By: Matt Rappa, managing editor 
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Coming off of a 63-99 record last season, the worst in the majors, the Philadelphia Phillies will begin Grapefruit League play this afternoon against right-hander Marcus Stroman and the Toronto Blue Jays at Bright House Field.
This season's Phillies spring training roster features 66 invited players, 26 of which are non-roster invitees. Approximately 73 percent of the current roster, or 48 players, did not appear at last year's camp. One returning player, right-hander Severino Gonzalez, will take the mound as he seeks to earn a spot in the starting rotation.
Two other rotation hopefuls, right-handers Jeremy Hellickson and Aaron Nola, combined to throw two perfect innings on Sunday as the Phillies defeated the University of Tampa Bay Spartans, 8-3, before a crowd of 4,923.
Blue Jays' non-roster invitee, outfielder Domonic Brown, did not make the trip to face his former club.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Toronto Blue Jays | Philadelphia Phillies | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Marcus Stroman | RHP | Severino Gonzalez | ||
| (2015: 4-0, 1.67 ERA) | (2015 3-3, 7.92 ERA) | ||||
Stroman, 24, will take the mound to begin his third season as a member of the Blue Jays. The first-round selection in the 2012 amateur draft missed a significant portion of last season due to suffering a torn ACL in his left knee during a spring training bunt drill in early March.
Activated from the 60-day disabled list on Sept. 11, Stroman finished the season allowing just five earned runs on 20 hits and six walks over four starts and 27 innings. He received winning decisions in each of his outings, all of which were against American League East division opponents: New York Yankees (2), Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles.
The right-hander's success continued in the postseason, as he went at least six innings and allowed no more than four earned runs in each of his three starts.
Gonzalez, 23, will begin his sophomore season in red pinstripes. In seven starts last season, the Panamanian native allowed 27 earned runs on 44 hits and seven walks over 30 2/3 innings.
Entering the 2015 campaign, Baseball America ranked Gonzalez as the organization's 19th-best prospect.
Starting Lineups:
| Toronto Blue Jays | Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | LF | Dalton Pompey | S | 1 | LF | Peter Bourjos | R |
| 2 | CF | Darrell Ceciliani | L | 2 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 3 | DH | Chris Colabello | R | 3 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 4 | 1B | Justin Smoak | S | 4 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L |
| 5 | 3B | Matt Dominguez | R | 5 | RF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 6 | SS | Darwin Barney | R | 6 | DH | J.P. Arencibia | R |
| 7 | RF | Ezequiel Carrera | L | 7 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 8 | C | Josh Thole | L | 8 | C | Carlos Ruiz | R |
| 9 | 2B | Maicer Izturis | S | 9 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 1:05 p.m.
- TV: CSN, MLBN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP, MLB.com
Game Notes:
- Phillies relievers scheduled to pitch one or two innings:
- RHPs Edubray Ramos, Hector Neris, Luis Garcia, Dalier Hinojosa and David Hernandez
- Non-roster invitees: RHP Gregory Infante, LHP Bobby LaFromboise
- Back up:
- LHPs Elvis Araujo and Daniel Stumpf, RHP Colton Murray
- Non-roster invitees: RHPs Reinier Roibal and Greg Burke
- Sides:
- RHPs Jeremy Hellickson and Charlie Morton;
- Non-roster invitees: RHPs Zach Eflin, Andrew Bailey and Chris Leroux
Freddy Galvis checks damage to window after Franco hit a ball out of the park during BP. #Phillies #springtraining pic.twitter.com/7Zq8qG0wFy
— David Maialetti (@davidmaialetti) March 1, 2016
What's Next:
- Wednesday, March 2, 2016: at Toronto Blue Jays, 1:07 p.m.
- Dunedin – Florida Auto Exchange Stadium
- RHP David Buchanan (2015: 2-9, 6.99 ERA) vs. RHP R.A. Dickey (2015: 11-11, 3.91 ERA)
- TV: N/A; Radio: MLB.com
- Thursday, March 3, 2016:
- vs. Houston Astros, 1:05 p.m.
- Clearwater – Bright House Field
- RHP Doug Fister (2015: 5-7, 4.19 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Thompson (2015, Double-A: 11-7, 3.73 ERA)
- TV: TCN, MLBN; Radio: N/A
- at New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m.
- Tampa - George M. Steinbrenner Field
- LHP Adam Morgan (2015: 5-7, 4.48 ERA) vs. RHP Ivan Nova (2015: 6-11, 5.07 ERA)
- TV: N/A; Radio: N/A
- Friday, March 4, 2016: vs. Atlanta Braves, 1:05 p.m.
- Clearwater – Bright House Field
- RHP Lucas Sims (2015, Double-A: 4-2, 3.21 ERA) vs. TBA
- TV: TCN; Radio: WFOM 1230, WIFN 1340
