Robust outfielder from the Rays’ development system acquired by the Phillies.

On Thursday, the Phillies added to the depth of their Triple-A position players.
On Thursday afternoon, the Philadelphia Phillies made yet another minor league transfer. The Phillies acquired outfielder Ruben Cardenas from the Tampa Bay Rays, per Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com. They sent monetary considerations to Tampa Bay as part of the deal, as verified on the Phillies’ transaction page.
Phillies acquire a powerful hitter from the Rays development system in exchange for
Cardenas rose through the minor league ranks, first with the Cleveland Guardians and later in the Rays’ farm system. He was originally selected by the Cleveland Guardians out of Cal State Fullerton in the sixteenth round of the 2018 draft. The 26-year-old pushed his way up the Rays system by eventually hitting at every level after joining the team in 2019.

At the time of the trade, Cardenas was leading all qualified players on the Durham Bulls in the International League with 11 home runs, 28 RBI, a .281 batting average, a .530 slugging percentage and an .876 OPS in 185 at-bats over 49 games. He also has 11 doubles, a triple and five stolen bases this year.

Splitting time between the outfield corners, he has reduced his strikeout rate this season to 21 percent from 26.4 percent last year. Combined with a lower walk rate of 5.9 percent, down from 11.3, it looks like Cardenas is being more aggressive as well as more disciplined at the plate.

Cardenas has been assigned and will report to the Phillies Triple-A affiliate Lehigh Valley IronPigs. With David Dahl and Weston Wilson recently being called up to the big club, the IronPigs obviously needed some reinforcements.