The Philadelphia Phillies officially announced the signing of super-utility man Whit Merrifield Monday afternoon, designating RHP Kaleb Ort for assignment.
In a press conference shortly after the announcement, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski revealed that he’s already heard from a team interested in trading for Ort, so the Phillies are not going to be able to slip the 32-year-old righty through waivers.
And at some point before the Phillies open the 2024 campaign against the Atlanta Braves on March 28, they’re going to have to make a more consequential move as they finalize a bench that Merrifield is now the face of.
It can be assumed that Merrifield will be joined on the bench by backup catcher Garrett Stubbs. That leaves two open bench spots. Weston Wilson, Rodolfo Castro, Kody Clemens and Darick Hall all have remaining minor-league options, which probably means that quartet will open the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Edmundo Sosa, Cristian Pache and Jake Cave are all out of minor-league options, so they are likely the three players competing for the final two bench spots.
Merrifield is likely to get any available at-bats against left-handed pitchers at second base, but Bryson Stott doesn’t figure to be out of the lineup a ton. Trea Turner is entrenched at shortstop. So outside of the occasional chance to spell Turner at shortstop and serving as a potential late-game defensive replacement for Alec Bohm at third base, it is fair to wonder exactly what Sosa’s role will be for the 2024 Phillies.
Still, Sosa homered 10 times a year ago, is an excellent defensive middle infielder and has a presence that seems to ignite the Phillies when he’s playing. It would be very surprising if Sosa, who will turn 28 in March, isn’t with the team on Opening Day.
Most likely, this will come down to Pache and Cave. If we were to handicap things, Pache would be the favorite for the job. But the fact that the Phillies didn’t just DFA Cave after signing Merrifield shows they would like to keep him as an option down to the last moment before they have to put their initial 26-man roster together.
What’s there to like about Cave? He can play all three outfield positions, and is particularly effective in the corners, as evidenced by the three defensive runs saved he posted over 327 innings. He also added first base to his repertoire during the second half of the season, which doesn’t hurt his value as a bench player, even if Bryce Harper figures to take down the overwhelming majority of the starts at the position.
Cave was not a particularly effective hitter at the MLB level last year, posting a .620 OPS in 65 games. But, he’s a left-handed hitter with some pop, having hit 38 home runs in his MLB career. He raked at Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2023, hitting 16 home runs and driving in 49 runs in only 59 games. The Phillies will have to use this spring to evaluate if — or, more likely, by how much — Cave is a better hitter coming off the bench than Pache.
It’s probably not hyperbolic to say that Pache is one of the five best defensive outfielders in the sport. He posted five defensive runs saved and three outs above average in 227 innings a year ago. Cave is a nice defender who can play center field. Pache is a natural center fielder that’s capable of winning a Gold Glove at all three outfield positions.
The problem for Pache is he’s a .173 hitter in 392 career at-bats. He did hit .238 with a .736 OPS for the Phillies a year ago, but that came over just 84 at-bats. There’s still a legitimate question about whether Pache can hit at even a passable MLB level.
Pache’s biggest issue may be that he’s kind of redundant on a roster that includes Johan Rojas, a defensive whiz with holes at the plate. Unless Spring Training is a complete disaster, Rojas is going to be the Opening Day center fielder, and get a chance to sink or swim at the plate. On days where he isn’t playing, Brandon Marsh will probably shift to center field, with Merrifield playing left field.
Pache probably won’t be a late-game defensive replacement in center field for Rojas or Marsh, and opportunities to do so in left field will be much less frequent this year with Kyle Schwarber now at DH. Pache is a significantly better defender than Nick Castellanos in right field, but manager Rob Thomson didn’t like to take the All-Star out of right field late in games a year ago. That’s perhaps both an acknowledgement of the hard work Castellanos has put in to improve in right field defensively, and not wanting to lose his bat in the lineup if the game goes to extra innings.
Could you make a case that Cave would offer more value off the bench for the Phillies given their current roster construction than Pache? Yes. Pache is so good defensively that you wouldn’t want to lose him, which may ultimately be the tiebreaker over Cave. But if Cave has a monster spring offensively and Pache doesn’t seem to have taken a step forward with his bat, things could get interesting. The feeling here is both would be claimed on waivers if designated for assignment, so this decision will not only decide the final spot on the bench, but likely whether it’s Cave or Pache that remains in the organization.
Maybe there will be an injury over the next five weeks that delays this decision. Perhaps the Phillies will decide the best thing for Rojas’ development is to get at-bats at Triple-A Lehigh Valley to start the season. But in a Spring Training without a ton of storylines, the Cave vs. Pache battle will likely be at the forefront of the minds of decision-makers for the Phillies.
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