The Philadelphia Phillies have made some roster decisions as Opening Day draws closer.
As the 2020 MLB season starts to draw ever closer, the Philadelphia Phillies made their first batch of personnel decisions as they begin trimming down the roster in preparation for Opening Day.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, veteran journeyman Logan Forsythe was among the first to see his release happen. Forsythe was a hyper-utility infielder who had his best years with the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers. He had an impressive Spring Training with the Phillies earlier this year, which made his release a bit of a surprise.
Through 11 games down in Clearwater, Forsythe slashed .348/.464/.826. Primarily playing third base defensively, Forsythe was showing decent promise as a backup infielder similar to that of Brad Miller in 2019. Ultimately it appears the Phillies are instead banking on guys like Neil Walker and Josh Harrison to play that role
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According to Matt Gelb, veteran reliever Francisco Liriano also saw his minor league contract terminated, despite the Phillies having a below-par bullpen. Similar to Forysthe, Liriano had a good batch of Spring Training games earlier in the year, tossing four shutout innings through four games.
Liriano turns 37 in October, and had expressed some concerns with playing due to COVID-19. The lefty had a good batch of games with Pittsburgh last year, and many felt he was lock to make the roster considering the lack of depth in the Phillies ‘pen. Ultimately however, the Phillies opted to move forward with the relievers they already have in place.
Finally, according to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, relief pitcher Victor Arano was optioned down to AAA in order to continue his injury rehabilitation. Phillies fans were hoping for a big year from the 25 year old, but it looks like he’ll instead be spending 2020 down in the minors recovering from his injury.
The Philadelphia Phillies’ opening day is now just five days away, as they are scheduled to take on the Miami Marlins in Philly on July 24th. Considering how well the team has overall looked in intrasquad matches and exhibition games, morale is seemingly quite high heading into the season