Philadelphia Phillies Make Roster Decision On 5-Year MLB Player

Getty

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 31: Bryan De La Cruz #14 of the Atlanta Braves catches a fly ball hit by Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Phillies will continue their series with the Royals in Kansas City.

They are coming off a 6-1 win on Saturday.

UPDATE: The Phillies lost 5-2.

Phillies Make Roster Decision

Ahead of Sunday’s game, the Phillies announced that they had made a roster move.

The Phillies wrote (via X): “Following last night’s game against the Kansas City Royals, the Phillies signed outfielder Bryan De La Cruz to a major league contract and optioned him to triple-A Lehigh Valley. To make room on the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Jean Cabrera was designated for assignment.”

Philadelphia Phillies

@Phillies · Follow

Following last night’s game against the Kansas City Royals, the Phillies signed outfielder Bryan De La Cruz to a major league contract and optioned him to triple-A Lehigh Valley. To make room on the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Jean Cabrera was designated for assignment.

11:29 am · 5 Jul 2026

276 Reply Copy link Read 11 replies

De La Cruz has been playing for their Triple-A affiliate.

He is coming off a season (2025) where he appeared in 16 games for the Atlanta Braves.

In addition to the Braves, De La Cruz has also spent time playing for the Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates over five MLB seasons.

His longest tenure came with Miami (3.5 seasons).

Over 491 career MLB games, De La Cruz is batting .251 with 436 hits, 58 home runs, 208 RBIs, 177 runs and 15 stolen bases.

Social Media On Roster News

Here’s what people were saying about the roster update:

Jeff Kerr: “There was a July opt out in Bryan De La Cruz’s minor league contract. He could have sought a better opportunity elsewhere if the #Phillies didn’t add him to the 40-man. De La Cruz hit .333 with a .980 OPS in June. .310 with .877 OPS 2nd half of year.”

@FuturePhils: “OF Bryan De La Cruz had a July opt out in his minor league deal, so the Phillies add him to the 40 man and option him to keep him. Jean Cabrera was DFA’d. He was supposed to be starting pitching depth, but has had an extremely rough year”

Andrew Coté: “The Phillies signed outfielder Bryan De La Cruz to a major league contract and optioned him to Lehigh Valley (AAA). De La Cruz is batting .254 with 12 home runs and 51 RBIs for the IronPigs this year. RHP Jean Cabrera was DFA’d to make room for De La Cruz on the 40-man roster.”

Phillies Right Now

The Phillies are the second-place team in the National League East with a 50-39 record in 89 games.

They are 3.0 games back of the Atlanta Braves.