Phillies' offseason roster addition grades: One big signing stands out above the rest
The Phillies made plenty of depth moves this offseason, but one free agent signing stands head and shoulders above the rest.
After coming up short of a World Series title for the second consecutive year, the Philadelphia Phillies were active this offseason, making various moves and signings to bolster their roster for 2024. So how well did the Phillies do with their roster additions? What potential roles will the newest Phillies play in the upcoming season?
With Opening Day now pushed back to Friday, we have some extra time to review the offseason and evaluate how the front office did over the winter months.
Here, we will grade some of the more relevant roster additions and their expected impact on the ballclub for the 2024 season. For the sake of this article, we will focus only on those players on the Phillies’ 40-man roster.
Michael Mercado: C-
In one of the Phillies' first moves of the offseason, they acquired pitcher Michael Mercado from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for pitcher Adam Leverett and cash considerations. Mercado is a former second-round pick from the 2017 MLB Draft who hasn’t lived up to his potential and has yet to make his MLB debut. With underwhelming numbers for his career in the minors thus far, including a 4.81 ERA and 1.33 WHIP, Mercado will serve mainly as pitching depth for the Phillies’ organization.
This spring, Mercado has continued his failure to impress, as he compiled a dismal 6.35 ERA and 1.59 WHIP over 5 2/3 innings pitched. As a result, he was ultimately optioned back down to the minors quite early in spring training.
He did demonstrate one key strength in his pitching arsenal: his prolific strikeout ability. The right-hander has averaged 10.10 K/9 for his career and sat at 12.71 K/9 in Triple-A last season. If he can fine-tune the other aspects of his pitching, particularly his command and control, he could be a serviceable arm out of the pen for the Phillies down the road.
Michael Rucker: C
In early February, the Phillies completed another trade, this time with the Chicago Cubs, to obtain right-handed pitcher Michael Rucker. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, Andrew Bellatti was designated for assignment and eventually outrighted to Lehigh Valley after clearing waivers.
Rucker had spent his entire career with the Cubs. In three seasons, he amassed a 5-2 record, 4.96 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, with 120 strikeouts in 123 1/3 innings in 96 appearances, all as a reliever. So, in a way, he profiles similar to Mercado, but with the added MLB experience and less the above-average strikeout ability.
As reported by MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, Rucker nursed a finger ailment for most of spring training and saw limited action. But in two games, he gave up just one hit, zero runs, and two walks in two innings of work.
Rucker will start the season on the IL and head to the minors as pitching depth. He'll need extended spring training to build up his workload to have a chance to crack the Phillies’ bullpen. He may be in the same boat as Mercado in terms of potential, but he may be just a step ahead of him due to his prior major league experience. But don’t expect him to be at the levels of José Alvarado, Seranthony Domínguez, or Jeff Hoffman, as he should be most effective in lower-leverage situations.
Max Castillo: C+
Continuing the Phillies’ trend of adding value arms to their roster, they claimed pitcher Max Castillo off waivers from the Boston Red Sox just shortly after the Rucker trade. In a corresponding move, Símon Muzziotti was designated for assignment to make room for Castillo on the 40-man roster. The move was a bit surprising as Muzziotti had been one of the Phillies’ top outfield prospects the past few seasons, while Castillo has yet to secure a permanent major league gig thus far for his career.
Last season with the Kansas City Royals, Castillo was 0-1 with a 4.43 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in seven relief appearances, as he spent the majority of the time in the minors.
This spring training, Castillo got into four games and struggled with a 6.55 ERA and 1.64 WHIP, giving up eight earned runs, including three home runs, three walks, and seven strikeouts in just 11 innings of work. As a result, he was among the club’s roster cuts and will start the year in Lehigh Valley, barring any injuries to the Phillies’ pitching staff.
Just like Rucker and Mercado, Castillo will serve mainly as pitching depth but provide a little more flexibility in that he has had experience both as a starter and reliever at the major league level.
Kolby Allard: C+
Former 2015 first-round pick and once-promising pitching prospect Kolby Allard has been a huge disappointment so far in his major league career. After spending the past six seasons with the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers, the Phillies picked up Allard this winter on a value one-year, $1 million contract, betting on the premise that he can eventually live up to his potential.
For his career, Allard has tallied a dismal 9-24 losing record, along with a 6.10 ERA and 1.43 WHIP. More significantly, he has been hit hard and prone to the long ball and has given up a whopping 50 home runs in just 245 innings pitched. This preseason, he has looked shaky at times in his outings. Despite compiling a solid 3.18 ERA, he has struggled with his command and has given up six hits and four walks to go along with his six strikeouts in just 5 2/3 innings.
Allard wasn’t going to win a job out of the bullpen with that showing, so the Phillies optioned him down to the minors to perhaps have him stretched out to serve as potential starting pitching depth. But given his less-than-stellar numbers as a starter so far in the majors, expectations should be kept to a bare minimum. But if Allard somehow can get his act together and start producing like many have expected of him because of his first-round pedigree, he could turn out to be a huge steal for the Phillies.
Spencer Turnbull: B+
One of the more low-risk, high-reward signings made by the Phillies this offseason was the inking of former Detroit Tigers standout Spencer Turnbull. This signing could potentially pay huge dividends for the Phillies.
Unlike Allard, Turnbull has proven to be an effective rotation piece based on his track record. Just three years ago, he put together the best season of his career by posting an impressive 2.88 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, with 12 walks and 44 strikeouts in 50 innings over nine starts for the Tigers. Unfortunately, his budding career was derailed halfway through 2021 as he went down to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery and put him out of action for the rest of the 2021 and the entire 2022 season.
Turnbull finally made his return in 2023 but struggled immensely. In his first few weeks of the season, he amassed a gaudy 7.26 ERA and 1.68 WHIP, but that was expected since he needed some time to get back up to speed. However, he was caught by surprise when the Tigers optioned him to the minors in May due to his ineffectiveness. According to The Athletic's Cody Stavenhagen, that began a series of dramatic events (subscription required) between Turnbull and the Tigers for the rest of the season, which might have ultimately led to his departure from the team.
This spring, Turnbull showed signs that he may be back to his prior dominant form. In four games, he has pitched to a solid 2.25 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, giving up just two earned runs with two walks and a whopping 12 strikeouts in just eight innings of work.
With Taijuan Walker heading to the IL to start the regular season, Turnbull should have done enough to be inserted into the rotation. Regardless, he will serve a significant role this season either as the “sixth man” in the rotation or as a potential long man in the bullpen. This pickup was a great move by the Phillies for just $2 million, that’s for sure.
Whit Merrifield: A
Finally, we have the best Phillies offseason move: signing free agent utilityman Whit Merrifield. For someone who has been in the big leagues for the past eight years, along with being a three-time All-Star, Merrifield brings with him a boatload of experience and more veteran leadership to the clubhouse.
With the ability to play multiple positions and hit in any part of the lineup while playing well both offensively and defensively, he provides manager Rob Thomson and the Phillies with the utmost versatility heading into the 2024 season on how they want him to be deployed.
Last season, Merrifield resurrected his career with a strong season with the Toronto Blue Jays and helped them reach the playoffs. In 145 games, he batted a solid .272 with a .700 OPS, along with 66 runs scored, 27 doubles, 11 home runs, and 67 RBI. More importantly, he swiped 26 bases at the age of 34, showing that he still has the wheels to do damage on the basepaths.
This spring, Merrifield was everything the Phillies had expected of him and more. He has hit an astounding .405 with a 1.143 OPS, seven runs scored, six doubles, one triple, two home runs, seven RBI and a stolen base in 16 games. In the field, he started at second base, third base, and left field and was spotless in 79 innings in the field.
Despite Johan Rojas being named recently as the Phillies starting center fielder (subscription required), as reported by The Athletic's Matt Gelb, Merrifield may still end up in the mix. Rojas may be on a short leash after struggling offensively for most of the spring. With Merrifield’s strong preseason performance, there’s no way he should be kept on the bench, as Thomson will have to fit in the Phillies’ most prized offseason signing in the lineup any way possible.
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