Koyo

Aoyagi

Castro represents the lone position player shipped out to minor league camp in the latest batch of Phillies cuts. There are a handful of notable relief options sent packing here with Vespi, McMillion, Zuniga, Cuas and Kuhnel all likely to get chances in Philadelphia as middle relief depth. Aoyagi pitched well in three spring appearances after signing a minor-league contract with the Phillies. He’ll open the year back at Triple-A Lehigh Valley as extra depth.

The 31-year-old hurler has pitched professionally in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball for the past nine seasons. In 2024, he registered a 3.00 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a 78/39 K/BB ratio across 114 innings of work in his 23 starts. He’ll add depth for the Phillies but seems like a longshot to crack their Opening Day roster.

Aoyagi will have a 45-day window to negotiate a contract with big-league teams. The 30-year-old side-winding righty posted a 3.69 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 35/21 K/BB ratio across 61 innings last year in the Pacific League. Given his underwhelming strikeout totals, he’s unlikely to make an impact for fantasy purposes. He’ll likely have to settle for a minor league contract, if he’s set on coming over from Japan.