Four Phillies players who have no business being on the 40-man roster

Which Phillies players must perform well in order to save their roster spot?

For the 2024 MLB season, the Philadelphia Phillies enter the year with a stacked roster ready to compete again for a World Series championship. Not only do they have some strong star power from top to bottom in their major league lineup, but even the depth on the 40-man roster following the end of last season isn’t too shabby, either.

However, during the current offseason, the Phillies have shuffled their 40-man roster quite a bit, especially after the recent additions over the past few weeks. Those additions to the roster include gambles on once-promising players such as pitcher and former first-round pick Kolby Allard, reliever Michael Rucker from the Chicago Cubs, infielder Diego Castillo off waivers from the New York Yankees, and the most recent, pitcher Max Castillo off waivers from the Boston Red Sox. In one of their early offseason moves in November, they also added reliever Michael Mercado from the Tampa Bay Rays.

The players recently taken off the 40-man roster include reliever Andrew Bellatti and outfielder Símon Muzziotti.

The track records of each of these players show that they have gone through some struggles over the years. Nevertheless, the Phillies believe they were worth a shot, as some were former first- or second-round picks, while others have shown glimpses of their potential despite limited overall success.

But if we take a closer look, perhaps not every player currently on the Phillies 40-man roster deserves a spot. We’ll examine four players who have failed to show their worth and whose spots on the 40-man roster could be better used elsewhere.

Hopefully, each of these Phillies players can start proving their worth and help make more significant contributions to the ballclub to justify their inclusion on the 40-man roster.

Nick Nelson was acquired from the New York Yankees back in 2021 in a four-player swap that also saw the Phillies net catcher Donny Sands in exchange for minor leaguers T.J. Rumfield and Joel Valdez. Nelson was expected to serve as valuable pitching depth for the organization after two underwhelming seasons with the Bronx Bombers, where he averaged an ERA above 6.40 and a WHIP above 1.75.

Despite sticking with the big league team for the entire 2022 season, Nelson failed to thrive, pitching to a 4.85 ERA and 1.49 WHIP while giving up 37 earned runs, with 36 walks, 69 strikeouts and an NL-leading 13 wild pitches in 68 2/3 innings in 47 appearances (including two starts). Even though he made the Phillies’ postseason roster, he only saw action in one game in the World Series against the Houston Astros, in which he registered two walks in one inning of work.

With better bullpen arms at the Phillies’ disposal for 2023, Nelson was pushed out of a spot on the major league roster and spent the entire season in their minors, where he was deployed mainly as a starter. Nelson ended up having a respectable year with a 3.83 ERA, but still displayed some wildness at times with a 1.39 WHIP.

However, Nelson had always found some success in the past pitching in the minor leagues, even during his time with the Yankees. The more worrisome aspect of his game is that he hasn’t been able to translate that success to the major league level, often struggling against big league hitters.

With up-and-coming arms in top prospects Griff McGarry and Mick Abel, along with recent offseason additions in Mercado and Allard, the Phillies appear stacked with potential starting pitching depth entering 2024, making the necessity of having Nelson as insurance depth more or less negligible.