On Friday, I put out my first Phillies roster projection of the official pre-season. In that prediction, I left a number of 40 man and non-roster invitees off of the roster. Amongst the key parts of my predictions:
- Gonzalez and Pettibone left out of the rotation, but on the 40 man, along with Stutes, Martin, Munson, Horst, Garcia, and Aumont all missing the 25 man on the pitching side.
- Joseph, Rupp, Galvis, Hernandez, Gillies, Altherr, Collier, and Dugan all missing the roster on the 25 man.
- Bobby Abreu making the team from his non-roster invitee slot. I did not predict as good of a fate for any other non-roster invitee. Some disagreed here, but I think the timing of his signing, later in the off-season, made it likely the Phillies were targeting Abreu for a specific need that they perceived.
With all of that out there, who exactly do I see making the IronPigs? Well, I did do a previous prediction or two this off-season. What do I see now?
Rotation- Competition is heavy:
So if Miguel Gonzalez does not start out in Philadelphia, he is on this staff. Pettibone is a lock too. I've previously penciled in Greg Smith, based on his solid performance in 2013 for the Pigs. After them, it gets tough. David Buchanan, Chris Bootcheck, Mario Hollands, Cesar Jimenez, Sean O'Sullivan, Jeff Manship, Jesse Biddle, Ethan Martin, and B.J. Rosenberg could all end up here as well. I'm looking at Martin and Rosenberg as purely relievers, and Biddle as Reading bound. That narrows it a bit. So it comes down to Buchanan, Bootcheck, Hollands, Jimenez, O'Sullivan, and Manship. I actually think Buchanan is likely to make this team, while Hollands is likely to be in Reading. That leaves one spot. I think Jimenez goes to the pen, Bootcheck misses the team, Manship makes the team, and O'Sullivan gets DL'ed, right now.
Line-Up and bench- Hard to sort out:
Which non-roster guys stay, which opt-out, and where do the prospects sort out. I'm putting Cameron Rupp here, edging out Tommy Joseph, though I'd be more than fine with this going the other way. Cody Overbeck is probably back at first, and I'm really hoping that Maikel Franco is here to play first and third, though I doubt it. I have Hernandez and Galvis back here, though I don't know if they are back here playing middle infield, or outfield, or both. I think we'll see Gillies, Collier, Castro, and Gwynn around as well. I think two of three make it between Brignac, Cedeno, and Blanco. My guess is that Cedeno asks for his release when he doesn't make the team. I think Lou Marson and Clete Thomas both end up here too. I predict a team of Rupp and Marson catching, Overbeck, Brignac, Blanco, Hernandez, and Galvis in the infield, and Gillies, Collier, Castro, Gwynn, and Thomas in the outfield. I have Tyler Henson grabbing the third base job to fill things out. If an outfielder opts out, watch for Susdorf to be back.
Bullpen- Still a holding spot:
For the last year or two, this has been a holding spot for the big league club. That isn't changing here. Ethan Martin, Mike Stutes, Phillippe Aumont, Jeremy Horst, and Luis Garcia are all here. If they keep Joe Savery, he'd be here too. I have Jimenez getting the last spot, but Sean Camp, O'Sullivan, Bootcheck, and possibly even Hollands could be options here.
This is hard to predict before they start cutting people from the big league team, but it's a first try.
