No walks, no hits.  No hit by pitches.  No put outs or assists.  Those aren’t the kinds of numbers that keep you on the Phillies roster.  Inciarte’s inclusion on the Opening Day roster appeared to be naught but a fevered dream, as it took nine innings for the Phillies to determine that he just wasn’t a good fit.

The Rule 5 picks was cast out, DFA’d, and could potentially be picked up elsewhere in a Rule 5 experiment of some other team’s.  But for the Phillies, Ender and all of the “Ender’s Game” and “This is the Ender” and “Ender of the line” jokes that he brought with him are not worth the effort.

No, the guy the Phillies are all about these days is Ezequiel Carrera, snared from the Indians on waivers.

Carrera’s preseason numbers:

The 25-year-old lefty outfielder has spent two years in Cleveland, the poor soul, amassing 384 plate appearances and a .653 OPS.  He was designated for assignment this past week with pitcher David Huff before the Phillies decided he was worth a whole bunch of brilliant science fiction puns.

So what are we doing here?  The Phillies swapped out one fringe outfielder for another.  Inciarte is cited for his lack of a bat, spending a lot of time in the various stages of single-A with Arizona before the Phillies got him.  His assignment to the Opening Day roster was something of an anomaly.  They could not have been too high on him, unplugging him without seeing him take the field once, and this Carrera character at least has a few years of experience to hold himself up.

And yeah, what this lineup needs is some more lefties.

Carrera is supposed to meet with the team tonight in Atlanta, so hopefully everything goes well.  Which I guess means something more than “nothing” occurs because that is apparently all it takes to get kicked off this team.

No one is expecting that, just because Shane Victorino was also a CF taken in the Rule 5 Draft by the Phillies.  But we do want it.

The Phillies plucked the 22-year-old outfielder from the bowels of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ farm system in the Rule 5 Draft this morning, sending personnel to drag him sobbing from his family and teammates within hours. His numbers:

• Low-A Midwest League (2010-12):  902 AB, 235 H, 44 doubles, 17 triples, 3 HR, 75 RBI, 49 SB, 23 CS, 92 BB, 125 SO, .260/.328/.365
• High-A California League (2012): 248 AB, 79 H, 12 doubles, 5 triples, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 28 SB, 8 CS, 22 BB, 32 SO, .319/.377/.419
• Venezuelan Winter League:  80 AB, 18 H, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 5 RBI, .225/.284/.288

Inciarte has some speed, playing center and stealing bases somewhat successfully.  He also manages to hit, like, one home run a year, in a weirdly consistent way.    That batting average has been sneaking upward since his entry into the Low-A, from .225 to .293 just before his promotion.

Hailing from Maracaibo in Venezuela’s northwestern sector, Inciarte was drafted in 2008 by the Snakes and, after some normal struggles due to acclimating with a new culture, host family, and English lessons, adjusted well.  His native region is a known hotbed for simmering baseball talent, as his older brother won the Little League World Series with Maracaibo’s team in 2000.

“My agent called me at [midnight] and said ‘Ender, can I see you tomorrow? You’re going to sign a contract with the Diamondbacks.  I was like, ‘What? Are you serious?’ I’ll never forget that day.”

–Ender Inciarte

Lastly, here is the first image released from the upcoming sci fi film, Ender’s Game.