Phillies who likely played their last game with Philadelphia

Which Phillies are unlikely to ever come back to the big league team?

The Phillies Opening Day was supposed to be last month, however, due to an unforeseen global pandemic, this obviously hasn’t happened. Coming up on a full month of suspended baseball activities, analysts and team owners alike have begun to get serious on projecting baseball to return sometime later this summer.

Although likely to occur without fans in attendance, the hope for some semblance of a 2020 season to occur is rising.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean everyone currently on the Phillies roster will be getting the opportunity to play major league baseball this year (at least with the Phillies that is).

Combined with the fact that Spring Training was heavily shortened, here are a few players currently in the Phils’ organization who likely won’t be playing a MLB game with the Phillies anytime soon.

Odubel Herrera, Outfielder

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first; Odubel Herrera’s tenure as a Phillie coming to an end needs little explaining.

Caught up in a domestic assault case halfway through the 2019 season, Herrera spent most of last year suspended from the MLB. While he was never convicted of any crime, the MLB has been known to have a pretty strict policy when it comes to any sort of potential violent crime. Herrera was reinstated this past November and was quickly designated for assignment.

All other 29 MLB teams passed on Herrera and his services, and the 28 year old outfielder was outrighted to the AAA.

The Phillies would no doubt like to cut Herrera if possible, he’s owed $20 million dollars over the next three seasons and clearly isn’t in the team’s long term plans. However, whether unfortunately or fortunately, the MLB has a procedure set in place where you can’t simply cut a player due to a suspension. For the meantime, Herrera will likely sit in the minors until the MLB deems it appropriate for the Phillies to release him.

Teams have turned their head when it comes to legal issues in the past, with some of the greatest players in MLB history having been caught up in steroid scandals. However, considering the fact that Herrera was batting just .222 before his suspension, it’s unlikely Joe Girardi and the Phillies will see him worthy of receiving a second chance.

While he may not be cut anytime soon, the chance of “El Torito” ever dawning an official Phillies uniform again is pretty much zero.