Phillies Make First Spring Cuts
By Matt Veasey
The Phillies began making their move towards forming the final 2015 Opening Day roster today by cutting down to 52 players in major league camp. None of the players reassigned to minor league camp or released were really unexpected.
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Given his outright release was outfielder Xavier Paul, who went 1-9 across 6 games. His lone hit was a homerun. The 30-year old veteran of parts of 6 major league seasons will now try to catch on with another organization.
Martin was among those reassigned to minor league camp today.
Among the higher profile prospects reassigned are pitchers Jesse Biddle, Adam Morgan, and Ethan Martin. Position players included Aaron Altherr. All of these players will further hone their skills at AA-Reading and/or AAA-Lehigh Valley in preparation for a chance with the big club later in the season.
The team also reassigned Sean O’Sullivan, who has fairly significant MLB experience. But the 27-year old also has minor league options, and so off he went to prepare for a role in the AAA-Lehigh Valley starting rotation and a possible call-up later in the season as well.
Half of the survivors in big league camp are pitchers as the Phils try to sort out both the back-end of their rotation, now with an extra opening thanks to the Cliff Lee injury, and their middle relief spots.