5 Phillies players who should be gone immediately after the 2024 MLB playoffs
The Phillies have some obvious players who need to move on when the postseason wraps up.
As the Philadelphia Phillies get set to begin their quest for the World Series championship later this week, many of the Phillies players will be making the necessary preparations in hopes of a deep and successful postseason run. However, for a few others, things may not be as rosy for them in the coming weeks. Not only will they not likely be part of the playoff drive, but their actual hold on a spot in the organization could be up in the air when all is said and done at the conclusion of the season.
Here, we will take a look at five Phillies players from their current 40-man roster who should be gone following the 2024 MLB playoffs.
5 Phillies players who should be gone immediately after the 2024 MLB playoffs
Rodolfo Castro
As one of the main acquisitions by the Phillies at the trade deadline last season apart from starter Michael Lorenzen, Rodolfo Castro was supposed to provide Philadelphia with some positional flexibility along with some power with his bat. In effect, with utilityman Josh Harrison designated for assignment around the very same time, Castro appeared to have been his ideal replacement, or at least the Phillies hoped that was the case.
However, Castro turned out to be a player of non-significance, as he batted a measly .100 with a .256 OPS, along with just two runs scored, two RBI, two walks and 12 strikeouts in 30 at-bats over 14 games of action. As a result of his underwhelming performance, he didn’t even end up making the Phillies’ 2023 postseason roster.
This season, Castro was looking to put himself back on the map with the Phillies. Unfortunately, his year was derailed by injuries that held him out for all but 23 minor league games in 2024. He slashed just .221/.286/.351 with three home runs and nine RBI for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs this season. Officially, he's not even currently on the 40-man roster after suffering a season-ending ligament tear in his right thumb in August. He's now on the 60-day IL after undergoing surgery.
At the same time, in the majors, Edmundo Sosa made strides in elevating his game in 2024, especially during the absence of star shortstop Trea Turner. In addition, the Phillies have also received some solid performances by the likes of Weston Wilson and Kody Clemens. With all of them having the ability to play multiple positions while producing at the plate, Castro should be expendable this offseason.
Tyler Phillips
It was sure good while it lasted, but the Phillies’ experiment with 26-year-old pitcher Tyler Phillips is likely over. Back when the Phillies summoned Phillips from the minors in early July, it came as a total surprise. After all, he hadn’t sported an ERA below 4.00 since way back during the time when he was still with the Texas Rangers in 2019. On top of that, he was also nowhere to be found among the Phillies’ Top 30 prospects in their minor league system.
Nevertheless, with the valuable opportunity at hand, Phillips made a great first impression with the Phillies. In his first-ever MLB appearance, out of the bullpen, he went four strong innings, giving up just one earned run on three hits with seven strikeouts against the Atlanta Braves on July 7. He continued that success for the rest of the month, including his improbable highlight of pitching a complete game shutout against the Cleveland Guardians on July 27.
However, that was when things fell apart for Phillips in his following four starts, sandwiched by a demotion to the minors in between. He went 1-1 with an abysmal 17.74 ERA and 2.83 WHIP, giving up 23 earned runs, including six home runs in just 11 2/3 innings of work. Despite being one of the two September call-ups for the Phillies, he couldn’t even last beyond the first inning in his lone September start before he was sent back down for good. Consequently, by failing miserably in his brief audition after an unbelievable start, Phillips’ days with the Phillies should be coming to an abrupt end.
Taijuan Walker
Nobody really saw it coming, probably not even Taijuan Walker himself, but 2024 has turned into a complete nightmare for the 32-year-old veteran right-hander. After posting a career-high in wins with 15 last season, which impressively also led the entire Phillies’ team, almost everything that could have gone wrong for him this year ended up doing so.
First and foremost, Walker was hampered by injury woes throughout 2024, with ailments that included a shoulder impingement coming out of spring training, a toe contusion after getting hit in the foot by a comebacker, and a blister on his index finger.
When he was actually healthy, he turned out to be a complete mess on the mound, setting records along the way for all the wrong reasons. For the season, Walker posted a miserable 3-7 record with an ugly 7.10 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, giving up a whopping 66 earned runs, including 24 home runs, along with 37 walks and 58 strikeouts in just 83 2/3 innings pitched over 19 games.
The Phillies attempted to work with Walker in rediscovering his effective splitter during his injury rehab, but to no avail. They even tried relegating him to the bullpen to see if it could help turn things around for him in a different environment. However, his struggles remained as he yielded multiple runs in three of his four relief appearances.
At this rate, it makes one wonder if more work with him during the offseason would even help fix what is ailing him. Unless Walker shows some drastic progress in his throwing program in the coming weeks, his tenure with the Phillies may not last beyond the conclusion of the playoffs, despite his massive contract, which still has $36 million owed.
José Cuas
It was surprising when the Phillies took a flyer on reliever José Cuas in a waiver wire claim from the Toronto Blue Jays back in early September. Despite posting a respectable sub-4.00 ERA in his two previous seasons in the majors, that solid mark played a big role in masking his control and command issues that have plagued him for much of his career. With a career walk rate of 5.2 batters per nine innings and a WHIP close to 1.60, Cuas constantly had runners reaching base, but somehow managed to get out of it for the majority of the time to minimize the damage.
However, his command issues finally caught up to him this season, as his exposure led to him being waived twice during the 2024 year. In his 13 relief appearances split between the Chicago Cubs and the Jays, Cuas posted a dismal 7.71 ERA and 1.78 WHIP, giving up 14 earned runs on 10 walks and 17 strikeouts in just 16 1/3 innings of work. Shockingly, he somehow avoided picking up a loss or blown save in the process, meaning that he was likely used only in non-important game situations.
Even after joining the Phillies organization, Cuas continued his struggles with their Triple-A affiliate in Lehigh Valley, posting a 4.91 ERA and 1.64 WHIP over four appearances. When the Phillies were in need of arms over the course of the month in September, they turned to the likes of Phillips, Tyler Gilbert, Kolby Allard, Seth Johnson and even Nick Nelson rather than considering giving Cuas a shot down the stretch. As a result, by not being ranked highly on the pitching depth chart in the organization, the Phillies need to move on from Cuas for better pitching options in the future.
Yunior Marte
Since coming over from the San Francisco Giants in a trade during the 2022-23 offseason, Yunior Marte had been given ample opportunities by the Phillies to take the bullpen job and run with it over the past couple of seasons. However, the 29-year-old reliever failed to take full advantage of it and has turned out to be quite the disappointment, to say the least.
In his two seasons with Philadelphia that has seen him move constantly between the majors and minors, Marte has compiled a 1-1 record with a gaudy 5.79 ERA, 74 ERA+ and 1.73 WHIP, giving up 42 earned runs, 32 walks and 61 strikeouts in 65 1/3 innings pitched over 63 appearances.
In particular, in 2024 he has put up the worst numbers of his MLB career, toiling with an ERA close to 7.00 and a WHIP close to 1.90. His disastrous outing on Aug. 10 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, in which he gave up seven runs in less than an inning’s work, practically summarized his season.
The evolution of Jeff Hoffman into an elite relief option for the Phillies, along with the emergence of both Orion Kerkering and José Ruiz, together with the strong core of José Alvarado, Matt Strahm, and deadline acquisition Tanner Banks, it has resulted in Marte falling way down the bullpen depth chart. With Philadelphia likely aiming for a potential upgrade or two to their relief corps this upcoming offseason, we may have seen the last of Marte in a Phillies’uniform.
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