Game 103 - Pivetta Struggles, Phils Acquire Cabrera from Mets

2017 Topps Heritage #116

2018 Bowman Prospects #BP84

Reds 6, Phillies 4
Game 103 - Friday Night, July 27th in Cincinnati
Record - 58-45, 1st place, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Nick Pivetta continued his hot and cold season with a 12-strikeout performance, but he allowed five runs to score in this 6-4 loss to the Reds.

What It Means:  The Braves lost to the Dodgers so the Phillies hold steady with a 2 1/2 game lead in the division.

What Happened:  The big blow was a 3-run home run allowed to Mason Williams in the 4th inning.  Odubel Herrera hit a 2-run home run (19) in the 3rd, while Rhys Hoskins and Cesar Hernandez contributed RBI singles.  Former Phillie David Hernandez collected the win with 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.

Featured Cards/Transactions:  There were a few roster moves made before the game.  As expected, Ranger Suarez was optioned back to Lehigh Valley and outfielder Roman Quinn was recalled to take his place.  Quinn, hopefully now healthy, will provide a much-needed boost to the bench from both an offensive and defensive standpoint.  Adam Morgan was placed on the paternity list and Yacksel Rios was recalled to take his place in the bullpen.

And at long last, the Phillies pulled off a trade.  Pitching prospect Franklyn Kilome was sent to the New York Mets for infielder Asdrubal Cabrera.  No one is quite sure where Cabrera will play (probably shortstop) but his 18 home runs and 58 RBIs will be a welcome addition to the line-up.  Cabrera was a two-time All-Star with the Indians in 2011 and 2012 and he played for 8 seasons in Cleveland (2007-2014).  Since then, he's played with the Nationals (2014), Rays (2015) and Mets (2016-2018).  It looks as if his one 2018 mainstream baseball card can be found within Topps Series Two.

Kilome is a high price to play for a rental player.  Although his stock has fallen somewhat in recent years, he was still regarded as one of the franchise's top pitching prospects.  In 19 starts for Double-A Reading this year, he was 4-6 with a 4.24 ERA.  I've accumulated 24 baseball cards of this now ex-Phillie since 2015, and his latest (final?) Phillies card can be found in this year's Bowman release.

Arrived During the 2018 Season
Trevor Plouffe (4/23/18) - Signed as a minor league free agent, formerly with the Texas Rangers organization.
Asdrubal Cabrera (7/27/18) - Acquired from the New York Mets for Franklyn Kilome.

Departed During the 2018 Season
Drew Hutchison (6/5/18) - Designated for assignment and elected free agency.
Hoby Milner (7/15/18) - Sold to the Tampa Bay Rays.

40-Man Roster Additions/Subtractions

2017 Grandstand Clearwater Threshers #8

2017 Bowman Prospects #BP41

2017 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #26

2017 Topps Pro Debut #91

On Monday, all 30 teams worked to set their 40-man rosters in advance of next month's Rule 5 draft.  The Phillies completely overhauled their roster a year ago, dropping three players and adding 11.  There wasn't that much activity this year as the team dropped three players and added five.  Here's a look at the players involved in the roster shuffling along with some baseball card notes for the new additions.

Dropped from 40-Man Roster

• Mark Appel (rhp) - Former 1st round pick of the Astros and acquired as part of the Ken Giles trade.  Appel has had his prior two seasons ended prematurely due to arm injuries.
• Elniery Garcia (lhp) - Garcia sticks with the organization, as he was simply outrighted to the IronPigs.
• Alberto Tirado (rhp) - Part of the return in the Ben Revere deal.

Added to 40-Man Roster

• Seranthony Dominguez (rhp) - Has appeared in the 2016 Crosscutters and 2017 Threshers minor league team sets.
• Franklyn Kilome (rhp) - One of the organization's top pitching prospects, I already have 11 of his cards in my collection from various Bowman and Topps releases.
• Ranger Suarez (lhp) - Appears in the 2016 Crosscutters and the 2017 BlueClaws minor league team sets.
• Jose Taveras (rhp) - Along with cards in the Phillies minor league team sets, Taveras appeared in the Topps Pro Debut and Topps Heritage Minor League sets this past season.  He also already has a Chachi card to his name, having appeared in the 2016 Chachi BlueClaws Signing Autographs limited edition set.
• Engelb Vielma (inf) - The Phillies claimed Vielma off waivers from the Giants on Monday afternoon.  Primarily a shortstop, Vielma spent the past six seasons in the Twins organization and to date he's only appeared in Twins minor league team sets.

2018 Chachi New Additions #1

With his addition to the 40-man roster, Vielma becomes the first card in the 2018 Chachi New Additions set.  This insert set, released between now and opening day, will feature players new to the organization and added to the 40-man roster throughout the winter/early spring.

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

*Somehow I skipped doing a post for the 2010 40-man roster additions.