The Phillies have signed Ryan McKenna to a minor league contract, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. The outfielder was recently released by the Giants, who claimed him off of waivers from the Orioles in May. He will report to the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
McKenna, 27, made his MLB debut with the Orioles in 2021, six years after the team selected him in the fourth round of the 2015 draft. Across 284 games and 508 plate appearances with Baltimore from 2021-23, McKenna slashed .221/.299/.318 with a 75 wRC+. While his bat was underwhelming, he stole eight bases on nine attempts thanks to well-above-average sprint speed. He also provided 7 OAA with his glove while spending time at all three outfield positions. Ultimately, however, he could never secure a full-time position with the big league club, and the Orioles shuttled him back and forth between Baltimore and Triple-A Norfolk several times each year.
Out of options in 2024, McKenna was designated for assignment on Opening Day and sent outright back to the Norfolk Tides. The Orioles selected his contract less than a month later, but despite his impressive performance in a brief stint with the club (3-for-8 with two home runs), he was DFA’d again in mid-May. The Giants claimed him off of waivers, but his cup of coffee with San Francisco wasn’t nearly as productive; McKenna went o-for-6 over four games before the Giants, too, designated him for assignment. This time, however, he passed through waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A. Unfortunately, things continued to go downhill for McKenna after that. He missed some time with an injury, and when he was healthy, he hit just .227/.308/.348 with a 62 wRC+ for the Sacramento River Cats. He played his last game in the organization on August 1.
McKenna will provide the Phillies with a bit of additional outfield depth at Triple-A. His ability to play all three outfield positions could make him an asset on the bench in case of an injury.
Wow!
I like Ryan McKenna. I wanted the Tigers to acquire him. Dumping someone after 6 ABs doesn’t seem reasonable.
Actually like this depth signing, experienced player still on the right side of 30 and can play all 3 OF positions. Not for nothin, would give the Phillies a B- for their trade deadline overall. Really like Austin Hays and had mentioned his name previously, gamer that fits the team and clubhouse well. But they should have used the deadline to trim the fat of their roster, cash in some older prospects (McGarry, McGowan, G. Mayer, Muzziotti, C. De la Cruz) with a 40 man guy (D. Hall, K. Allard) and improve the 26 and 40 man rosters. Can’t imagine the Angels for instance, would turn down a 5 or 6 player package of the prospects mentioned above, for say Kevin Pillar & Reid Detmers. Then the Phillies have Detmers instead of Allard, as a spot starter/long man and offseason project. Our pitching coaches deserve a lot of credit for what they’ve done with their LHP’s. Pillar coulda been a straight platoon with Marsh in CF, Rojas for D & PR.
What the Phillies should have done was to go all in, trading Rojas, Abel, and Miller for Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. Harper with a fully healed TJS returns to RF and the Phillies get the right handed bat they really needed.
Except the Jays were very vocal in insisting they were not trading Guerrero. And even if they did consider trading him, no chance that package gets it done.
Give them whatever they reasonably want except Painter. Add Caba to start.
Buyer beware, Ryan strikes out often.
And your point is? That’s the Phillies motto…home run or strike out. Unless your Bohm.
McKenna and Hays together again.
What the hell? This is awful grammar: “McKenna went o-for-6 over four games before the Giants, too, designated him for assignment.” You can’t just replace what should be also with too. Too would have to go at the end of the sentence, without a comma. This is crappy writing. Do better.