Phillies Designate Jean Cabrera, Sign Bryan De La Cruz To MLB Contract
The Phillies announced that outfielder Bryan De La Cruz has been signed to a Major League contract, a day after De La Cruz was released from his previous minors deal with the club. De La Cruz has been assigned again to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. To open up a space for De La Cruz on the 40-man roster, Philadelphia designated right-hander Jean Cabrera.
Since signing his original minor league deal back in November, De La Cruz has played only for Lehigh Valley, hitting .254/.343/.426 with 12 home runs over 328 plate appearances. The Athletic’s Matt Gelb writes that De La Cruz had an out clause in his contract that led to this situation, but it has now been pretty quickly resolved with a spot on the Phillies’ 40-man roster, if not a call-up to the active roster.
De La Cruz is a veteran of five big league seasons, and he posted solid numbers as part of the Marlins’ outfield mix at the start of his career before his numbers started tailing off. De La Cruz has hit .243/.285/.390 over his last 1298 Major League plate appearances, with 40 homers but not much else to show for his work from the 2023-25 seasons. The 2025 season saw De La Cruz mostly play at the Triple-A level with the Yankees’ and Braves’ top affiliates, and his MLB work consisted of 16 games and a .453 OPS over 50 plate appearances for Atlanta.
Right field was a weak link for the Phillies even before Adolis Garcia underwent a season-ending lat surgery in June, and the outfield depth was further thinned by Johan Rojas‘ season-ending internal brace procedure to tix a torn UCL. Rookie Gabriel Rincones Jr. has been getting a lot of the action in right field lately but hasn’t been hitting at all, so Philadelphia could be calling De La Cruz up to the majors sooner rather than later. De La Cruz could conceivably be at least a stopgap option until the trade deadline, as the Phillies are expected to pursue outfield upgrades.
Cabrera held a spot on the Phillies’ 40-man roster since November 2024, and MLB Pipeline ranks the righty as the 13th-best prospect in the team’s farm system. Nonetheless, the DFA reflects Cabrera’s nightmarish 2026 season, as the righty has a 9.10 ERA, 15.1% strikeout rate, and 10.5% walk rate over 62 1/3 combined innings at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Cabrera began the year at Lehigh Valley but was optioned back down to Double-A Reading in May, without any more success in the interim.
It’s an unfortunate step backwards for a pitcher who, heading into the season, appeared like a candidate to make his MLB debut at some point in 2026. The Phillies now appear to be comfortable with possibly losing Cabrera for nothing on the waiver wire, if another club feels like using a 40-man roster spot on a 24-year-old pitching prospect. If Cabrera clears waivers, the Phils will outright him off the 40-man and presumably return Cabrera to Double-A to see if he can get on track.
Phillies Acquire $250K Of International Bonus Money From Guardians
1:17PM: The Phillies signed 17-year-old right-hander Ho Hua out of Taiwan for a bonus in the neighborhood of $500K, as initially reported by Francys Romero. As per Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the pool money obtained in the Degges trade helped the Phillies make the Hua signing.
11:24AM: The Phillies have added $250K of international bonus pool space in a trade with the Guardians, as Cleveland will receive minor league right-hander Ryan Degges in return. Both teams have announced the trade.
Degges was a 17th-round pick for Philadelphia in the 2024 draft. The UNC-Charlotte product has a 5.47 ERA over 24 2/3 combined innings with A-level Clearwater and high-A Jersey Shore this season, along with a 25% strikeout rate and a 12.9% walk rate. Most of Degges’ work came in high-A ball before an injury sent him to the IL in mid-May, and his two outings in Clearwater came as part of a rehab assignment.
The 23-year-old will now continue his pro career in Cleveland’s organization, while the Phillies add to their bonus pool. Teams spent most of their pool space when the 2026 international signing window opened last January, but any remaining money can still be added or traded in $250K increments. The Phillies may have their eyes on a particular player (or players) who are only now available on the market, and thus the club was in need of a bit more pool money.
Phillies Select Lou Trivino
The Phillies announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Lou Trivino. Fellow righty Chase Shugart was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the corresponding active roster move. The 40-man roster has had a vacancy since Bryse Wilson was designated for assignment last week, later going to the Cubs via waivers. Trivino fills that final spot.
Trivino, 34, is a veteran journeyman at this point in his career. He has thrown 335 1/3 innings, allowing 4.00 earned runs per nine. His 10.4% walk rate is a bit high but his 23.4% strikeout rate and 45.1% ground ball rate are both a bit better than par.
He signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in the offseason. He opted out of that deal on May 1st and then landed a big league deal with the Orioles, though he allowed six earned runs in three innings and was designated for assignment after less than a week on the roster. He cleared waivers, elected free agency and re-signed with the Phillies on a new minor league deal.
Though he sports an ugly ERA of 18.00 in the big leagues this year, he has been much better in Triple-A. He has thrown 28 1/3 innings for the IronPigs with a 1.27 ERA. He has struck out 29.1% of batters faced, kept walks at an acceptable 8.5% level and induced grounders on 47.2% of balls in play. His four-seamer and sinker have both been averaging around 95 miles per hour as he has also been throwing a cutter, slider and changeup.
Based on those strong results, the Phils will give him another shot in the big leagues. Ideally, he’ll have more success than he did with Baltimore last month. Trivino has years and years of service time and therefore can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent. If things don’t work out this time and the Phils want him off the active roster, he’ll have to be bumped off the 40-man as well.
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Phillies Sign Tommy Pham To Minor League Deal
The Phillies have reached a minor league agreement with outfielder Tommy Pham, reports Jorge Castillo of ESPN. The veteran was most recently in the Orioles organization. Castillo adds that Pham can opt out of the deal on July 25.
Pham is now with his third club in three months. He inked a minor league deal with the Mets shortly before Opening Day. The 38-year-old spent two weeks with the big-league team in mid-April. He went 0-for-13 and was designated for assignment before the end of the month. Pham latched on with the Orioles midway through May. He was granted his release after 16 games at Triple-A.
Baltimore didn’t seem like it could provide a path to a roster spot for Pham. The Orioles can barely find playing time for Tyler O’Neill, a right-handed corner outfielder in a similar mold. Pham was a long shot to reach the majors with the organization. He’ll now have about a month to find a way onto Philadelphia’s roster. There’s a much clearer route with the Phillies, who are down Adolis Garcia for multiple months and Johan Rojas for the season.
It was four teams ago (and those are just the MLB stints), but Pham had a stretch as an above-average bat as recently as 2024. He opened the campaign with 297 plate appearances of a 104 wRC+ with the White Sox. The veteran struggled in subsequent stints with the Cardinals and Royals to close the season. Pham earned semi-regular playing time with the Pirates last year. He posted a .700 OPS over 120 games, which wasn’t good enough to earn a big-league deal over the winter.
The Phillies have already made a move to address their outfield depth, adding Derek Hill in a small trade with the White Sox. Hill has quickly endeared himself to his new team, hitting .357 with a pair of ninth-inning home runs, including a game-winner. Philadelphia is reportedly eyeing the trade market for more outfield help.
Prospect Gabriel Rincones Jr. has earned the majority of the reps in right field recently. He’s off to a slow start in his first taste of the majors, going 4-for-30 in a small nine-game sample. Brandon Marsh is at his best in left field, but he has experience in center and right, so the club has some flexibility there. Pham doesn’t have the chops to play center field at this stage of his career, but he was worth 5 Defensive Runs Saved in left field last season. The ability to play the field is important on a team that has a locked-in DH in Kyle Schwarber.
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Johan Rojas Undergoes Elbow Surgery
June 25th: The Phils announced today that Rojas was reinstated from the restricted list and placed on the 60-day IL.
June 21st: Rojas underwent the surgery on Friday, according to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
June 10th: The Phillies announced that outfielder Johan Rojas recently experienced some elbow soreness while ramping up to return from his ongoing suspension. Imaging revealed a tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, which will require surgical repair involving an internal brace. The expectation is that he will be ready for spring training 2027. He is currently on the restricted list.
2026 was already shaping up to be an unfortunate season for Rojas. Back in March, he received an 80-game suspension after testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance Boldenone. That was going to wipe out the first half of his regular season and, like all players suspended for PEDs, render him ineligible for the postseason.
After receiving that suspension, his best-case scenario would have been for him to have a strong second half, but now that’s off the table as well and he will miss the entire 2026 campaign. He is currently on the restricted list. Once his suspension is up, the Phillies can put him on the 60-day injured list, or perhaps cut him from the roster by designating him for assignment or releasing him.
Rojas had a strong debut with the Phils in 2023. He was already known to have speed and defensive abilities, but he then put up a .302/.342/.430 line in his first 164 plate appearances. That wasn’t entirely sustainable, as he had a .410 batting average on balls in play, but it was a welcome development for the Phillies nonetheless. Thanks to that offense, his 14 steals and strong glovework, he was credited by FanGraphs with 1.4 wins above replacement in just 59 games.
His production tailed off from there. He could still swipe some bags and run the ball down on the grass but he hit just .237/.279/.312 over the 2024 and 2025 seasons. That seemingly caused the Phils move on from the idea of Rojas being an everyday player. They acquired Harrison Bader at the 2025 deadline. He became a free agent after the season but they essentially handed the 2026 center field job to Justin Crawford in the most recent offseason.
With Crawford, Adolis García and Brandon Marsh set to be the regular outfield in 2026, Rojas was lined up to either be in a fourth outfielder role or sent to the minors. Between the suspension and this surgery, he will instead be a total non-factor for the year. If he holds onto his roster spot through the winter and gets healthy, he could be back in consideration for those kinds of depth roles next year. Garcia is an impending free agent but the Phils will presumably look to address that spot before the 2027 season begins.
For now, the Phils have Edmundo Sosa and Steward Berroa as their bench outfielders, backing up the trio of Marsh, Crawford and Garcia. Marsh is the only one of those three having a good season, so it’s possible they look to shake things up at the deadline.
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Cubs Claim Bryse Wilson, Designate Christian Roa For Assignment
The Cubs have claimed right-hander Bryse Wilson from the Phillies, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. Philadelphia designated him for assignment earlier this week. In a corresponding 40-man move, the Cubs have designated righty Christian Roa for assignment. Wilson is out of options and will also need an active roster spot when he reports to the team.
The move is presumably a response to an awful run of injuries suffered by the Cubs. Earlier today, they placed both Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown on the injured list, Cabrera due to a hamstring strain and Brown due to a neck strain. As if subtracting two fifths of the rotation in one day wasn’t enough, the Cubs are playing a doubleheader today, putting extra strain on the pitching staff.
They are going to get some relief with Matthew Boyd expected to come off the IL tomorrow, but it’s challenging situation, especially when considering the other issues. Justin Steele has hit a few setbacks in his attempts to return from last year’s elbow surgery. He still has a chance to come back this year but likely only as a reliever. Cade Horton is out of the season due to Tommy John surgery. Jameson Taillon is also on the shelf with a hamstring strain.
Javier Assad took the ball for the first game of today’s twin bill. Shota Imanaga will start the nightcap. Boyd is penciled in for tomorrow. Colin Rea could follow. Even if that goes according to plan, they will need plans for Saturday and Sunday, as Assad and Imanaga won’t be on regular rest until Monday.
Wilson, 28, could perhaps be part of the solution or at least provide a long relief arm for the bullpen. He has worked both as a starter and a reliever in his career. He has made 164 appearances over nine seasons, 57 of those being starts. In 463 innings, he has a 4.80 earned run average. His 16.5% strikeout rate is below average but he has limited walks to a 7.5% clip.
He began this year with the Phils on a minor league deal. He was released in early June and then re-signed to a new minor league deal, perhaps indicating there was some kind of opt-out in that deal. In the second deal, he triggered an upward mobility clause last week. The Phillies added him to their roster but bumped him off after one scoreless appearance of two innings.
In Triple-A this year, he has made 12 appearances, logging 54 1/3 innings with a 6.29 ERA. That’s obviously not a nice number but there is some fine print. His 23.5% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and 52% ground ball rate are all average or better numbers. The ERA has been inflated by a .373 batting average on balls in play and 60.2% strand rate, which are both far to the unlucky side. His 4.06 FIP is far more optimistic.
Roa, 27, was just claimed off waivers last month. The Cubs have kept him on optional assignment, so he didn’t make an appearance for them in the majors. He has been riding the DFA carousel this year. He began the campaign with the Astros on a minor league deal and cracked the Opening Day roster. He has since gone to the Twins, Orioles and Cubs via waiver claims.
Now that he has been designated for assignment once again, he could be back on the wire in the coming days. He lacks big league experience, with just 11 2/3 innings under his belt, but clubs are clearly intrigued. A former second-round pick of the Reds, he posted a 2.83 ERA in 60 1/3 Triple-A innings last year. His 11.4% walk rate was high but he struck out 26.1% of batters faced.
This year’s results haven’t been as pleasant. Around the transactions, he has thrown 15 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 9.39 ERA. That number has been pushed north by a .421 batting average on balls in play and 58.3% strand rate. His 13.2% walk rate is way too high but he is striking out 30.3% of opponents. He is averaging about 95 miles per hour with his four-seamer and sinker while also throwing a slider and changeup.
Though the numbers aren’t great, he has some pedigree and a live arm. The fact that he has options means he can be kept in the minors. Perhaps that will help him find another landing spot with a club who likes the ingredients and has a plan in mind for how to combine them.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Phillies, Jackson Rutledge Agree To Minor League Deal
The Phillies re-signed reliever Jackson Rutledge on a minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. He was assigned back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he’ll go on the injured list.
Philadelphia released Rutledge last week, a few days after he was designated for assignment to open a roster spot for Derek Hill. That was a procedural move, as players who suffered an injury in the minors cannot be placed on outright waivers. A release was essentially inevitable once the Phillies took him off the roster. Rutledge spent a week on the open market before circling back on a non-roster contract.
The Phillies claimed Rutledge off waivers from the Nationals in mid-May. They immediately optioned him to Triple-A, where he gave up four runs across five innings before the injury. Rutledge has made one MLB appearance this season with Washington. The Pirates put up seven runs against him on April 13.
Rutledge was a first-round pick in the 2019 draft. The 6’8″ righty moved to the bullpen last year after brief MLB appearances from 2023-24. Rutledge struggled to a 5.77 earned run average across 73 1/3 innings for the Nats last season. He hasn’t been much better at the Triple-A level, working to a 5.60 ERA over parts of four seasons.
Phillies Designate Bryse Wilson For Assignment
June 22nd: The Phils made all these moves official today. They recalled Rangel and reinstated Backhus from the IL, with Lazar optioned and Wilson designated for assignment.
June 21st: The Phillies are designating right-hander Bryse Wilson for assignment, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Lefty Kyle Backhus is expected to rejoin the club. Righty Max Lazar is also headed back to Triple-A. Gelb adds that right-hander Alan Rangel is a candidate to be recalled and pitch on Monday.
Wilson was added to the roster earlier this week after triggering an upward mobility clause in his contract. He tossed two scoreless innings out of the bullpen on Thursday. Wilson seemed to be a candidate to take over Andrew Painter‘s spot in the rotation. The young right-hander was sent down on Wednesday after a disastrous start against the Marlins. Instead, he’ll head to DFA limbo after one appearance.
The 28-year-old Wilson has spent virtually the entire season in the Phillies’ organization. He joined the club on a minor league deal in December. The veteran righty fell short of a roster spot out of camp and did not pitch well at Triple-A. He was released in early June, but quickly re-upped on a new minor league agreement. There may have been another opt-out situation in play there.
Wilson has been a useful swingman as recently as two years ago with the Brewers. He compiled 181 1/3 innings of a 3.72 ERA with Milwaukee from 2023 to 2024. Wilson scuffled to a 6.65 ERA in 20 games with the White Sox last year. He was on and off the roster multiple times. Wilson was striking out more than a batter per inning at Lehigh Valley this season, but he was having a tough time keeping runs off the board (6.29 ERA). All but one of his 12 appearances came as a starter.
It seems like Rangel will get the first crack at taking over Painter’s rotation spot. His most recent Triple-A start was on Wednesday, so he’ll be on regular rest for tomorrow’s matchup against the Nationals. The righty appeared once in the big leagues earlier in the season, allowing a run over three innings in a late April loss to the Cubs.
Rangel earned his first crack in the majors last season after a lengthy minor league career. He posted an underwhelming 8:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but was able to limit the damage, permitting three earned runs over 11 frames out of the bullpen. The 28-year-old has operated mostly as a starter this year. He has a sub-4.00 ERA with a 24.8% strikeout rate in 70 innings with the Iron Pigs.
Backhus has been out since late April with elbow inflammation. He’s made five rehab appearances at Triple-A. The lefty came to the Phillies in an offseason trade with the Diamondbacks. Backhus broke camp with the team, but was optioned in early April. He’d been back with the big-league squad for a couple of weeks before the elbow issue popped up.
Lazar was recalled earlier this week. He made three appearances out of the bullpen, tossing four innings in low-leverage spots. Lazar opened the year on the injured list with an oblique strain. He’s in his second minor league option year. The righty could be back in the majors the next time the Phillies need some length in the bullpen.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Phillies Sign Kolby Allard To Minor League Deal
The Phillies have signed left-hander Kolby Allard to a minor league deal, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. He’ll head to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and provide the Phils with some non-roster pitching depth.
Allard, 28, just opted out of a minor league deal with the Guardians. He had been pitching well at the Triple-A level prior to getting out of that deal. He had thrown 30 2/3 innings for Columbus, allowing 4.11 earned runs per nine. He struck out 22.4% of batters faced, gave out walks to 7.2% of opponents and induced grounders on 45.3% of balls in play.
The lefty doesn’t throw particularly hard, averaging around 90 miles per hour with his four-seamer and sinker. But he has nonetheless been able to find some major league success at times. He had a 2.63 earned run average in 65 innings with Cleveland last year, though he had some help from a 79.2% strand rate. His 3.54 FIP and 4.41 SIERA pointed to him being a regression candidate. For his big league career as a whole, he has a 5.47 ERA over parts of nine seasons. That includes a 10.38 ERA in a small sample of 8 2/3 innings with the Guards earlier this year.
For the Phillies, the back of their rotation is a big question mark right now. The first three spots are golden, as they have Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo in those. Aaron Nola is struggling but there’s not much the club can do about that, given his contract and status in the organization. Andrew Painter has been in the rotation all year until this week. He has a 7.06 ERA for the season. His struggles finally became too much to bear yesterday, as he was sent down to the minors.
Bryse Wilson was added to the roster today. He could take a rotation spot or be used as a long reliever. Alan Rangel and Jean Cabrera are on the 40-man roster, though Cabrera has a 9.39 ERA on the farm this year. Rangel’s 3.99 ERA is more palatable but he has just 14 innings of big league experience.
The Phillies have reportedly been exploring the market for back-end starters. Even if they don’t put anything together soon, they will likely enhance their efforts to add starting pitching as the deadline draws nearer. For now, Allard gives them an experienced depth arm who has been putting some decent numbers lately. If Allard eventually gets a roster spot, he is out of options.
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Adolis García To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery
The Phillies announced that outfielder Adolis García will undergo right latissimus dorsi repair surgery on Wednesday, June 24th. The recovery period is six to eight months, so he will miss the remainder of the season. He is expected to be ready for the start of the 2027 schedule. He is already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there for the rest of the campaign. He will be a free agent at season’s end.
García’s injury was clear at the moment it occurred, as seen in this clip from MLB.com. In a game against the Blue Jays last week, García came up throwing as George Springer tried to score from third on a fly out off the bat of Kazuma Okamoto. García made a strong throw, though Springer was safe on the play. Immediately after the throw, García was in obvious pain. He received attention from the training staff and then departed the contest.
Two days later, the Phillies placed García on the 60-day injured list, indicating they knew pretty quickly that he was going to miss at least a few months. Now he’ll miss even more than that and won’t be a factor in the second half.
The news closes the book on Philadelphia’s planned switch in right field for 2026. They had Nick Castellanos in that position for many years and he was still signed through this year but it was clear all offseason that they would be moving on from him before the campaign kicked off. They signed García to a one-year, $10MM deal in December and then released Castellanos in February.
That pivot has not worked out. Moving on from Castellanos was sensible enough. His numbers had been declining for a while and he hit .191/.221/.339 for the Padres this year. But García couldn’t meaningfully patch that spot. He hit .195/.270/.329 while striking out at a 32.4% pace before this shoulder injury wiped out the rest of his season.
The Phils are reportedly on the look for outfield help and they will almost certainly do something prior to the trade deadline. They still have Brandon Marsh and Justin Crawford in two spots. Marsh is having a good season but Crawford has a .238/.293/.330 line in his first 222 career plate appearances. Since García’s injury, the Phils have been using a platoon of Gabriel Rincones Jr. and Edmundo Sosa to cover another spot. Sosa has a .234/.269/.378 line on the year and Rinconces has a .071/.071/.286 line through 14 plate appearances.
For García, it’s a rough position to be in. He had some strong seasons with the Rangers from 2021 to 2023, helping that club win the World Series in the final of those three seasons. His numbers slipped from there, as he slashed .225/.278/.397 over the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Texas decided to move on, non-tendering him after last year.
His strong defense and his past success were still enough to get him his aforementioned deal with the Phillies but he performed poorly and will still be recovering from this surgery when the offseason begins. It’s widely expected that there will be a lockout at the start of December, like there was in the 2021-22 offseason. That winter saw a rush of transactions before and after the lockout. If that happens again this time, García might be trying to draw some attention amid that frenzy with some kind of showcase after he is recovered.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images
