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Phillies Designate Francisco Morales For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | January 4, 2023 at 1:20pm CDT

The Phillies have announced their signing of righty Craig Kimbrel, making it official. In order to make room on the 40-man roster, fellow righty Francisco Morales has been designated for assignment.

Morales, 23, was working as a starter in the lower levels of the Phillies’ minor league system in the early parts of his career. He showed some promise at that time, including throwing 96 2/3 innings at Single-A in 2019 with a 3.82 ERA. His 11% walk rate that year was a bit on the high side but he also struck out 30.9% of batters faced. Baseball America has liked Morales for some time, as he’s been on their list of top Philly prospects since 2018.

That strong 2019 campaign got him all the way up to the #4 slot at BA going into 2020, when the minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic. The Phillies added him to their 40-man roster in November of that year in order to protect Morales from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.

However, the past couple of seasons have been a struggle. In 2021, he made 24 appearances, 22 of those being starts, between Double-A and Triple-A. He still struck out hitters at a healthy 27.1% clip but his walk rate shot up to an untenable 15.5%, helping his ERA climb to 6.28. That seemed to put an end to his days as a starter, as he pitched exclusively in relief in 2022. However, the move hasn’t suited him so far, as he tossed 51 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year with a 30.6% strikeout rate but a 19.7% walk rate and 4.76 ERA. He also made three appearances in the big leagues but walked 28.6% of the batters he faced and posted a 7.20 ERA.

It seems the rough results over the past couple of seasons have worn on the patience of the Phillies, costing Morales his roster spot. However, he’s still quite young and has shown promise in the past. He still has one option year remaining and could garner interest from the clubs in search of extra pitching depth. The Phils will have one week to work out a trade or pass Morales through waivers.

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Philadelphia Phillies Transactions Francisco Morales

Red Sox Notes: Devers, Casas, Houck, Coaching Staff
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Nationals Designate A.J. Alexy For Assignment
View Comments (10)

Comments

  1. harrycracks 77

    4 weeks ago

    He’s got a live -gonna get scarfed up fast

    Reply
  2. DarkSide830

    4 weeks ago

    Vazquez? Ortiz?? Uleman??? Cave????

    Reply
    • pinkerton

      4 weeks ago

      CHIEF?

      MCCLOUD??!!??

      Reply
  3. Mercenary.Freddie.Freeman

    4 weeks ago

    I will always appreciate Kimbrel as a long time Braves fan. He was one of the best players on the team for a rather rough stretch for the team. He was absolutely on a HOF trajectory and then he just kind of seemed to lose himself.

    Reply
  4. Wilmer the Thrillmer

    4 weeks ago

    Morales is a tantalizing talent. Way too many walks though. Still, he’ll get claimed.

    Reply
  5. Carver Andrews

    4 weeks ago

    Yeah, he will get claimed, as most teams will take a crack at a live arm, even with the issues and lack of progress for the past two or three years.

    What I am liking right now is watching DD make the decisive moves regarding inherited talent. They have enjoyed some real success in reinvigorating the development of some of the youngsters that were derailed under Klentak. Others such as Morales stayed in neutral…at some point you cut bait and if someone else manages to find another gear in them then that is OK. GM’s / POBO’s need to be decisive and at times ruthless when it comes to talent.

    And when I said Ruthless, I was not taking a shot at the Red Sox.

    Reply
  6. The Big Yo

    4 weeks ago

    To the A’s he goes

    Reply
  7. fre5hwind

    4 weeks ago

    WHY PHILLIES

    Reply
  8. longines64

    4 weeks ago

    They had a version of him 2 seasons ago. Vince Velasquez…

    Reply
  9. Eatdust666

    4 weeks ago

    Now that’s a name that I haven’t heard of in a long time!

    Reply

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