After many weeks of debate, many weeks of figuring out the roster machinations, the Phillies have made some decisions. The first one was made when the team decided to move on from Jake Cave, sending him to Colorado for additional black ink on the ledger. That knocked down the next domino that has been all the rage of late.
The Phillies will carry both Johan Rojas and Cristian Pache on the Opening Day roster. Kody Clemens was optioned. More to come on the decisions.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) March 24, 2024
Yes, Johan Rojas and Cristian Pache are going north with the team to begin the season. It was always kind of the obvious way to keep both defensively gifted players around, but Cave lurked in the shadows. Once he was traded, even a late push by Clemens to make the roster wasn’t enough to sway Rob Thomson.
The rest of the roster fell into place once Taijuan Walker and Orion Kerkering both needed to be placed on the injured list.
Barring an addition before Thurs., #Phillies’ OD roster:
Alvarado, Bohm, Brogdon, Castellanos, Dominguez, Harper, Hoffman, Marsh, Marte, Merrifield, Nola, Ortiz, Pache, Realmuto, Rojas, Sanchez, Schwarber, Sosa, Soto, Stott, Strahm, Stubbs, Suarez, Turnbull, Turner, Wheeler.— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) March 24, 2024
Not a lot of surprise here. It’s a roster that features a lot of depth, players that can move around the diamond if necessary and helps the team weather a rather light initial schedule.
Now, the key part here is “barring an addition.” That little phrase suggests that the team is watching what other teams do with their rosters over the coming days to see if a cheap bat or relief arm comes available by surprise. It’s how they added Pache last year in the first place, so a late in the game addition to the roster cannot be ruled out.
The team’s first game is this Thursday against the Braves at Citizens Bank Park.