4 Phillies players on the 40-man roster who won’t survive the 2024 season

As the Philadelphia Phillies gear up for the upcoming 2024 regular season, it will be important to monitor which players they keep on their 40-man roster. Whenever the team needs to facilitate roster moves to bring up a player to play in the majors, having them on the roster means less hassle as it doesn't require another corresponding transaction to execute the move.

As a result, it's best to reserve the spots on the 40-man for the players who they believe could provide the most potential impact to the ballclub if called upon. However, if a player's value is no longer there, it makes the most sense for the Phillies to vacate the spot in favor of someone else.

Let's take a look at four Phillies players currently on the 40-man roster who we don't think will last the entire 2024 season.

Kolby Allard

Kolby Allard, the Atlanta Braves' first-round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, had all the makings of becoming a solid starting rotation piece with his above-average four-pitch arsenal. Although Allard possesses a fastball in the low 90s, his combination of a mid-80s changeup and cutter, along with a curveball falling into the 70s, should have enabled him to become an effective, deceptive pitcher in the majors.

However, despite some early success during his growth and development in the Braves minor league system, he has failed to translate that success to the major league level in his six seasons so far. In total, Allard has compiled a 9-24 record with an ugly 6.10 ERA and 1.43 WHIP, with 204 strikeouts in 245 innings. More importantly, he has often been hit hard, especially with the long ball. His career home run rate is close to two per nine innings (1.84 HR/9). In particular, in 2022 with the Texas Rangers, he gave up bombs at a rate close to four per nine innings (3.86 HR/9).

Nevertheless, the Phillies took a flyer on Allard, signing him to a one-year deal to provide pitching depth for the organization. So far this spring, Allard’s numbers continue to be higher than expected, with a 3.18 ERA and 1.76 WHIP, but he has managed to keep the ball in the ballpark in his 5 2/3 innings. But with an ERA never under five since 2019 while often struggling to avoid contact, if he's unable to show any signs of significant improvement from his previous years, his trial time with the Phillies may end faster than expected.

Michael Mercado

The Phillies acquired Michael Mercado in a minor trade this offseason with the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for pitcher Adam Leverett and cash considerations back in November of 2023. The former second-round pick from the 2017 MLB Draft has spent the past five seasons in the Rays minor league system and has yet to make his major league debut.

In total, Mercado has amassed an 11-18 record, 4.81 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, with 114 walks and 343 strikeouts in 306 2/3 innings in the minors. His main strength is his strikeout ability, as he averaged a stellar 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings this past season. However, his glaring weakness has been his command and control over the years, with 2023 being one of his worst seasons, walking close to five batters per nine innings.

The Rays are notorious for developing strong homegrown pitching products, so it's rare for them to let go of any promising pitching prospect. Despite his tremendous strikeout ability, Mercado never ranked in the Top 30 prospects in the Rays system over the years, clearly showing that his utmost potential has been drastically limited by the wildness in his command.

Despite poor results, his strikeout ability was on full display in his limited spring action. He pitched to a 6.35 ERA and 1.59 WHIP while striking out a whopping 10 batters in just 5 2/3 innings. He drastically improved his walk rate, which he brought down to 3.8 percent. Still, it wasn’t surprising that he was among the first round of cuts and was sent back down to the minors for the remainder of training camp.

Unless Mercado can continue making significant improvements in his pitching mechanics to make himself a serviceable major league pitcher, his upside will be severely limited, and he could ultimately find himself off the 40-man roster before the end of the 2024 season.

Darick Hall

Darick Hall has been part of the Phillies organization since 2016 when they drafted him late in the 14th round. Known primarily for his tremendous power, he has shown some success in his tenure in the minor leagues, averaging 20+ home runs and 80+ RBI in a typical season. However, he has struggled immensely at the major league level when given opportunities over the past two seasons.

In 59 games of big league action, Hall has hit only .226 with a .700 OPS, 21 runs scored, nine doubles, 10 home runs, and 19 RBI. Those numbers may seem adequate for someone just getting their feet wet, but what has stood out isn't his production but his poor plate discipline. He has walked only seven times to go along with 62 strikeouts in 198 plate appearances.

That unimpressive trend has continued this spring as in 11 games, Hall has registered only two hits for an .080 batting average, .348 OPS, one home run, one RBI and 11 strikeouts in just 25 at-bats. At 28, time could be running out for him to get his act together to provide any sort of impact.

With first base being his primary position, one of his main competitors is Clemens, who has been on a tear since being sent down to the minors last July. Along with the recent rise of organizational prospects such as Carlos De La Cruz, Hall’s spot on the 40-man roster could be in jeopardy going forward if he can’t prove his worth in due time.