Phillies Place Jay Bruce, Roman Quinn On IL
Prior to this afternoon’s game, the Phillies placed a pair of outfielders on the injured list, as per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Jay Bruce, who re-injured his left quad, will go to the 10-day IL, and Roman Quinn will head to the 7-day concussion IL after crashing into the outfield wall last night.
Meanwhile, outfielder Kyle Garlick and Right-hander Mauricio Llovera were recalled from the Phillies’ alternate training site, replacing the injured Phils on the active roster.
Bruce went on the injured list in late August with the same injury, but he’ll require a second IL stint after aggravating the quad last night. It will also be Quinn’s second stay on the injured list this year, though the two injuries are unrelated.
The Phils, with a busy schedule of games on the horizon, will have their outfield depth tested by the absences of Bruce and Quinn. With no Quinn and Garlick limited to the corner outfield, Adam Haseley is the only true center fielder on the roster. Meanwhile, some combination of Phil Gosselin and Neil Walker might assume the bulk of the DH duties with Bruce on the shelf.
Garlick has gotten only a brief look at the Major League level this year, going hitless in five plate appearances thus far. He posted a solid .842 in his first foray into the Majors with the Dodgers a year ago. Llovera, 24, is poised to make his Major League debut when Joe Girardi calls his name. He hasn’t pitched above Double-A in his career, but has had success in each of the last two seasons. For his minor league career, he’s notched a 3.45 ERA and has averaged 9.7 K/9.
Phillies Add Jeff Singer To Player Pool
- The Phillies added lefty Jeff Singer to their pool, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports (via Twitter). The 26-year-old signed with the Phils as an undrafted free agent in 2016 and has steadily risen through their system, reaching the Double-A level in 2019. Last year, Singer tossed 61 2/3 frames with a 74-to-22 K/BB ratio, a 2.34 ERA and a 2.77 FIP. Singer isn’t considered to be among the club’s top-ranked prospects but will get some developmental reps in Allentown and could conceivably even be an option later this month, given his success in the upper minors.
Red Sox Claim Deivy Grullon
The Red Sox have claimed catcher Deivy Grullon from the Phillies, per an announcement from Philadelphia. The Phillies also outrighted hurler Reggie McClain to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Grullon, 24, was designated for assignment Monday even though he was one of the Phillies’ top 30 prospects at Baseball America over the past few seasons. To this point, however, Grullon has only taken nine MLB plate appearances (all last season). He’s the owner of an impressive .283/.354/.496 slash with 21 home runs in 457 Triple-A plate appearances, though.
McClain was another Monday DFA for the Phillies, who claimed him from the Mariners in January. The 27-year-old entered the pros as a 13th-rounder of the M’s in 2016, and he made his major league debut this season with 5 1/3 innings of three-earned run ball with two strikeouts, three walks and nine hits allowed.
Mickey Moniak Added To Phillies' Player Pool
- The Phillies added former No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak to their player pool a day prior to the trade deadline. As Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia noted at the time, it was possible the timing of the move was sheer coincidence and not part of any scheme to trade the 22-year-old outfielder. Moniak had been rehabbing a knee injury, Salisbury wrote, and he’d progressed to the point where he’s able to work at the Phillies’ alternate training site rather than rehab at their Spring Training complex. Moniak hasn’t lived up to his 1-1 billing, but he did post better-than-average numbers against much more advanced pitching in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting last year. His .252/.303/.439 slash doesn’t look like much, but that checked in 15 percent better than average in the Eastern League, per wRC+.
Latest On J.T. Realmuto
With the winter fast approaching and time running out for an in-season extension, Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto will “likely” try his hand on the open market, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia observes. However, general manager Matt Klentak suggested Monday that the Phillies and Realmuto have at least discussed a new contract since the season began. “That’s not true,” Klentak said of a report that the two sides hadn’t talked, though Salisbury notes that the executive was loath to give more detailed updates. Regardless of where he signs, it’ll be fascinating to see how much Realmuto rakes in as a soon-to-be 30-year-old backstop whose trip to free agency will come off a pandemic-shortened season. Realmuto has continued to make an emphatic case for a mega-deal, though, as the two-time All-Star has once again been the game’s premier catcher in 2020.
NL East Trade Deadline Recap
With the deadline in the rearview mirror, we’ll look back at each NL East team’s trade activity over the past month.
Atlanta Braves
- Acquired cash considerations from Padres for 1B Yonder Alonso
- Acquired LHP Tommy Milone from Orioles for two players to be named later
Miami Marlins
- Acquired RHP James Hoyt from Indians for cash considerations
- Acquired RHP Jesús Tinoco from Rockies for RHP Chad Smith
- Acquired a player to be named later (reportedly OF Griffin Conine) from Blue Jays for INF/OF Jonathan Villar
- Acquired OF Starling Marte from Diamondbacks for LHP Caleb Smith, RHP Humberto Mejia and a player to be named later (reportedly LHP Julio Frias)
New York Mets
- Acquired cash considerations from Pirates for RHP Tyler Bashlor
- Acquired OF Billy Hamilton from Giants for RHP Jordan Humphreys
- Acquired RHP Ariel Jurado from Rangers for a player to be named later and cash considerations
- Acquired RHP Miguel Castro from Orioles for LHP Kevin Smith and a player to be named later or cash considerations
- Acquired C Robinson Chirinos from Rangers for a player to be named later
- Acquired INF Todd Frazier from Rangers for a player to be named later
Philadelphia Phillies
- Acquired a player to be named later from Rays for RHP Edgar García
- Acquired RHP David Hale from Yankees for RHP Addison Russ
- Acquired RHP Heath Hembree and RHP Brandon Workman from Red Sox for RHP Nick Pivetta and RHP Connor Seabold
- Acquired a player to be named later and cash considerations from Pirates for LHP Austin Davis
- Acquired RHP David Phelps from Brewers for three players to be named later (reportedly RHP Brandon Ramey, RHP Israel Puello and RHP Juan Geraldo)
Washington Nationals
- None
Deadline Day DFAs: Phillies, White Sox, Cubs, Marlins
Given the flurry of transactions around the deadline, a number of players have been designated for assignment. This is, of course, the natural consequence of such a dramatic amount of shuffling to the roster via trade. These players will be available to the 29 other teams via waiver claim. We’ll use this post to track some of the more recent DFAs around baseball.
Latest Updates
- The Marlins have designated left-hander Adam Conley for assignment, MLBTR has learned. The 30-year-old hasn’t pitched this season after going on the injured list in the wake of Miami’s clubhouse COVID-19 outbreak. Conley was a prominent member of the pitching staff, recently as a pure reliever, from 2015-19. He struggled to a miserable 6.53 ERA/5.19 FIP last season, although he posted much more palatable 4.09/3.60 marks the year prior.
Earlier Today
- In perhaps the most surprising DFA of the day, the Phillies designated catcher Deivy Grullón for assignment, per the team. Grullon had been the Phillies presumptive third catcher after J.T. Realmuto and backup Andrew Knapp. The 24-year-old has long appeared on Philly prospect boards, making his first big-league appearance last season, going 1 for 9 in limited action. Rafael Marchan and Logan O’Hoppe are the other catchers in the Phillies’ 60-man player pool.
- Philadelphia also DFA’ed right-hander Reggie McClain. The 27-year-old McClain had appeared in 5 games this season with a 5.06 ERA across 5 1/3 innings. These moves came as a consequence not of trades, necessarily, but because Jay Bruce and Ranger Suárez both were reinstated from the injured list.
- The White Sox designated infielder Ryan Goins for assignment after activating Yolmer Sanchez, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Goings, 32, is a veteran of the Blue Jays and Royals. He appeared in 14 games for the White Sox this season, often as a pinch-runner. At the plate, he was 0 for 9 with a walk and a strikeout. Sanchez rejoins the White Sox after being designated for assignment by the Giants. Sanchez spent 2014 to 2019 with the White Sox.
- The Cubs DFA’ed Ian Miller and Hernan Perez, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter links). Miller and Perez are making room for Andrew Chafin and Josh Osich, respectively, the pair of lefties acquired from the Diamondbacks and Red Sox. Miller, 28, is a speed specialist who appeared in just one game for the Cubs as a pinch-runner. Perez never cracked the rotation in Chicago after several years of regular reps with the Brewers. He appeared in just 3 games for the Cubs, going 1 for 6.
Phillies Acquire David Phelps
5:34 pm: Milwaukee will eventually pick up a trio of young pitchers in the deal, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Right-handers Brandon Ramey, Israel Puello and Juan Geraldo will be the final return. Because they were not included in the Phillies’ 60-man player pool, they are ineligible to be officially named as part of the trade until after the season.
2:30 pm: The Phillies have acquired right-hander David Phelps from the Brewers, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Matt Gelb (Twitter link). Milwaukee will receive three prospects in return, as per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
After missing all of 2018 recovering from Tommy John surgery, Phelps looked good over 34 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays and Cubs last season and has been sensational in 13 innings for Milwaukee this season. Phelps has a 2.77 ERA, 52% grounder rate, 13.8 K/9, and a sterling 10.00 K/BB rate, not to mention some of the best soft-contact numbers of any pitcher in the league.
The deal reunites Phelps with Joe Girardi, who was Phelps’ manager with the Yankees from 2012-14. More importantly, Phelps gives the Phillies another new arm to help revive what has been a dreadful bullpen thus far in the 2020 season. Philadelphia has already acquired Brandon Workman, David Hale, and Heath Hembree in recent days to help address the relief corps, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Phils add another reliever beyond Phelps before the deadline.
Phelps is under control through the 2021 season, as the Phillies hold a $4.5MM club option on his services (with a $250K buyout). With Workman, Jose Alvarez, and Tommy Hunter slated for free agency and David Robertson and Hector Neris likely to have their club options declined, Phelps gives the Phils some extra bullpen depth for 2021 if they choose to exercise his option.
David Robertson Won't Return This Season
David Robertson will not appear this season for the Philadelphia Phillies, per Jim Salisbury of NBCSPhilly (via Twitter). The reliever has been shut down from any throwing for the next six weeks. The 35-year-old reliever will now have contributed just seven appearances over the span of the two-year, $23MM deal he signed with the Phillies prior to 2019. Philadelphia has a $2MM buyout option for next season, which one has to think they’d execute after two lost seasons. Otherwise, they’ll be on the hook for $12MM in 2021. Instead, Robertson is likely headed back to the open market to look for a non-guaranteed deal. He could return to the Phillies on that type of deal as Brandon Morrow did after missing the entirety of his contract length due to injury with the Cubs, but it’s not clear now if the Phillies would even be interested in investing more time into Robertson. As we near the trade deadline, let’s check in on a couple of Philly rivals…
David Robertson Suffers Setback
Just under two weeks ago, rehabbing Phillies right-hander David Robertson was optimistic he’d return to the team’s bullpen sometime in September. That looks far less likely now, though, as Robertson suffered a setback in his recovery from July 2019 Tommy John surgery, Matt Breen of The Athletic tweets.
With just a month left in the regular season and the Phillies a couple games out of a wild-card spot, it’s eminently possible Robertson has thrown his final pitch with the team. Robertson has a $12MM club option for 2021, but the Phillies are sure to buy him out for $2MM, regardless of whether he pitches this season.
Robertson was a consistently durable and excellent performer with the Yankees and White Sox earlier in his career, but he has totaled a mere 6 2/3 innings with the Phillies since they signed him to a two-year, $23MM contract before 2019. It was an understandable gamble at the time by the Phillies, as Robertson was then coming off his ninth straight season of at least 60 innings and was the owner of a 2.88 ERA/2.81 FIP with 11.97 K/9, 3.56 BB/9, 137 saves and 145 holds over 657 innings. Unfortunately for Philly, though, the signing has blown up in its face, and it doesn’t appear Robertson will provide the team any on-field value this season.