7/19/2020 : Updating my roster guesses 🤷‍♂️⚾️🤓

7/19/2020 Updated Transactions :

LHP Francisco Liriano has been released

C Henri Lartigue has been removed from Player Pool - he was presumably a illness replacement & is therefore eligible to return to the pool later - also doesn‘t have to clear pool waivers

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Here’s round two-A of what the 30 man active roster might be for Opening Day along with some other notes on the 60 man player pool :

Pitchers :

Pitcher Transactions since my first roster guess earlier this week :

LHP Austin Davis was added to the player pool on 7/15/2020 although may not be active yet as was also added the same day to the 10 day injured/illness list ... he was also taken off the 40 man roster

RHP Bud Norris was released on 7/16/2020

RHP Tommy Hunter was activated and pitched in an intra squad game this week

LHP Francisco Liriano was released 7/18/2020

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There are now 25 pitchers on the 40 man roster ... four currently are not included in the 60 man player pool ( Seranthony Dominguez ( INJ - on 45 day DL ) , David Robertson ( working way back from TJ surgery - on 45 day DL ) , Adonis Medina & Christopher Sanchez ).

There are 10 non roster pitchers in Summer Camp who are eligible to be added to the opening day roster ...

LHP Ranger Suarez remains on the Camp injured list ... it would seem very unlikely at this point he could be ready to go by the 24th.

LHP Austin Davis hasn’t thrown in a scrimmage or game yet so would appear unlikely to be on the opening day roster

RHP Victor Arano was optioned to the Alternative Training site list on 7/17/2020 ... he’s not ready to go coming off of inactivity ... didn’t have a place to workout during shutdown

That leaves us with 28 pitchers to choose from for what seems to to likely be 16 slots ... so as of today I think this is how it shakes out ...

Already having a 40 man roster slot is a huge consideration else adjustments must be made ... if a player is placed on the “Illness List “ he doesn’t count against the 40 man roster ... that’s what happened with Austin Davis I believe

It’s also not likely that many minor league players who would be rookies will be added to the opening day roster since waiting for 5 days after the season starts allows the club to add another year of contract control ... so you won’t see Spencer Howard on the opening day list in my opinion for that reason ...

That reduces the likely number of candidates to 18 pitchers ... here’s my latest best guess for whom will be on opening day roster :

Like-lies ( 12 )

RHP Aaron Nola

RHP Jake Arrieta

RHP Zach Wheeler

RHP Zach Eflin

RHP Vince Velasquez

RHP Nick Pivetta

LHP Cole Irvin

RHP Hector Neris

LHP Jose Alvarez

LHP Adam Morgan

RHP Connor Brogdon ( needs 40 man roster slot ) - I think he’s earned the spot

RHP Tommy Hunter

Probables : ( 4 )

RHP Reggie McClain - has experience as multi inning reliever - on 40 already

RHP Edgar Garcia - has hard slider as an out pitch - is on the 40 already

RHP Deolis Guerra - veteran presence - on the 40 already

RHP Enyel De Los Santos - is on the 40 already and can be multi inning reliever

Alternative Training Site : ( 15 - Allentown )

Likely First Calls :

RHP Spencer Howard - dominant stuff capability

LHP Damon Jones - can start or relieve - will be stretched out

RHP Ramon Rosso - continues to impress - I’ve been touting him for awhile 🤓

RHP Blake Parker - veteran presence

Staying Ready :

LHP Garrett Cleavinger - other lefties ahead of him at this point

LHP JoJo Romero - will stretch out as a starting rotation option

RHP Robert Stock - big arm reliever

RHP Trevor Kelley - offers a different look - sidearmer

RHP Addison Russ - big league stuff - a Neris like splitter

RHP Connor Seabold - a starter in the wings

RHP Anthony Swarzak - veteran presence

RHP Mauricio Llovera - big arm that can give multiple innings

LHP Austin Davis - needs to get work in to get up to speed

RHP Victor Arano - once he shakes off the rust will be in the mix

LHP Ranger Suarez - will go to the top of the list when he’s off illness list

Position Players :

Position Player Transactions since my first roster guess earlier this week :

C Rafael Marchan was added to the player pool on 7/15/2020

IF Logan Forsythe was reportedly released ( Ken Rosenthal ) on 7/18/2020

C Henri Lartigue was removed from the Player Pool on 7/19/2020

There are 14 position players on the 40 man roster ... SS Arquimedes Gamboa is the only one in that group not in the 60 man player pool

There are 9 non roster position players currently in the player pool

Here are my updated best guesses for the 14 players who will be on the 7/24/2020 opening day roster along with the other 9 who will be training in Allentown :

Catchers ( 2 ) :

JT Realmuto

Andrew Knapp

Taxi Squad ( 1 ) :

Deivy Grullon will likely be the Taxi Squad Catcher - he’s on the 40 man roster

On the Ready : ( 2 - Allentown )

Logan O’Hoppe

Rafael Marchan

Infielders ( 6 ) :

1B Rhys Hoskins

2B Scott Kingery

SS Didi Gregorius

3B Jean Segura

UTL Josh Harrison ( needs 40 man roster slot )

UTL Neil Walker ( needs 40 man roster slot )

On the Ready : ( 3 - Allentown Group )

UTL Phil Gosselin - likely to take assignment

UTL Ronald Torreyes - likely to take assignment

3B Alec Bohm - very likely an early call up

Outfielders ( 6 ) :

LF - Andrew McCutchen

CF - Roman Quinn

RF - Bryce Harper

DH/LF - Jay Bruce

CF - Adam Haseley

UTL - Nick Williams

On the Ready : ( 3 - Allentown Group )

Nick Martini - likely to take the assignment

Mikie Mahtook - was late to camp due to Illness

Kyle Garlick - RH bat in reserve

The Phillies have presently used 54 of the available 60 spots in the player pool although additional spots may also be available due to Illness replacement rules ( those aren’t announced due to privacy restrictions ) ... that being said it’s likely that players are added to the alternative site player roster either this week or when the season starts ... 🤔

That’s my best guess right now ... they have 3 open spots on the 40 man roster ...( Dominguez & Robertson on the 45 day DL and Suarez on the Illness List ) ... those would be filled by Brogdon, Harrison and Walker if my projections prove accurate .... we will see eh 🤓

Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️

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