4 Phillies players who don’t deserve to be on the 40-man roster
Which Phillies players need to show their worth to keep their spot on the roster?
For the 2024 MLB season, the Philadelphia Phillies enter the year with a stacked roster ready to compete again for a World Series championship. Not only do they have some strong star power from top to bottom in their major league lineup, but even the depth on the 40-man roster following the end of last season isn't too shabby, either.
However, during the current offseason, the Phillies have shuffled their 40-man roster quite a bit, especially after the recent additions over the past few weeks. Those additions to the roster include gambles on once-promising players such as pitcher and former first-round pick Kolby Allard, reliever Michael Rucker from the Chicago Cubs, infielder Diego Castillo off waivers from the New York Yankees, and the most recent, pitcher Max Castillo off waivers from the Boston Red Sox. In one of their early offseason moves in November, they also added reliever Michael Mercado from the Tampa Bay Rays.
The players recently taken off the 40-man roster include reliever Andrew Bellatti and outfielder Símon Muzziotti.
The track records of each of these players show that they have gone through some struggles over the years. Nevertheless, the Phillies believe they were worth a shot, as some were former first- or second-round picks, while others have shown glimpses of their potential despite limited overall success.
But if we take a closer look, perhaps not every player currently on the Phillies 40-man roster deserves a spot. We'll examine four players who have failed to show their worth and whose spots on the 40-man roster could be better used elsewhere.
Hopefully, each of these Phillies players can start proving their worth and help make more significant contributions to the ballclub to justify their inclusion on the 40-man roster.
Nick Nelson
Nick Nelson was acquired from the New York Yankees back in 2021 in a four-player swap that also saw the Phillies net catcher Donny Sands in exchange for minor leaguers T.J. Rumfield and Joel Valdez. Nelson was expected to serve as valuable pitching depth for the organization after two underwhelming seasons with the Bronx Bombers, where he averaged an ERA above 6.40 and a WHIP above 1.75.
Despite sticking with the big league team for the entire 2022 season, Nelson failed to thrive, pitching to a 4.85 ERA and 1.49 WHIP while giving up 37 earned runs, with 36 walks, 69 strikeouts and an NL-leading 13 wild pitches in 68 2/3 innings in 47 appearances (including two starts). Even though he made the Phillies’ postseason roster, he only saw action in one game in the World Series against the Houston Astros, in which he registered two walks in one inning of work.
With better bullpen arms at the Phillies’ disposal for 2023, Nelson was pushed out of a spot on the major league roster and spent the entire season in their minors, where he was deployed mainly as a starter. Nelson ended up having a respectable year with a 3.83 ERA, but still displayed some wildness at times with a 1.39 WHIP.
However, Nelson had always found some success in the past pitching in the minor leagues, even during his time with the Yankees. The more worrisome aspect of his game is that he hasn’t been able to translate that success to the major league level, often struggling against big league hitters.
With up-and-coming arms in top prospects Griff McGarry and Mick Abel, along with recent offseason additions in Mercado and Allard, the Phillies appear stacked with potential starting pitching depth entering 2024, making the necessity of having Nelson as insurance depth more or less negligible.
Until Nelson can prove once and for all that he can be a serviceable MLB-caliber pitcher, his spot on the 40-man roster should be saved for someone else.
McKinley Moore
McKinley Moore was a 14th-round pick by the Chicago White Sox in the 2019 MLB Draft. In 2022, he became a part of the Phillies when the White Sox traded him for outfielder Adam Haseley. With the Phillies investing big time in their outfield by signing star players Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber to huge contracts at the time, Haseley became expendable and was used to acquire some bullpen help.
Unfortunately, Moore has yet to develop into one of the key cogs of the Phillies’ relief corps. Despite possessing a high-octane four-seam fastball in the upper 90s, leading to his superb strikeout ability, he has trouble with control and command, limiting his overall effectiveness. This was witnessed during his college years when he averaged an ERA close to 8.00 and a WHIP close to 2.20. It has also been a problem throughout his minor league career, with an ERA close to 4.00 and a WHIP above 1.50, despite striking out almost 1.5 batters per inning.
Moore got his cameo appearance with the Phillies in 2023, appearing in three games in April. But as expected, he was eaten alive, giving up seven earned runs on five hits, with five walks and only two strikeouts in just 3 1/3 innings of work. He was subsequently sent back down to the minors where he ended up spending the rest of the season.
During his minor league tenure, he was plagued by injury woes for the bulk of the year but managed to post a sub-2.00 ERA in his limited playing time. But even with the impressive ERA mark, he was a little lucky as he still endured some command issues with a 1.67 WHIP and 22 walks in just 20 1/3 innings.
Already four years and counting into his professional baseball career, Moore needs to start making the right adjustments to succeed at the major league level and to truly say he deserves his spot on the 40-man roster.
Luis Ortiz
Luis Ortiz was claimed off waivers by the Phillies from the San Francisco Giants during the 2022-23 offseason. As a former first-round pick from the 2014 MLB Draft, Ortiz has been a massive disappointment thus far in his MLB career.
After middling in the minor leagues for multiple seasons, Ortiz finally made his highly-anticipated debut in 2018 with the Baltimore Orioles. He played in only two games in September and struggled mightily in the process, giving up six runs on seven hits with three walks and no strikeouts in just 2 1/3 innings pitched. He would go on to spend the majority of his time in minors in the following years before finally joining the Phillies last year.
In 2023, Ortiz yo-yoed up and down between the minors and majors throughout the year. Whenever he was called upon, he managed to deliver solid results with a 3.32 ERA, but with a more gaudy 1.47 WHIP. However, he was rarely used in high-leverage situations.
The fact that the Phillies didn’t keep him up with the big league club despite their bullpen struggling in the early parts of the season showed that they didn’t really trust what Ortiz had to offer. Perhaps some of that doubt could be explained by his stints last year in the minors when he pitched to a 4.60 ERA in 33 appearances.
With the rise of Orion Kerkering as an elite bullpen option this past season, along with the recent additions this offseason with Mercado and Rucker, Ortiz could fall even further down the organizational depth chart as a result.
Surprisingly, fellow pitching teammate Andrew Bellatti was recently designated for assignment and taken off the 40-man roster despite having performed much better than Ortiz in the minors this past season and in the majors the season prior. So if Bellatti inexplicably doesn’t belong there, Ortiz shouldn’t either.
Rodolfo Castro
The Phillies acquired Rodolfo Castro at the trade deadline last season, essentially to replace Josh Harrison when he was designated for assignment. Castro appeared to have upside as he can play multiple positions in the infield, bat from both sides of the plate, and has some pop, as shown by his 11 home runs in just 253 at-bats in 2022.
However, after struggling with the Pittsburgh Pirates for most of 2023 with a .228 batting average, .672 OPS, six home runs, and 22 RBI over 78 games prior to the trade, Castro provided even less of an impact with the Phillies down the stretch. He only got into 14 games and mustered a lowly .100 batting average with a .256 OPS, with just two runs scored and two RBI with 12 strikeouts in 30 at-bats. As a result, he failed to provide any significant contributions to the team and didn't make the postseason roster.
With the incumbent Edmundo Sosa returning for another season, along with potential spring training dark horses in Kody Clemens, Weston Wilson, and the newly acquired Diego Castillo in the mix, the Phillies currently have a luxury of riches when it comes to utility infielders for the 2024 season.
Therefore, there is no longer a need to have an underproducing Castro on the 40-man roster, as the spot should be reserved for someone with a much greater potential impact.
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