Spring Training wraps up for the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, with their season opener less than 72 hours after that. In that timeframe, the club will have to finalize its 26-man roster.

One player who likely won’t make the list is Buddy Kennedy, a Millville, New Jersey native and close friend of future Hall of Fame outfielder Mike Trout. Phillies broadcasts have spoken about how the two train together during the offseason, and Kennedy still has an outfielder’s glove that Trout gave him years ago.

All of that doesn’t seem like enough to help Kennedy stay with his local club.

Kennedy has been battling with Kody Clemens for the final utility spot on the bench. Stats-wise, it hasn’t been particularly close.

Through Friday’s games, Clemens is hitting .304 with two home runs, two doubles, and seven RBIs. Kennedy is batting a meager .171, though he does have three home runs and just as many runs batted in. The other factor going against Kennedy is experience: Clemens has played in 93 games for Philly the past two seasons, while he only had eight as a callup last September.

Neither man has a minor league option remaining, so one will have to pass through waivers before he could be sent down.

While the Phillies could lose a nice local connection to the team – something they also have to consider with RHP Tyler Phillips – this is a club trying to win a World Series, not finding ways to get the ballpark more than a third full. They already threw some sentiment out the door by demoting catcher Garrett Stubbs to AAA on Thursday.

A similar decision is probably coming here too.