Phillies: GM’s elimination process

Minor league candidates:

For his trial run with Lehigh Valley, outfielder Carlos Tocci hit .189 in only 54 plate appearances. He earned that last-minute shot because of his .307 average for 474 PAs with the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils. However, he did not receive roster protection.

After serving an 80-game PED suspension, lefty Elniery Garcia, 18th in the pipeline, started five contests with the Fightin Phils: He went 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA. And even though this was his first crack at Double-A ball, the deciding factor against risking his loss in the draft was probably his considerably below-average ERA estimators (FIP and xFIP). Analytics and/or PEDs?

On the other hand, righty Franklyn Kilome had a 3.64 ERA for five Reading starts with slightly below-average ERA estimators for his first innings there. But the seventh-ranked talent in the farm system is still on course for Philadelphia.

Regarding right-hander Seranthony Dominguez and portsider Ranger Suarez, they had acceptable numbers and probably received standard promotions to the Single-A Advanced Clearwater Threshers. Translation: 85 percent certainty here.

Moving annually from rookie ball to Clearwater, righty Jose Taveras attracted attention last season with his 2.38 ERA for 16 starts. Problem? His four years were up, and he required a roster spot to avoid exposure to the Rule 5 Draft.

In only two outings with Reading, Taveras had a 3.97 ERA for 11 1/3 frames. Nonetheless, Klentak elevated him up another tier to the IronPigs: 3-1 with 1.32 ERA, which was good enough even with borderline ERA estimators.

"FOOD FOR THOUGHT: “It’s better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right.” – Mark Twain"