The Phillies made a series of cuts today with implications for the remaining open roster spots:
The following players were informed that they would not make the Opening Day roster, but will accompany the club to Philadelphia for the weekend On-Deck Series against the Red Sox: infielder Brent Abernathy, righthander Joe Bisenius and outfielder Ron Calloway.
I'm a little surprised to see both Brito and Castro shipped out. Unless I'm missing someone, that leaves Matt Smith--who had his best outing of the spring (1.1 IP, no hits or walks, 2 K) against the Yankees this afternoon--as the sole lefty in the bullpen. Bisenius is probably better off closing for Ottawa than serving as the seventh man in Charlie Manuel's bullpen; we're likely to see him again before September.
So who's left? Assuming nobody starts the season on the disabled list--a big if, given the injuries to Freddy Garcia and Jon Lieber--that Lieber stays in the 'pen, and that Tom Gordon, Antonio Alfonseca, Geoff Geary, Ryan Madson and Smith are all locks, we still have Jim Ed Warden (5.68 ERA), Clay Condrey (4.22), and Zack Segovia (4.30 after today's start against the Yankees). Warden has to stick or will be offered back to the Indians, whence he came in the Rule V; Condrey is out of options and would have to pass through waivers before the Phils could send him to the minors. Segovia--a control guy who pitches to contact--probably has the most upside of the three, but is also the easiest to stash. Then of course there's the possibility of one or more trades to come, or one or more guys going to the DL.
So maybe we don't know all that much more than we did this morning.