Phillies roster rundown: Looking forward, and back, for all 51 players (2024)

While the Phillies debate the franchise’s future — Gabe Kapler has not yet received assurances that he will manage the team in 2020, three sources said — the rest of the offseason preparation plods forward. The Phillies have an unsettled roster. They have decisions to make, regardless of who will lead the dugout.

There are 51 players on the 40-man roster, including Odúbel Herrera, who is on the restricted list and must be activated after the World Series. Some players won’t be on the roster by the end of October. Others will stay on through spring training, only to lose their spot then.

So, for now, here’s one last ode to the 2019 Phillies.

(Age on Opening Day 2020 is listed after each player’s name.)

Pitchers

LHP José Álvarez (30): He did everything the Phillies asked — and they asked more than expected. It’s enough to bring him back. But Álvarez should be exposed to fewer right-handed batters in 2020. He posted a .659 OPS versus lefties, 202 points lower than against righties.

RHP Victor Arano (25): At the end of the season, he said he felt good, but there were no plans for him to collect innings in winter ball. Arano enters 2020 as a blank slate; the success of 2018 was so long ago. He’ll have to earn his way back.

RHP Jake Arrieta (34): The Phillies have paid Arrieta $55 million for 308 1/3 innings of a 101 ERA+. It hasn’t been ideal. But, if he can be a league-average pitcher for 25 starts in 2020, it won’t be a total waste. They need him.

LHP Austin Davis (27): Davis shouldered a heavy workload at the end of the season. That prompted Kapler to lavish the lefty with high praise. But Davis could lose his 40-man roster spot this winter if the Phillies need to clear space.

RHP Enyel De Los Santos (24): He obviously fell out of favor with the Phillies’ decision-makers. De Los Santos’ stuff declined at Triple A as he tinkered with his mechanics. His future in the majors is probably as a reliever.

RHP Seranthony Domínguez (25): Until he stands on a mound and throws a competitive pitch, skepticism is required in projecting Domínguez. His status will be a huge storyline heading into 2020. If he’s healthy, he is a major piece.

RHP Zach Eflin (26): Take Eflin’s first 14 starts and his final seven starts and there’s a pitcher with a 2.83 ERA in 127 1/3 innings. That’ll play. The middle wasn’t good: a 6.24 ERA in 57 2/3 innings. A lack of consistency makes Eflin a fourth or fifth starter instead of a No. 3. So be it.

RHP Jerad Eickhoff (29): He’ll be a non-tender victim before arbitration, but it’ll be interesting to see if the Phillies seek to keep Eickhoff with a minor-league contract. His eight-inning start against St. Louis on May 8 was one of their best this season. He had a 10.16 ERA after that.

RHP Edgar García (23): It’s pretty simple with García: If he throws strike one, he’s a major-league middle reliever; if he doesn’t, he’s not. The slider is a legitimate weapon. But he has to be ahead in the count to deploy it.

RHP J.D. Hammer (25): His July demotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley went so wrong (a 14.49 ERA in 13 2/3 innings) that the Phillies decided against a September call-up. He found some success in the majors in spite of poor command. At the very least, he’s an up-and-down guy in 2020.

RHP Jared Hughes (34): It’s difficult to ignore the home runs, especially since Hughes is known for keeping the ball on the ground with his sinker. A pitcher can still succeed with a good sinker, but the location matters more than ever. It’s why the Phillies will likely decline his $3 million option for 2020.

RHP Tommy Hunter (33): He’ll push for a reunion with the Phillies on some sort of incentive-laden deal after missing most of 2019 with a sore elbow. Given how poor the club’s long-term contracts to relievers have gone, maybe they’ll think about it. A clean break could be best.

LHP Cole Irvin (26): One of the more under-the-radar developments in September was the spike in Irvin’s fastball velocity. He topped at 94 mph. He said he’s best when he can sink it at 92 mph, and he looked able to do that in September. He’s decent depth.

RHP Adonis Medina (23): His stalled development at Double-A Reading is a source of frustration within the farm system. His strikeout rate cratered. He couldn’t pitch deep into games. He tired later in the season. Many rival evaluators see him as a reliever. It wasn’t a good year.

LHP Adam Morgan (30): Do the Phillies go through arbitration with both of their top left-handed relievers? It depends on how confident they are in Álvarez and how they feel about Ranger Suárez. Morgan lost, on average, about 1.5 mph from his fastball this season. It’s an issue.

RHP Mike Morin (28): He pitched well enough to make the Phillies think about retaining him through arbitration, but he’s the kind of right-handed middle reliever who is readily available on a minor-league deal. It’s hard to be a leverage reliever and rank in the lowest percentile in strikeout rate.

RHP Héctor Neris (30): Neris was one example where the Phillies’ tactics of nudging pitchers to throw their best off-speed pitch more often was smart. Neris’ splitter is a unicorn. He threw the splitter 16 percent more in 2019 and opponents hit .170 with a .283 slugging percentage against it. Elite.

RHP Pat Neshek (39): The hamstring tear was bad; it was ripped off the bone and required significant surgery. Neshek won’t return to the Phillies. If he plays a 14th season in the majors, he’ll have to win a job at another team’s camp.

RHP Juan Nicasio (33): He was thrown into the Jean Segura trade with the Mariners and he pitched like a throw-in for much of the season. The Phillies were bullish on Nicasio because of some underlying numbers in 2018. He was just average and even worse than that in tight situations this season.

RHP Aaron Nola (26): No starter in baseball had a larger dropoff in first-pitch strike rate than Nola did. It dipped 7.1 percent year over year. He ranked second among qualified starters in first-pitch strike rate in 2018. He fell to 37th in 2019. It explains a lot, including the uptick in stressful innings and his inability to pitch deep into games.

RHP Blake Parker (34): He threw his splitter more after coming to the Phillies and it’s a decent pitch. Maybe that earns him a minor-league deal and invitation to a team’s camp. Much like every Phillies trade deadline acquisition, it’s hard to be right-handed and live in the low 90s.

RHP Nick Pivetta (27): Pivetta will spend the offseason training in California with some pitchers from his agency’s (CAA) client list. His issues are as much mental as they are physical. Pivetta needs a new voice — and a less predictable pitching plan.

RHP Edubray Ramos (27): Maybe Ramos survives the winter and is on the roster come spring training. But it’s hard to envision that. Not after he lost an average of 2 mph from his fastball velocity. His strikeout rate plummeted. He’s an extra arm at this point. Relievers, man.

RHP David Robertson (35): The odds are against him throwing a pitch in 2020, but it’s not impossible. Robertson and the Phillies can use Brent Suter’s story as inspiration. The Brewers lefty underwent Tommy John surgery in late July 2018 and returned to the majors in September 2019. That’s a best-case scenario for Robertson.

LHP Drew Smyly (30): He did just enough to generate some interest from a forward-thinking team that believes it can implement even more fixes than the Brewers and Phillies did this summer. There was interest in him before as a lefty reliever, and maybe that’s how Smyly furthers his career.

LHP Ranger Suárez (24): He’s probably a reliever. He was superb against lefties (.213/.258/.311) and less-than-superb against righties (.310/.353/.468). Suárez showed fearlessness and attacked hitters in some key moments. How can the Phillies get more of that from him?

LHP Jason Vargas (37): Someone will likely provide him with another shot at a job next spring because he’s left-handed and crafty and the current state of starting pitching is not ideal. With that said, it’s hard to imagine the Phillies committing $8 million (his option price) to Vargas in 2020. They can do better.

RHP Vince Velasquez (27): Had Velasquez compiled enough innings to qualify, his swing-and-miss rate on pitches in the zone (20.1 percent) would have ranked 17th among major-league starters. That cannot be taught and it’s a skill valued across the game. The Phillies still believe in him.

RHP Nick Vincent (33): He produced 0.6 bWAR in 14 innings, which might make him the best pitcher the Phillies have signed as a minor-league free agent during Matt Klentak’s tenure.

Catchers

Deivy Grullon (24): He’ll play some winter ball, giving the Phillies more evaluation time. Internally, the Phillies believe the learning curve might be too steep. Grullon is willing to work and listen. Is it enough?

Andrew Knapp (28): It’s hard to remember a more controversial backup catcher, but for some reason, Knapp became a fixation among the loudest Phillies fans. Can the Phillies do better? Yeah. Should it be a top priority? No. National League catchers hit .246/.321/.412 in 2019. Knapp hit .213/.318/.324.

J.T. Realmuto (29): Sign him.

Infielders

3B Maikel Franco (27): He’s played his last game for the Phillies and everyone knows it. Now the question is whether he’s non-tendered or the Phillies find a team willing to trade for him before arbitration. It won’t be for much.

SS Arquimedes Gamboa (22): It’ll be tough to justify keeping Gamboa on the 40-man roster for another winter. The Phillies have protected him because he’s one of the farm system’s few up-the-middle athletes with upside. But the bat just hasn’t progressed.

UTIL Phil Gosselin (31): His go-ahead double at Coors Field was one of the cooler moments of the season. Gosselin led the team in pinch-hits. It would make sense for both sides to find common ground on another minor-league deal for 2020.

2B César Hernández (29): There are some odd trends here. No hitter in MLB had a worse year-over-year decline in walk rate (minus-6.7 percent) than Hernández. His infield pop-up rate jumped 8.2 percent, and that was the second-largest increase in baseball. The whole package was that of a player who regressed.

1B Rhys Hoskins (27): Start with the obvious: He slugged .625 against fastballs in 2018 and slugged .496 against fastballs in 2019. That is a problem. It’s fixable, but there were times when Hoskins suffered from mental blocks. It might be on Hoskins to find a private hitting instructor who can help untangle him.

UTIL Scott Kingery (25): His hard-hit rate jumped 19.3 percent — the largest gain among any hitter in MLB this season. He’s more comfortable. Now, he can refine. His strikeout rate didn’t improve from 2018 to 2019. It was worse, actually. Start there.

UTIL Brad Miller (30): So, how do you weigh a stellar month against two and a half years? Miller had a great finish. He was popular inside the clubhouse. Does that earn him a guaranteed major-league deal as a bench bat? He’s a free agent.

1B Logan Morrison (32): He loves the idea of playing overseas to make some money and here’s guessing that is where he lands in 2020. Morrison would be a good ambassador for the game in Japan or Korea.

UTIL Sean Rodríguez (34): He hit .214/.316/.393 in 101 plate appearances before calling Phillies fans “entitled” and he hit .250/.432/.321 in 38 plate appearances afterward. Can we laugh about this yet? We can laugh about it.

SS Jean Segura (30): There’s a pending debate about where he’ll play in 2020 and beyond. Maybe second base is a better spot than third base. Last season, National League second baseman posted a collective .748 OPS. Shortstops had a .760 OPS. Third basem*n were at .814. Segura has topped an .800 OPS once in his career.

Outfielders

LF Jay Bruce (33): He wants to have a regular role, but he’s best-suited as a reserve for the 2020 Phillies. Bruce is willing to do it. He’s a good (and cheap) insurance policy to have, for the veteran presence alone.

LF Corey Dickerson (30): Someone will offer him more playing time. He’s probably a better fit in the American League where he could split time between left field and designated hitter. There should be a two-year deal for Dickerson somewhere.

RF Bryce Harper (27): Harper had a .949 OPS against lefties, his best mark against them since the 2015 MVP season. How good was it? In 2019, only two left-handed hitters had better OPSes against lefty pitchers: Yordan Álvarez and Cody Bellinger.

OF Adam Haseley (24): One metric concerns the Phillies: Haseley’s average launch angle (4.7 degrees) ranked 393rd among 406 hitters with at least 100 batted balls. His hard-hit rate ranked 352nd. Every evaluation of Haseley depends on whether he can be an everyday center fielder.

CF Odúbel Herrera (28): As he served his suspension for the domestic-violence incident, Herrera trained in Miami. The Phillies did not maintain much, if any, contact. They were near the point of benching him before he allegedly abused his girlfriend. It will make for an interesting spring storyline — if Herrera isn’t traded before then.

LF Andrew McCutchen (33): As the Phillies track McCutchen’s recovery from a torn ACL, one of the more pressing questions is how many games they can expect from him next season. McCutchen played at least 146 games in every season from 2010-18. It might be wise to manage his workload.

OF José Pirela (30): He’ll be out of options in 2020, so it might not make sense to keep him on the 40-man roster over the offseason. We’ll always remember the time he started and batted fifth for a Phillies team that had not yet been eliminated.

CF Roman Quinn (26): In an ideal world, Quinn is that 26th man on the expanded roster. Plays a little defense. Pinch-runs. Starts once a week. It’s a shame he will never be more than that. But this is probably his last chance at holding down a roster spot with the Phillies.

OF Nick Williams (26): The Phillies are under no obligation to trade him, but Williams’ representatives have pushed for a divorce since last spring. This was a tough situation for everyone involved. The Phillies don’t view Williams as a big-league player. Others might. Maybe not. But he looks like a throw-in as part of a larger trade this offseason.

(Top photo of Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper: Rob Tringali / Getty Images)