​Apr 18, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Felix Reyes (29) runs the bases after hitting a home run in his first major league at bat during the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect The Phillies entered the 2026 season with Otto Kemp penciled in for a big role on the MLB roster. He was supposed to be Brandon Marsh’s right-handed platoon partner in the outfield, as the team finally acknowledged that Marsh should be prevented from facing lefties. Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies took every opportunity to talk up Kemp over the offseason and cited a knee injury as reason to believe he would improve upon his rookie season.Felix Reyes was the first attempt to correct that colossal mistake of putting all the eggs in the Otto Kemp basket, as Reyes was promoted in mid-April when Kemp was demoted following a dreadful start to the season. Reyes, despite mostly playing first base in his minor league career and hardly having played above Double-A, was selected to be Marsh’s new platoon partner in left field. 2026 stats: 12 games, .158/.158/.263, 1 home run, 11 OPS+, -0.6 WARWhat went rightReyes was not someone particularly on the radar for an MLB job, but a strong spring training no doubt helped get his name into some consideration despite only having played six career games above Double-A. The 25-year-old hit .303 with a .930 OPS and three home runs in 18 Grapefruit League games this year. He was sent to Triple-A to begin the season but unexpectedly found himself on the Phillies roster on April 18th thanks to the aforementioned struggles of Kemp. The Phillies were throwing a dart to see if they could get some production out of an unexpected source because they had no real backup plan in the rather likely possibility of Kemp’s position being untenable. They appeared to have gotten lucky in Reyes’ first game, as he launched a home run off of Chris Sale in his first career at-bat in the Majors while batting cleanup behind Bryce Harper. View LinkIt would quickly go downhill from there though.What went wrongIt became very apparent, very fast that Reyes was simply overmatched in the major leagues. The tendency for chasing Reyes showed in the minors was easily exploited by MLB pitching, as he swung at 53% of the pitches he saw outside of the zone in his short time with the Phillies. He also racked up nine strikeouts in 38 plate appearances and did not walk once, as Reyes collected just five more hits after that debut home run. His brief time on the MLB roster ended exactly a month after it began when the Phillies optioned him to Triple-A on May 18th. Reyes remained with Lehigh Valley the rest of the year, hitting .287 with an .830 OPS and 21 home runs before a broken wrist ended his season on August 15th. Final Grade: FThis isn’t as much of a grade for Reyes as it is for the circumstances that led to him being on