With Opening Day just around the corner, the Phillies 25-man-roster is nearly complete with just one spot to fill. Although the rosters for the Phillies minor league teams will not be released until the guys are ready to come north, many players have been optioned to their respective levels allowing
With Opening Day just around the corner, the Phillies 25-man-roster is nearly complete with just one spot to fill. Although the rosters for the Phillies minor league teams will not be released until the guys are ready to come north, many players have been optioned to their respective levels allowing us to take a rough guess of who will be on the IronPigs roster to start 2018.
With Scott Kingery, Ben Lively, Pedro Florimón and Drew Hutchinson earning spots on the Opening Day roster, the Phillies have optioned Jesmuel Valentín, Roman Quinn, Zac Curtis and Zach Eflin to Lehigh Valley. The Phillies are expected to open the season with 13 pitchers on their staff, leaving Vìctor Arano and Jake Thompson competing to earn the final bullpen spot with the other heading to the minors.
The Phillies elected to designate Cameron Rupp for assignment making Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knapp the big league catchers for the year. Logan Moore and Nick Rickles, who were both in camp, were optioned to the minor leagues and likely to the IronPigs. Moore has spent the last couple seasons with the IronPigs and is more than likely going to be the Pigs primary backstop when the team heads to Pawtucket. Rickles played in both Reading and the Lehigh Valley last season after coming over from the Nationals organization in May. Both Moore and Rickles are very good defensive catchers and will stall any opponents running game if they are behind the plate come April.
The Phillies organization has preached versatility and both Mitch Walding and Matt McBride provide it. Walding played both corner infield positions while in big league camp but has played the majority of his minor league career at the hot corner. Walding had a pair of RBIs in his first minor league spring game and will likely be a fixture in the middle of the Pigs order. McBride, a product of Lehigh University is the ultimate utility man which is the exact type of player that Phillies like. He has major league experience and can catch, play first base and the outfield at any given time.
Valentin was the Pigs' starting second basemen last season before a season-ending injury. Valentin has been a finalist to make the big club the last two springs but has been returned to the minors each year for regular playing time. Valentin proved this spring he can play all over the diamond. A bulk of his time will be served as an infielder but don't be surprised if he makes a few appearances in the outfield as well.
Pencil Dylan Cozens back into right field and right and the middle of the lineup but the other starters remain a mystery. Roman Quinn will spend a lot of time in center field for the IronPigs, but because of the Phillies desire to make Quinn an ultimate utility player, expect him to play a lot of games at his natural shortstop position.
Outfielders Andrew Pullin, Danny Ortiz and Collin Cowgill were all in camp as non-roster invitees and have since been returned to the minor leagues. Pullin was a member of the IronPigs for the second half of 2017 but struggled after dominating at Double-A Reading. Ortiz spent most of the season last year with Indianapolis with a brief taste of the big leagues, making his Major League debut before finishing the year with the Indians. Cowgill, who remains in big league camp despite being optioned, has plenty of Major League experience. He spent last year in the Padres organization playing with Triple-A El Paso.
The starting rotation for the IronPigs will be one of the most exciting aspects of the team's roster. The Phillies have a ton of young arms that are the brink of reaching the Major Leagues if they haven't already done so. With Eflin being optioned to the Pigs, he will join Drew Anderson, Brandon Leibrandt and Tom Eshelman in Triple-A. All four could serve a number of roles whether that is in the rotation, pen or both. Other pitchers like Cole Irvin, Enyel De Los Santos, José Taveras and Franklyn Kilomé were all in big league camp and could serve a role on the IronPigs pitching staff in 2018.
