Phillies send Tyler Goeddel and Jake Thompson down to the minors

We’re getting down to the wire with the roster, kids. The Phillies made another round of cuts today, sending two players down to the minors. One of them was pitcher Jake Thompson, who will be taking a spot in the rotation of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

The other player is outfielder Tyler Goeddel, who will be headed to the Double-A Reading Fightins. You might remember Goeddel from the 2016 rule 5 draft, and then his entire season on the major league roster.

So obviously Goeddel had a few things to say after his demotion. Here’s what Goeddel told reporters, courtesy of Jim Salisbury at CSNPhilly.

"They want me to get more at-bats," Goeddel said. "That's the main thing. Only getting 200 in your age-23 season is not enough.

"They said there's a chance I'm at Reading. I'm not too happy about that but you can't control it. That's where their most openings are and most consistent playing time.

"I want to play every day. It was tough last year playing sparingly. Getting at-bats is going to be great. Obviously, I wish it was up here. But at the end of the day, you can't control it."

So he’s not happy, but he understands why it’s happening. You can’t blame the guy for being annoyed. Dropping two levels can’t be a great feeling, no matter why it’s happening.

Admittedly, it’s a tough position for the club to be in. They signed enough MLB caliber outfielders this offseason that he wasn’t going to get decent playing time in the majors. And down at Triple-A, the Phillies have three actual prospects who need to play every day: Nick Williams, Dylan Cozens, and Roman Quinn. The only place for him to get regular at-bats was with in Reading.

On the bright side, he’s still on the 40-man roster.

The Phillies also announced a few more reassignments.

Get here quickly, regular season!