Phillies Wild Card Series Roster Proves Michael Lorenzen Trade Was a Disaster

The Phillies are back in the playoffs and looking to finish the job after coming up short in the World Series last year.

Philadelphia's pursuit of another NL pennant begins tonight at home in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Miami Marlins. The Phillies announced their 26-man postseason roster for the series ahead of the game on Tuesday morning, and there were a few choices that puzzled Philly fans.

Phillies Postseason Roster

For starters, the Phillies only have 12 pitchers on their roster instead of 13, which is the maximum that teams are allowed to carry. Typically in the playoffs, you want as many arms as possible, even in a short series.

The fact that Philadelphia had room for one more pitcher and still left Michael Lorenzen off is a damning indictment of the trade that brought him here this summer. Lorenzen was an All-Star for the Detroit Tigers this season but promptly collapsed after the Phillies acquired him at the trade deadline, going 4-2 with a 5.51 ERA and a 5.81 FIP for Philadelphia.

The whole point of acquiring him was to a) help us make the playoffs and b) help us once we got there. We managed to make the postseason in spite of him, and leaving him off the postseason roster confirms how little value he has for the club right now.

Still, it is kind of surprising and perhaps a bit harsh that he didn't make it. Lorenzen pitched much better after moving to the bullpen in September and finished the season with three straight scoreless outings. He has closing experience in the past and can pitch multiple innings out of the 'pen, so there could have been a role for him.

The other name that has Philadelphia fans upset is Jake Cave, who shockingly made the roster as an outfielder despite having a terrible season at the dish. He finished the year batting .212/.272/.348 (69 OPS+), which is bad for any position but especially poor for an outfielder. Cave also ended the season in a horrendous slump, slashing just .123/.219/.158 with 23 strikeouts over his final 22 games.

He looks absolutely lost at the plate right now and has no business being on this postseason roster. If Rob Thomson uses Cave as a pinch-hitter at any point, he's basically an automatic out.

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