spring.

RHP Jeanmar Gomez (29): Gomez will have a shot at being the closer again, but he could return to a middle-relief role where he pitches multiple innings.

RHP Jeremy Hellickson (29): His change-up was one of the best in baseball last season. When hitters swung, they whiffed at a higher rate (48 percent) than any other change-up.

RHP Ben Lively (25): He is probably ready for the majors, but there isn't space. Yet. He has pitched in at least 143 innings in all three of his full professional seasons.

LHP Adam Morgan (27): It's hard to see where Morgan fits. Maybe as a lefthanded reliever?

RHP Hector Neris (27): Neris threw his splitter 49 percent of the time in his breakout season, more than any pitcher in baseball. It is a tremendous pitch. But can his elbow handle that strain?

RHP Pat Neshek (36): He is best used only against righthanded hitters, which limits things in the late innings. Expect him to pitch as a middle reliever.

RHP Aaron Nola (23): The most important man in camp this spring. Everyone says his elbow is fine, but skepticism will linger until Nola proves it in a competitive situation.

RHP Ricardo Pinto (23): The Venezuelan appears ticketed for a move to the bullpen, where his stuff will play better.

RHP Nick Pivetta (24): He'll have a chance to pitch for Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Just another of the many upper-level arms that project as a back-end starter.

RHP Edubray Ramos (24): His poise was tested at times as a rookie, but forget a horrific night at Coors Field, and the numbers look much better. He has the stuff to be a late-inning staple.

LHP Joely Rodriguez (25): He is lefthanded and throws 95 mph. The Phillies may have stumbled onto something here, a year after removing Rodriguez from the 40-man roster.

RHP Jake Thompson (23): A mechanical adjustment helped. But Thompson never looked settled in the majors. He'll have many more chances.

RHP Alberto Tirado (22): He faced 291 batters last season and struck out 102 of them (35 percent). That is absurd. His stay in camp will be both short and interesting.

RHP Vince Velasquez (24): No pitcher in the Phillies system above A-ball has the upside of Velasquez, a top-of-the-rotation arm with powerful stuff. Can he take the next step?

NON-ROSTER INVITEES

RHP Victor Arano (22): Remember his name. The hard-throwing Mexican reliever could be in the majors by the summer.

RHP Pedro Beato (30): The Baltimore mafia in the Phillies front office drafted Beato as a first-round pick in 2006. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2014.

LHP Sean Burnett (34): He has pitched 16 innings in the majors over the last four injury-riddled seasons. But he's lefthanded, so he'll always have a job.

RHP Dalier Hinojosa (31): The Cuban started 2016 as the Phillies closer, broke his right hand in April, and finished the season in obscurity as a middle reliever for triple-A Lehigh Valley.

RHP Michael Mariot (28): Too many walks. Too many homers. But relievers are impossible to predict. He should provide some depth.

RHP Colton Murray (26): The University of Kansas has produced 12 big-leaguers since 1985, and four of them were Phillies: Murray, Mike Zagurski, Les Walrond, and Steve Jeltz.

LHP Cesar Ramos (32): He's a lefty who had bad numbers against lefties in 2016 but decent numbers against lefties in the seven seasons prior.