The Phillies opened camp last month in Clearwater, Fla., with four jobs available on their projected Opening Day roster: No. 5 starter, last man in the bullpen and two bench jobs. 

More than a few players have made a case for themselves. 

Here are four who have stood out: 

1) Darick Hall

Hall smashed two home runs Friday against Pittsburgh.

He is batting .346 (9-for-26) with a double, four home runs and a 1.260 OPS this spring.

Hall knows he needs to hit to earn a job because he is limited to DH and first base.

“He’s hitting lefties now,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s hitting righties. It’s pretty impressive. He controls the zone. He sees the ball really well. He’s doing a good job with it. He wants to cut down his strikeouts. That’s big.” 

2) Scott Kingery

People are talking about Kingery again. In a good way.

He's batting .471 (10-for-21) with a home run and a 1.161 OPS in nine games, including a 2-for-3 effort Saturday against the Yankees.

“Scotty has flattened his stroke,” Thomson said. “He did a lot of work with [hitting coach Kevin Long] in the offseason. We’re seeing the guy he was a couple years ago. That guy is kind of special because he can play anywhere. He’s athletic. He can run. He can steal bases. He can do a lot of things. He’s very dynamic.”

Kingery is not on the 40-man roster, but he is in the final year of a six-year, $24 million contract. If he continues to play well, the Phillies could find a way to add him.

3) Jake Cave 

Cave battled injuries in 2020 and '21, but he is healthy again and hitting the ball hard.

He's batting .409 (9-for-22) with a double, two triples, two home runs and a 1.367 OPS.

The Phillies are looking for a backup center fielder for Brandon Marsh. Both Marsh and Cave hit left-handed; Kingery and Edmundo Sosa hit right-handed. However, Thomson said there is a way to find a place for Cave on the roster. 

4) Yunior Marte 

Keep an eye on Marte for that final bullpen job.

He has opened a lot of eyes in camp. Marte has struck out five and walked one in five innings. He has allowed two hits and one run.

“It’s filth,” Thomson said. “It’s just really electric. It’s 98, 99 [mph] with sink. He’s got a slider. He’s been tremendous.”

Andrew Painter will not make the Opening Day roster after suffering a sprained right proximal ulnar collateral ligament. He could have been the first teenager to pitch for the Phillies since 1980. Painter, who turns 20 on April 10, could be back by the summer. 

Who is the last 20-year-old to pitch for the Phillies?

It took more than a week, but the Phillies on Friday finally offered an update on Painter’s health. 

A few thoughts: 

• Perhaps there is a silver lining here. The Phillies planned to navigate the season with Painter in the rotation by carefully monitoring his workload. If he returns in midsummer or later, perhaps they can ease those limitations and turn him loose, more or less. 

• The most bizarre comments on Twitter (I know, I know) are that Painter should have Tommy John surgery now … just to get it over with. What?

Multiple sources said early last week that they saw no indications that Painter needed surgery, which the team and renowned orthopedist Neal ElAttrache later confirmed.

Painter's injury might be more similar to Aaron Nola’s UCL injury in 2016 than to Seranthony Domínguez’s UCL injury in 2019.

Everybody then seemed to think Domínguez would need surgery eventually, and everybody then thought Nola only needed rest. Nola rested. He returned in 2017 and he has been one of the most durable pitchers in baseball since. He never had surgery. Thank goodness Nola never listened to the Twitter MDs. 

• In the past, the Phillies typically announced a UCL injury as a generic UCL injury. For Painter, they specifically announced a sprained proximal UCL. Coincidence? Maybe not. There is a significant difference between a partial proximal UCL tear and a partial distal UCL tear.

In a 2017 Cleveland Clinic study, 17 of 19 professional pitchers (89.5 percent) with partial proximal tears returned to pitch without surgery. Only 4 of 13 pitchers (30.8 percent) with distal tears did. It explains the Phillies and Painter’s confidence that he can return this season and not risk further injury or surgery. 

The Phillies will have a sponsorship patch on one of their uniform sleeves this season. It might be ready by Opening Day. If not then, it will come at some point. 

Who is the sponsor? The Phillies are tight-lipped about their options, although a source said Thursday they are weighing at least a couple of competitive bids. 

A) Davis 

Davis, who was also the last teenager to pitch for the Phillies in 1980, made nine appearances as a 20-year-old in 1981.

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