News and Notes on the First Four Phillies Trimmed From Spring Training Roster

Teams pare down their gargantuan spring training rosters throughout the month of March, and the Phillies on Saturday morning made their first moves of camp, optioning starting pitcher Jean Cabrera and outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. to Triple A and optioning starting pitcher Moises Chace and reliever Yoniel Curet to Double A.

The Phils had 65 players on their Grapefruit League roster before the moves and now have 61. A host of them — Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Brad Keller, Cristopher Sanchez, Edmundo Sosa, Aaron Nola, Dante Nori, Taijuan Walker, Alan Rangel, Garrett Stubbs, Max Lazar — are away from camp participating in the World Baseball Classic.

Excluding the WBC guys, there are exactly 50 players left in Phillies camp.

News, notes and thoughts on the four players reassigned:

RHP Jean Cabrera, 24

Cabrera has started twice and allowed a run over 4⅓ innings this spring, including 2⅓ IP Friday in the Phillies' trip over to Bradenton.

Cabrera may be the Opening Day starter for Triple A Lehigh Valley after a productive 2025 at Double A. In 137 innings with Reading last season, he posted a 3.81 ERA, which was significantly lower (3.29) away from homer-friendly FirstEnergy Stadium. He held righties to a .201 batting average.

The right-hander stands 6-feet tall and doesn't have overpowering velocity, sitting in the low-90s, but Cabrera has found minor-league success with his sinker-changeup-slider combination after signing with the Phillies for just $10,000 in the summer of 2019 as an international free agent.

With Andrew Painter graduating to the major leagues, Cabrera becomes the Phillies' most MLB-ready starting pitching prospect. He was ranked 15th this week in the Phils' system by MLB Pipeline.

Should a starting pitcher injury arise for the Phillies before Zack Wheeler returns in April or May from thoracic outlet surgery, Cabrera or 28-year-old veteran Bryse Wilson would be the likeliest call-ups.

RHP Moises Chace, 22

Acquired at the 2024 trade deadline from Baltimore for reliever Gregory Soto, Chace underwent Tommy John surgery last June after showing up to spring training in less than stellar physical condition and pitching with diminished velocity for a few months. This season will be more about rehabbing, rebuilding stamina, and hopefully recapturing his mid-90 fastball.

If not for the injury, Chace might have found himself in the same position as Cabrera, poised to help out as a spot starter if injury arises in the major leagues this season.

Now, the timeline for his MLB debut appears closer to 2027 or 2028, but Chace will dictate that based on how he pitches over the next year-plus. He is on the Phillies' 40-man roster but has made only 10 starts above the Single A level, none at Triple A.

LF/RF Gabriel Rincones Jr., 25

Rincones has not participated in camp because of lingering soreness in both knees that dates back to the offseason. He has dealt with knee tendinitis and had a PRP injection in December to help alleviate the pain, but it did not work, at least not as quickly as the powerful lefty-hitting prospect anticipated.

"I was ready to be done (rehabbing) by December, but setback after setback, it's been very unprecedented stuff," Rincones said last week.

"At first, running was fine, everything was cruising, then I was doing some rear-foot elevated squats and that's when I felt a little tweak. I got a needle to try to make it better and it hasn't been cooperative. ... I didn't know it was going to be this slow. I didn't do anything to get hurt, which is most frustrating."

Rincones seems to be making slow progress but has not yet played in a Grapefruit League game. A big opportunity was ahead for him at camp this year with an opening on the Phillies' bench, and if he showed as much power as he did last March, he may have become a legitimate Opening Day roster candidate.

If healthy, he will still have chances to contribute throughout the season, particularly if fellow lefty-hitting leftfielder Brandon Marsh suffers an injury. Rincones went deep 18 times in 506 plate appearances last season and tied for the International League lead with 80 walks.

RHP Yoniel Curet, 23

Unlike Cabrera, Chace and Rincones, Curet is not on the Phillies' 40-player pool for their Spring Breakout games on March 19 against the Twins' top prospects and March 21 vs. the Blue Jays' top prospects.

That 40-player pool, by the way, is trimmed down closer to 26 before the games begin.

The Phillies acquired Curet from the Rays' crowded 40-man-roster picture in December for 26-year-old right-handed reliever Tommy McCollum. Curet had started 80 games in Tampa Bay's farm system, reaching as high as Triple A. He led all of Minor League Baseball from 2023-24 with 303 strikeouts in 223 innings, most of them at Single A and High A.

There have been questions, though, about his control and the lack of a third quality pitch. The Phillies see Curet more so as a reliever, and he has struggled mightily thus far in camp. He allowed five runs without recording an out in Lakeland against the Tigers on Feb. 27 and gave up three runs on two homers while picking up only two outs Friday vs. the Pirates.

He still has potential as a reliever because of an upper-90s fastball that misses bats, along with a decent slider. As with so many young pitchers, it will depend on the consistency of his command.