The Phillies announced a list of 23 non-roster invitees to major league Spring Training. Reliever Joel Kuhnel is among that group. According to the MLB.com transaction log, the right-hander signed a minor league contract with Philadelphia on December 21. The Phils also brought back infielder Rodolfo Castro shortly after he elected free agency in November and added former Minnesota and Detroit minor leaguer Austin Schulfer.
Kuhnel, 30 next month, was outrighted off the Rays’ 40-man roster at the beginning of the offseason. He made five big league appearances with Tampa Bay after being claimed off waivers in July. Kuhnel tossed eight innings of one-run ball in his limited MLB work. He allowed eight runs (seven earned) over 14 2/3 frames for their Triple-A team in Durham.
A former Reds draftee, Kuhnel has bounced around the league over the past two years. The Phils are his sixth organization since 2022. Kuhnel has pitched in the majors for Cincinnati, Houston and Tampa Bay. He has had Triple-A stints with the Brewers and Blue Jays. He carries a 5.93 earned run average across parts of five big league seasons. He has kept the ball on the ground at a lofty 52% clip but has a well below-average 18.7% strikeout rate. It was a similar story at the Triple-A level last season. Kuhnel’s 17.7% strikeout percentage was unimpressive, but he induced grounders at a huge 57.6% rate.
Castro landed in Philly at the 2023 deadline in a trade with Pittsburgh. The switch-hitting utilityman hit .100 in 14 games down the stretch. He spent the ’24 season in the minors, much of it on the injured list. Castro only appeared in 19 Triple-A games and suffered a season-ending thumb injury in August. The Phillies made the fairly easy call to outright him off the 40-man at season’s end, though they circled back to keep the 25-year-old in the organization.
Schulfer, 29, has yet to reach the majors. The 6’2″ righty reliever has spent parts of three seasons in Triple-A. He owns a 4.62 ERA across 142 1/3 frames at the top minor league level. Schulfer divided last season between the Twins’ and Tigers’ systems. He combined for a 4.94 ERA while striking out a quarter of opponents over 54 2/3 innings, nearly all of which came in Triple-A.
This guy is an absolute BUM What is Dombroski thinking with this move? Washed!
Minor league depth?
Not much of a baseball fan i see.
Which Bum? Castro or Kuhnel?
Username checks out.
Hoffman, Alvarado, c sanchez were bums as well,phillies coaching staff help them
I wonder…did y’all read the part about this being a list of non-roster invitees? In other words, camp bodies. The Phils have almost every spot locked up heading into camp, other than a couple of higher level camp battles.
Added to that, there is still plenty of time to fill out a couple of more deals as we get close to ST, and some of the better edge guys settle on where to land. Why react emotionally to a non-news day?
Finally, the signing we’ve all been waiting for!
Link to the list of NRI’s? I like reading those
From mlb.com: Here’s the full list of non-roster invitees (club prospect rank in parentheses):
Catchers (4): Josh Breaux, Payton Henry, Paul McIntosh (No. 30), Caleb Ricketts (No. 22)
Infielders (5): Rodolfo Castro, Otto Kemp (No. 25), Rafael Lantigua, Miller (No. 1), Carson Taylor
Outfielders (2): Crawford (No. 3), Gabriel Rincones Jr. (No. 10)
Utility (1): Matt Kroon
Right-handers (9): Nabil Crismatt, José Cuas, Joel Kuhnel, Griff McGarry (No. 20), John McMillon, Nicholas Padilla, Painter (No. 2), Austin Schulfer, Guillo Zuñiga
Left-handers (2): Tristan Garnett, Nick Vespi
I think Crawford could do a similar if not better job than Rojas in the outfield with more upside. Could this be the year a veteran Phillies team brings up a young guy to compete for even a platoon role?
Dan Campbell’s doppelganger
Cars on US 19 need to ready for balls hitting them this spring from opposing bats.