Prior to this evening's matchup against the Cleveland Guardians, the Philadelphia Phillies have announced four roster moves on their Twitter account. Here's the latest on what pieces are shifting around on the roster:
- INF Josh Harrison has been activated from the 10-day injured list.
- OF Jake Cave has been recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
- IF Drew Ellis has been optioned to Triple-A.
- 1B Darick Hall has been optioned to Triple-A.
In Harrison, the Phillies are bringing the utiltyman back from the injured list right at the 10-day mark of his initial placement there. The 36-year-old has been experiencing one heck of a down year for the club and, frankly, may not finish the season on the active roster. In 38 games this season, the two-time All-Star has two home runs, 10 RBI, a .219 average and a dreadful OPS+ of just 62. He has been completely inefficient both at the plate and on the field, so don't be surprised if he is not long for the team.
Cave, 30, will get another look in the big leagues after previously putting up an uninspiring 20-game showing for the Phillies earlier this year. The six-year MLB veteran has been absolutely demolishing the opposition in Triple-A and has more than earned this promotion. Recently, we discussed a possibility that the Phillies could look to trade him at the deadline, and readers were not sure how this could even be a thing. However, when you see that he hit 30 doubles and 16 home runs with a .346 average and 1.113 OPS in just 59 games in Triple-A, it suddenly makes a lot more sense why teams may want to bring someone like that aboard their roster. Perhaps this is going to be something of an audition for Cave to interested clubs.
Drew Ellis is going to head back to Triple-A after another stint in the big leagues where he failed to produce anything noteworthy. The 27-year-old has a pair of home runs for the club this year but is largely just minor league depth at this point. For what it's worth, he has 12 home runs and a .905 OPS in 41 minor league games this season, so his bat does still have something in there.
When talking about disappointing performances, there have been none more disappointing than Darick Hall's this year. After showing some promise in a 41-game showing last year, the 27-year-old has failed to hit at the big league level and has been dreadful at the plate. It's worth noting that he hit .325 in a 21-game cameo in Triple-A this year, but with little to no power in his bat that we've seen in recent years. With Rhys Hoskins out long-term, Hall had some pretty significant expectations riding on his back, but he has failed to deliver in essentially every way.