The Giants have signed right-hander Phoenix Sanders to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats.
Sanders, 28 next month, was a Rays draft pick in 2017 and made his way to the majors with that club last year. He got into eight games out of Tampa’s bullpen, logging 14 2/3 innings with a 3.07 ERA. He struck out 21.1% of batters faced and walked 5.3%, getting grounders on 41.5% of balls in play. He also tossed 30 innings for their Triple-A club with a 5.40 ERA though his 3.91 FIP suggests some bad luck, supported by his .388 batting average on balls in play and 67.5% strand rate. He stuck out 27.9% of opponents at that level against a walk rate of just 1.6%.
The Rays put Sanders on waivers in August and he was claimed by the Orioles. They kept him in the minors and then passed him through waivers in September. He made nine appearances for their Triple-A team to start this year with an ERA of 2.00, striking out 31.4% of batters faced while walking 8.6%. Despite those solid results, he was released last week but has quickly found his next job with the Giants.
The bullpen hasn’t been a strong part of the roster in San Francisco this year, as the club’s relievers have a collective 4.90 ERA. That places them 28th out of the 30 teams in the league, ahead of just the White Sox and the A’s. Sanders will head to Sacramento and try to work his way back to the big leagues. If he succeeds, he still has options and less than a year of service time, allowing him to be utilized as a depth reliever for the foreseeable future.
Sanders’ numbers make him look like a good gamble. SF seems to have a knack for making good waiver-wire pickups, and I could see this working out.
Sanders serves taters
Sounds like he flamed out in Tampa, but maybe he can resurrect his career with the Giants.
His brother Flagstaff is supposedly righting himself as well.
Wait, I thought his brother was Colonel Sanders.
Giants Sign Phoenix!
Good. Can Dbacks sign Francisco?
Welcome to SF Phoenix! I hope you can rise from the ashes of your career stops so far to spread your wings and succeed under the careful eye and guidance of the coaching staff here.
I would think that he would sign with Arizona. 😉
As a jazz music fan–especially of late Coltrane and that era’s avant garde jazz–I cannot help but think of Pharoah Sanders whenever I see this pitcher’s name.
If you don’t know Pharoah’s music and are at all curious about 1960s free jazz, I highly recommend his work.
That’s a good call about the late great Pharoah Sanders, who passed just last Sept.
The Sacramento River Phoenix Cats
You killed it ELV. Loved it.
Another Zaidi “dumpster dive.”
Great observation!
Yup he’s garbage. 1st outing tonight looking good lol
If you enjoy watching home runs just watch Phoenix Sanders pitch
Boy BricklePitches, you nailed it. 1hr every 9 innings in minor league career. ZERO hrs in major league career. Brilliant comment as usual. If you enjoy comments from idiots, read BricklePitches’ comments. Always entertaining.
Disagree with writer as SF bullpen is one of best in MLB since 5-15 and shutout tonight!