Phillies Sign Jason Marquis

The Phillies announced that they’ve signed right-hander Jason Marquis to a minor league deal. The 35-year-old veteran is a client of ACES.

Marquis underwent Tommy John surgery last July but said a few months later that he didn’t intend for that operation to be the end of his career. He’s been working out for teams of late, recently throwing his fastball between 88 and 90 mph in an audition for the Reds.

Marquis’ command took a step back in 2013 with the Padres, as he walked a career-worst 5.2 hitters per nine innings (some of those struggles may have been due to his elbow injury, of course). However, his ground-ball rate remained a strong 52.3 percent — his fifth consecutive season with a ground-ball percentage north of 52.

The sinkerballing Marquis is a veteran of 14 Major League seasons with the Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Nationals, Rockies, Twins, Diamondbacks and Padres. In 1921 career innings at the big league level, Marquis owns a 4.56 ERA with 5.3 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 50.7 percent ground-ball rate. He can serve as veteran rotation depth for the Phils when healthy, as the team has already seen injuries to both Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels this season in the Major League rotation (the latter is healthy now). Additionally, Cuban signee Miguel Gonzalez is also working his way back from injury and isn’t close to appearing in the Majors.