Philadelphia Phillies roster clarity before the trade deadline will be coming soon. Tommy Pham signed a minor league deal with the Phillies on June 28 reportedly contains a July 25 opt-out. With Adolis García on the 60-day injured list and out for the season the team is evaluating the right field position. Pham has a .218/.333/.449 line with five home runs and 14 RBI in 24 minor league games between three organizations this year. To add to that Pham has a 100 wRC+ and a .240 BABIP with a 0.54 BB/K rate. Pham had a brief nine game stint on the New York Mets major league roster earlier this season.
Bryan De La Cruz also has an opt-out date which comes before the opt-out date that Pham has. It is not out of the question that De La Cruz spends a brief amount of time on the 26-man roster as a place holder before Pham is ready to be called up to the major league roster. De La Cruz has a .255/.346/.433 line with 12 home runs and 51 RBI in 74 minor league games this season. In addition to that De La Cruz has a 104 wRC+ and a .297 BABIP with. 0.56 BB/K rate. It is probably worth it for the Phillies to call up De La Cruz and see if he can help provide offense.
Phillies Roster Clarity
Outfield Prospect Could Be Demoted To Minor Leagues
Gabriel Rincones Jr. will probably be optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley at some point in July. That could be to make room for De La Cruz or Pham. While the Phillies are not outwardly indicating that Rincones could be sent down, De La Cruz could force their hand in a way. Rincones has a .132/.154/.211 line with one home run and three RBI in 12 major league games. To go along with that Rincones also has a -7 wRC+ with a .154 BABIP and a 0.09 BB/K rate. The numbers back up the eye test that Rincones has largely been overmatched at the big league level. This is an easy way to provide Phillies roster clarity for De La Cruz or Pham.
40-Man Roster Will Need Open Spots
With Lou Trivino being added to the 40-man roster on June 30 the Phillies do not currently have an open spot. Chase Shugart was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make room for Trivino on the 26-man roster. Shugart has elevated his game at points this season but the team needed a fresh arm. One possible outcome here is that Trivino gets designated for assignment when Brad Keller returns from the injured list. Another scenario is that either Rafael Marchán or Garrett Stubbs gets designated for assignment to make room for De La Cruz or Pham. There will need to be Phillies roster clarity regarding the 40-man roster.
Backup Catcher Decision Likely Needs To Be Made
The Phillies bench carousel has not fully ended quite yet. At some point before the trade deadline the Phillies will need to decide who should be the backup catcher between Marchán and Stubbs. Carrying three catchers for this long is not the best use of roster spots. While the Phillies do not use the 13th position player as much as other teams do carrying another utility player would not be the worst idea. Christian Cairo can play both infield and outfield positions and is already on the Phillies 40-man roster. Stubbs has not spent much time playing at positions other than catcher as well. Phillies roster clarity would help here.
Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
