Four Pitching Prospects Added to 40-Man Roster

2019 Grandstand Reading Fightin Phils Update #37

2019 R-Phils Phillies Top 25 Prospects #13

2019 Bowman Prospects #BP-37

2018 Grandstand Princeton Rays #29

A sure sign we're getting closer to Thanksgiving is the addition of prospects to the Phillies' 40-man roster.  On Wednesday evening, four prospects were added and here's a quick summary of their 2019 season and their baseball card appearances to date.  The 40-man roster currently has 39 players on it.

Garrett Cleavinger (lhp) - Acquired from the Orioles in the Jeremy Hellickson trade, Cleavinger spent all last season in Reading appearing in 34 games in relief.  In 51 2/3 innings, he struck out 83 while walking 34 and had a 3.66 ERA.  Cleavinger has appeared in four Reading Fightin Phils team sets since 2017.

Mauricio Llovera (rhp) - Llovera also spent all of 2019 with Reading, appearing in 14 games and making 12 starts.  He could be a potential bullpen arm for the Phillies in 2020, and his make-up has already been compared to Ranger Suarez's.  He's had several appearances in Phillies minor league team sets dating back to 2017.

JoJo Romero (lhp) - The franchise's #10 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Romero made 24 starts for the Fightin Phils and Triple-A IronPigs in 2019, going 7-9 with a 5.82 ERA.  I've somehow already accumulated 17 different cards for Romero between minor league team sets and Bowman issues.

Cristopher Sanchez (lhp) - Sanchez was acquired from the Rays on Wednesday for minor league infielder Curtis Mead.  He appeared in 24 games across three minor league teams for the Rays in 2019, going 4-1 with a 2.26 ERA.  It looks as if Sanchez's baseball card appearances to date have been limited to Rays minor league team sets.

It's always interesting to look back on the prospects added to the 40-man roster each November, and the listing below shows that most of these players eventually made it to the Majors.

Memory Lane

2009 Additions - Quintin Berry, Yohan Flande and Jesus Sanchez
2010 Additions - Cesar Hernandez, Matt Rizzotti, Harold Garcia, Freddy Galvis and Justin De Fratus
2011 Additions - Phillippe Aumont, Jake Diekman, Tyson Gillies and Sebastian Valle
2012 Additions - Zach Collier, Ethan Martin, Trevor May and Jonathan Pettibone
2013 Additions - Aaron Altherr, Kelly Dugan, Tommy Joseph and Rob Rasmussen
2014 Additions - Jesse Biddle, Adam Morgan and Nefi Ogando
2015 Additions - Jimmy Cordero, Roman Quinn and Edubray Ramos
2016 Additions - 11 prospects
2017 Additions - Seranthony Dominguez, Franklyn Kilome, Ranger Suarez, Jose Taveras, Engelb Vielma
2018 Additions - Arquimedes Gamboa, Edgar Garcia and Adonis Medina
2019 Additions - Garrett Cleavinger, Mauricio Llovera, JoJo Romero and Cristopher Sanchez