The Phillies have claimed left-hander Ryan Sherriff off waivers from the Rays, per a club announcement. Should he stick around, Sherriff will look to help solidify a leaky Phillies ’pen that pitched to a 4.60 ERA (sixth-worst in the bigs) and 4.61 FIP (fourth-worst) in 2021. Sherriff posted a mediocre 5.52 ERA across 14 2/3 innings (16 appearances) this year, albeit with 16 Ks and a 3.65 FIP that suggest he may have suffered from a bit of bad luck. For his career, the lefty has been good for a 3.65 ERA (3.98 FIP) in 44 1/3 innings.
Originally a 2011 28th-rounder of the Cardinals, Sherriff debuted in the majors in 2017, making 18 relief appearances in St. Louis before undergoing Tommy John surgery in the middle of the 2018 season. The Cards released him shortly thereafter, and he landed in Tampa on a minor-league pact shortly thereafter. He didn’t get back to the bigs until midway through the pandemic-shortened 2020 season but put up by far the best numbers of his career when he did, not giving up a single earned run in 9 2/3 innings — albeit while striking out only 2. He also covered two scoreless innings for the Rays in the 2020 World Series.
Though he made the opening day roster, Sherriff spent the season on the Triple-A shuttle, covering nearly twice as many innings for Durham as he did for Tampa. With just over a year in aggregate service time, Sherriff comes with considerable control and could become a mainstay for the Phils if he manages to establish himself in Philadelphia. How he’ll be asked to slot in remains to be seen, but sticking around in the Phillies’ notoriously leaky bullpen should prove a much easier task than it had been at the back end of Tampa’s stable of high-end arms.
Tampa Bay has also outrighted right-handers Oliver Drake, DJ Johnson and Chris Mazza in addition to lefty Cody Reed. All four of Drake, Johnson, Mazza and Reed will become free agents.
Beginning the bullpen overhaul just a tiny piece roll the dice.
There’s a new Sheriff in town…I’ll go away forever now.
Just like Kevin Malone?
Not good unless you shoot the Deputy too.
@VonHayes & bobtillman Rarely do I laugh out loud when reading comments, but these got me.
Eee gads!……
One would think DD had learned his lesson bringing in Jose Alvarado from the Rays last year.
When I saw Sherriff come into a close game I knew the Rays were going to be in trouble. Usually they were. Same as when I saw Alvarado come into a game for the Phillies. Left-handed throwing antacid hawkers.
Reggie Hammond
5.52 era I looked at baseball reference for some signs of life. Nothing there. Aside from the fact he throws on the left I see nothing.
I know I’m not a baseball guru, but these things are really baffling.
Some advanced metrics shed a better light on him, FIP had him at a 3.45 ERA. Also much better against Lefties (10/3 K/BB vs. 6/6 against righties). Also, most of the damage off him came in a game against the Twins (4 er in .1 innings)
Low-risk depth signing pretty much
He is a Lefty that is it 31 yrs old maybe catch lightning in a bottle usually doesn’t work for the Phils but sooner or later it will.Just an arm for spring training.
Also no upside. He’s not a puppy.
this is the same team that claimed Brady Lail and Johan Quezada. hardly shocking.
we make the worst claims…
Churn the roster, build the depth. Look what that did for the Giants the last few years. You never know.
A nothing to lose claim. It can’t hurt.
The article failed to provide his full name, Ryan Constitutional Sherriff.
Really Sebastian, which isnt bad either