The Phillies cut their roster down even further Friday as Opening Day nears, reassigning four players and releasing utility man Adam Rosales.
Opening Day is now less than a week away, forcing the Phillies and the rest of the teams in the league to start making their final cuts before heading back home. Philadelphia made five cuts Friday.
Pitchers Pedro Beato and Tom Eshelman, outfielder Collin Cowgill, and catcher Matt McBride were all reassigned. However, the four will still remain in major-league camp. Meanwhile, veteran utility man Adam Rosales was granted his unconditional release, leaving 40 players in camp.
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Rosales and Eshelman were the only ones in this group who had any real chance of making the major-league roster. Rosales was pushing for a bench role while Eshelman was an outside contender for the fifth spot in the starting rotation.
Rosales was uninspiring in camp, posting a .237/.286/.421 line in 21 games. He hit one home run, drove two runs in, and stole one base. Instead, Jesmuel Valentin and Pedro Florimon will continue to make a case for the utility infielder role.
Eshelman was always a long shot to make the team considering he was a non-roster invitee. His last outing March 19 blew up his overall spring training numbers as he allowed five runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings. Up until that point, he had allowed just one run in eight innings. He will start the year in Triple-A but should make his major-league debut at some point this season.
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Beato, Cowgill, and McBride were all brought to camp more to fill out the roster than anything else. Philadelphia’s bullpen was pretty much full coming into camp, limiting Beato’s chances. The outfield was also extremely cluttered for Cowgill, while McBride virtually had no chance with Jorge Alfaro, Andrew Knapp, and Cameron Rupp all here. They will likely spend most, if not all, of this season serving as Triple-A depth.
Cowgill did not have a strong spring, hitting just .194 with a .526 OPS in 18 games. McBridge wasn’t much better, hitting just .200 in 10 games. The few hits he did have came at the right time as he drove in four runs in 16 plate appearances. Beato, who pitched in one game for the Phils last year, allowed four earned runs in seven innings.
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The final roster is starting to crystallize as more and more players are reassigned or released. The only battles left to decide are the fifth starting pitcher, the last two bench spots, and who replaces Mark Leiter, Jr. in the bullpen.