Phillies roster moves: J.P. Crawford, Jake Thompson

In the wake of the trade for first baseman Justin Bour, the Phillies made a series of roster moves today.

First, Jake Thompson was designated for assignment, taking him off the team’s 40-man roster. All 29 teams will now have an opportunity to make a waiver claim on Thompson and place him on their 40-man rosters. If no one does, he returns to the Phillies and can be optioned to the minors once again.

Thompson was a former top-100 prospect in baseball and was a major component of the Cole Hamels deal back in 2015 that also netted the Phillies Jorge Alfaro and Nick Williams — two key contributors to the 2018 big league roster. Jerad Eickhoff also came to Philadelphia in that deal and, while he has had more big league success than Thompson, he is still rehabbing from a nerve injury that has kept him out all season.

Thompson was largely unimpressive in parts of three seasons with the Phils, compiling a 4.87 ERA and a 5.80 FIP in 116.1 MLB innings. He was converted into a full-time reliever this season and in 16.1 innings had an ERA of 4.96, with a 14/11 K/BB ratio. He had a 4.60 ERA in 47 innings at AAA Lehigh Valley in 201, with a 49/26 K/BB ratio there.

The team also announced they were activating J.P. Crawford from the 10-day disabled list. He had been on the DL since June 19 because of a broken hand and has played in just 34 games this year (11 more than last season), hitting a disappointing .194/.312/.333, with two homers, five doubles and a triple.

Crawford struggled during his rehab stint, batting .149/.322/.255 in 14 games at Lakewood and Clearwater (both A-level clubs), although he did walk 12 times. Crawford will likely be a bench player with the addition of Asdrubal Cabrera, who has acquitted himself well defensively since his trade from the Mets.

When Bour is officially added to the 25-man roster, the Phillies will need to make another move. It could be Scott Kingery, in the midst of a tough rookie season, who gets the demotion, or possibly outfielder Roman Quinn (not as likely). It could also be a bullpen arm, perhaps Austin Davis who, with the addition of Aaron Loup, may not be as necessary. Were the Phils to remove Adam Morgan from the 25-man, he would have to be DFA’d.

Finally, there is one final move to report.

It’s been a busy Friday afternoon.

Congratulations, Rhys!