The Phillies announced Friday that they’ve designated veteran infielder Neil Walker for assignment and swapped him out for fellow veteran Ronald Torreyes, whose contract has been selected from their alternate training site. Additionally, southpaw Adam Morgan has been reinstated from the injured list, and righty Ramon Rosso is up as the 29th man for today’s twin bill.
Walker, who turned 35 yesterday, beat out a crowded field to secure a bench spot with the Phillies during Summer Camp. In addition to Torreyes, the Phils had Josh Harrison, Logan Forsythe, Phil Gosselin and T.J. Rivera on minor league deals. Walker and Gosselin won backup spots, but Walker struggled to a .231/.244/.308 slash through 18 games and 41 plate appearances prior to today’s move.
Obviously, Walker wasn’t a heavily used piece in Philadelphia, where top prospect Alec Bohm has impressed through his first 25 big league games at third base. With Jean Segura holding his own at second base and Rhys Hoskins raking at first, playing time has been hard to come by for Walker. The addition of Torreyes in his place will give the club another option to handle shortstop — one of the few positions that Walker has never played at the MLB level.
Although Walker didn’t hit much in his short time with Philly, he’s just a season removed from posting a solid .261/.344/.395 batting line in a utility role with the Marlins. And, of course, Walker was a consistently strong producer from 2010-17, when he hit a combined .273/.342/.439 in just shy of 4300 plate appearances between the Pirates, Mets and Brewers.
The 28-year-old Torreyes, meanwhile, will be reunited with former Yankees skipper Joe Girardi. Torreyes was a fan favorite with the Yanks from 2016-18 when he hit .281/.308/.374 through 221 games as an oft-used bench piece. He spent the 2019 season in the Twins organization but hit poorly in Triple-A and saw only a very brief look in the big leagues.
TOE up!
The Toe-night Shoe comes to Philadelphia.
*Show
Hopefully a really big shoe…
I rather have walker but that’s me
Are you kidding me? Go get em Toe!
Bohm hits like Raffy Devers….feilds like him too..
He’s built a little better than dough boy Devers.
Toe has no power whatsoever, but unlike a lot of guys, can sit on the bench for ten days and then slap a single or two when called upon out of the blue. Better at a bench role than most guys, but his limitations show if he plays everyday. Decent glove at multiple positions.
Walker’s signature Phillies moment will be that shot of him looking totally exasperated by Harper.
Harper totally had him axed after that side-eye and head shake the other day. Can’t have that…
I think Walker had himself axed with his BA.
Haven’t watched much of Bohm; does the eye test support the awful fielding metrics he’s put up so far?
he’s made a few good plays but the bad ones have far outweighed them. i like the arm but the rest isnt too promising.
Nice to see you back in the show Toe. Now tell Girardi to trade for your best friend Judge.
Alec is a future full time DH. Just like Andujar at the other end of the Jersey Turnpike.
Likely trade bait this winter since the NL returns to old rules in 2021, which makes him another bad draft pick for Klentak and MacFail.
No. You are so wrong about Bohm. Obviously you are a negative cynic who thinks he knows everything about a kid who has played 25 games in the majors and was at A ball early last year. I bet you thought Schmidt was a bust after his first year too. Wise up and watch a future Phils All-Star grow……….
Walker would have been right at home in the bullpen, though……
Walker may be the only Phillie relief pitcher to record 2 outs without giving up a run this year. Should have kept him over Adam Morgan.
Cue the Pirates fans that are still crying that they Bucs should have spent big money to resign him instead of trading him. Had some good numbers since he left but spent a ton of time on the DL then now the IL since with various injuries including his back. He had back issues for years before his trade and always felt it was not prudent to sign him because of those issues.
I think the Pirates did the right thing by trading him, it just doesn’t do them any favors that they essentially gave him away.
Pirates should have kept him for 2016 and made one last run at a playoff spot. In the end, that trade got them 3 months of Jon Niese, and basically nothing after they flipped him for Bastardo (who imploded). Also, could have moved him to 1st base at that point so we didn’t have to watch the disaster that was the John Jaso signing…..
Someone should tell Girardi to put Hoskins at DH, Bohm at 1st and Gosselin (who is the current DH) at 2nd or 3rd.
Nah. If anything Bohm should DH.
Anything to get him away from 3rd
Give him some rope. He’s played 25 games in the majors. He is hitting well and a big part of this lineup right now. He is the best clutch hitter on this team. Give him credit for something. He has shown flashes of really good play at third, let the rest work out. It’s not like Hoskins is some kind of gold glove at first and I don’t hear you giving him shiiiit. Schmidt was not the greatest fielder his first season and he sure didn’t hit well with a .196 average that first year.
Philly is among one of the worst defensive teams this year, just trying to suggest an improvement. With all the offensive success Bohm has had, he has a negative rWAR, so it might be in the clubs best interest to move him positionally at some point. Hoskins is doing well this year, can hardly complain about him or his defense.
Let me rephrase that last sentence, Hoskins defense is still not great but he is hitting very well so I can’t really complain that much. Having Bohm and Hoskins man 1B/DH seems like a no-brainer, Gosselin is not an amazing fielder but he definitely fits more at infield than DH.
Have you watched the games? Hoskins is a butcher at first…he should have twice as many errors as he has been credited with…….one of the worst I’ve ever seen. He refuses to look the ball into his glove…..that is why he is the worst “scoop” man in the league…….you have to dig them out and hold on to them in the majors. Watch the tapes…….Hoskins pulls his head and does not watch the ball……besides being slower than dirt he is probably the worst defensive first baseman in baseball right now.
I agree with you there, maybe not as extremely as you put it, but still. More reason to move Rhys to DH.