April 02, 2017
Ryan Lawrence/PhillyVoice
Brock Stassi, who will be with the Phillies on Opening Day, fights back tears while talking to reporters in Clearwater.
The Phillies finalized their 25-man roster for Opening Day prior to boarding a flight bound for Cincinnati on Sunday.
Here goes:
Jeremy Hellickson
Jerad Eickhoff
Clay Buchholz
Vince Velasquez
Aaron Nola
RHP Joaquin Benoit
RHP Jeanmar Gomez
LHP Adam Morgan
RHP Hector Neris
RHP Pat Neshek
RHP Edubray Ramos
LHP Joely Rodriguez
Cesar Hernandez
Howie Kendrick
Odubel Herrera
Maikel Franco
Michael Saunders
Tommy Joseph
Cameron Rupp
Freddy Galvis
Aaron Altherr
Andres Blanco
Andrew Knapp
Daniel Nava
Brock Stassi
So we went 24-for-25 here from our Opening Day roster prediction in this space exactly seven weeks ago, two days before camp opened in Clearwater. Not bad. (The only miss: Stassi on the current roster, Chris Coghlan, who signed a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays the other day, on the projected one before camp opened).
The Phillies also officially placed right-hander Zach Eflin on the 10-day disabled list to begin the 2017 season. This was basically a formality as Eflin, who had surgery on each of his knees since last pitching in a big league game in August, had been behind in camp. Eflin should be ready to join the rotation at Triple-A Lehigh Valley sometime this month.
The Phillies season gets underway on Monday at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.
Happy Opening Day.
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