The Phillies announced they’ve selected outfielder Justin Crawford and infielder Christian Cairo onto the 40-man roster. Crawford will break camp as the everyday center fielder. Cairo will not be on the Opening Day roster, as Philly optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. They opened a spot on the 40-man by designating catcher Garrett Stubbs for assignment.
Additionally, Philadelphia placed three pitchers on the 15-day injured list. Zack Wheeler (rehabbing thoracic outlet surgery), Orion Kerkering (right hamstring strain) and Max Lazar (left oblique strain) are beginning the season on the shelf. Those placements are retroactive to March 22.
Cairo signed an offseason minor league contract. Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that the deal included an upward mobility clause. That required them to add him to the 40-man roster or let him go if another team were willing to give him a roster spot. He still has a full slate of minor league options, so they don’t need to carry him on the MLB club to keep him.
The 24-year-old Cairo has yet to play in the majors. He’s a slick-fielding middle infielder with a light bat. Cairo hit just .237/.338/.331 with two homers over 416 Triple-A plate appearances in the Cleveland farm system last year. He batted .194 with 15 strikeouts over 41 trips to the dish this spring. He’ll open the season in the minors with Edmundo Sosa and Dylan Moore holding utility roles on the MLB bench.
Philadelphia telegraphed the Stubbs move when they began shopping him on the trade market this week. They’re going with Rafael Marchán as the backup catcher behind J.T. Realmuto. Stubbs is out of options and is pushed out of the mix. The Phillies have five days to trade him or place him on waivers. He’s on a split contract that makes it likely he’d accept a Triple-A assignment if no other team carries him on the big league roster.
Wheeler and Kerkering both pitched in minor league games toward the end of the spring. Lazar suffered a mild oblique strain while pitching for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic. All three pitchers should be back fairly early in the season.
Why did they snub Stubbs, why? 🤣
Matos is the guy to add
Just like in football, it’s a numbers game. He was out of options so they either had to let Marshawn go or stubs go. Marshawn has proven to be the better defensive and offensive player at this point. Plus he is five years younger than stubby. Hard decisions happen.
Send him back to Mar a Lago
I do hope Garrett Stubbs clears waivers and ends up back in AAA. I’m kind of tired of his act a little bit, but the Phillies have little depth so if Marshawn or JT get hurt, he’s a good guy to have around. I do think Brian De la Cruz is getting screwed by this organization. Had one of the best springs of any player and not only did he not make the team, but they didn’t even put them on the 40 men roster. Not cool IMO.
I’ll miss Stubbs, just like I did for most of last year…