Roster Moves: Phillies shake things up, call on Felix Reyes and option Otto Kemp to Triple-A Lehigh Valley

I wrote about this two days ago. I said call up Felix Reyes. I said Otto Kemp isn’t working. I said stop waiting around like Dave Dombrowski always does and give this kid his shot. Honestly, I didn’t think they’d actually do it.

They did it. Prior to tonight’s game against the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies announced the following roster moves. Felix Reyes had his contract selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and will wear No. 29.

Seth Johnson was recalled from Lehigh Valley. Jhoan Duran was placed on the 15-day IL retroactive to April 15th with a left oblique strain. Otto Kemp was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Pedro León was released.

Welcome to The Show, Felix Reyes!

Prior to tonight’s game against the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies announced the following roster moves:

Infielder/outfielder Felix Reyes had his contract selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and will wear No. 29

Right-handed pitcher Seth Johnson was recalled from Triple-A…

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 18, 2026

Shoutout to the Phillies for actually pulling the trigger on this one because the numbers made it impossible to justify anything else. Reyes hit another home run last night with Lehigh Valley.

Felix Reyes… RING IT

Felix Reyes just hit ANOTHER Home Run!

That is #2 on the night and six this season for AAA Lehigh Valley. pic.twitter.com/HYttMVMkUm

— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) April 18, 2026

At that point he became impossible to ignore any longer. The kid is dominating Triple-A, hitting .333 with a .999 OPS. You don’t sit on tha when the guy platooning in left field is hitting .125 with a .347 OPS.

In 2024, Reyes hit .243 with a .655 OPS at High-A Jersey Shore across 85 games. Decent but nothing that screamed fast-track. Then 2025 happened. He slashed .335/.365/.572 with 15 home runs at Double-A Reading across 95 games.

That’s a .937 OPS. He got a six-game cup of coffee at Lehigh Valley to end the year and now he’s picked up right where he left off in 2026 and hitting even harder. The progression is obvious. The power is real. The bat-to-ball skills are legit. Reyes earned this and now we get to see if it translates at the big league level.

I told you this was the move. The Phillies agreed. Now let’s see what the kid can do.

This is the most exciting thing the Phillies have done all year and I’m not even a little bit ashamed to say that. A team that has been sleepwalking through April with an offense that can’t hit with runners in scoring position and a rotation being dragged down by Taijuan Walker just injected some actual life into the roster.

Give Reyes at-bats. Let him platoon with Marsh. Let him bring that energy into a clubhouse that desperately needs a spark right now.

Let’s ride.

Join The Chase