Phillies Receive Formal Warning From MLB Over Bullpen Mistake
The Phillies will receive a formal warning letter from Major League Baseball in the wake of an unusual situation from Saturday’s game, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. The league ruled that home plate umpire Jerry Layne was right to allow Phils reliever Hoby Milner some extra warm-up pitches after Milner was brought into the game seemingly without warning by manager Gabe Kapler, as Milner wasn’t even up in the bullpen. The Braves objected to Milner being allowed any warm-up pitches after being called into the game, yet Layne felt the extra time was necessary for the sake of Milner’s health. Kapler’s usage of his bullpen has already become a controversial subject in Philadelphia, as the Phillies used 21 pitchers over their first three games of the season. “Any time we have a miscommunication it’s my responsibility so I take full responsibility for it,” Kapler told NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salibury and other media after the game.
Phillies Notes: Arrieta, Neshek
Phillies right-hander Jake Arrieta is on track to make his first start with the club on April 8, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Arrieta’s going to miss the first week-plus of the season because he’s not yet in game shape, having gone without a contract in free agency until the Phillies handed him a three-year, $75MM guarantee on March 12. The former Cubs star will join Aaron Nola atop Philly’s rotation when he does debut with the team.
- In not-so-good news for the Phillies, righty Pat Neshek is fearful that the shoulder strain which forced him to the disabled list could “be something serious,” the reliever informed Matt Breen of Philly.com and other media. The 37-year-old Neshek added that this is the first time he has dealt with this type of injury. “And that’s what’s kind of weirding me out a little bit,” he continued. “But it’s something like, if I had to pitch today, I know I could. But I’m more worried about how it’s going to progress over the next couple weeks.” Neshek was the recipient of a two-year, $16.25MM deal in the offseason. Teammate and fellow reliever Tommy Hunter also landed a two-year deal (for an even richer $18MM). Both pitchers opened the season on the DL, though, with Hunter battling a hamstring strain.
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/31/18
We’ll use this post to keep track of some minor moves from around MLB…
- The Phillies have released right-hander Shane Watson, Matt Eddy of Baseball America tweets. Watson had been with the organization since it used a supplemental first-round pick (No. 40 overall) on him in 2012. Injuries, a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis and a 50-game suspension for a non-PED drug policy violation beset Watson during his Phillies tenure, however. He climbed to the Double-A level for the first time in 2017 and posted a 4.10 ERA/5.60 FIP with 4.86 K/9 and 4.32 BB/9 across 83 1/3 innings.
Earlier moves:
- The Dodgers have signed catcher Cael Brockmeyer to a minor-league contract, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group reports on Twitter. Brockmeyer was released by the Cubs earlier this week; he’ll report to the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate. Brockmeyer hit .179/.256/.308 last season with Chicago’s Double-A affiliate with a 27% strikeout rate, but still received a promotion to Triple-A late in the season. Hoornstra adds that the team released minors catcher Shawn Zarraga in a related move.
- The Reds have released infielder Darnell Sweeney, tweets C. Trent Rosencrans of The Athletic. Sweeney had been in spring training camp as a non-roster invite; he hit .287/.355/.420 across 363 plate appearances last season for the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, though his .347 BABIP suggests that at least a bit of good fortune was involved in that batting line.
Phillies Place Pat Neshek On Disabled List
The Phillies have placed right-hander Pat Neshek on the 10-day disabled list with a right shoulder strain, tweets Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Fellow right-hander Yacksel Rios has been recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley in Neshek’s place.
Neshek, 37, will join fellow offseason signee Tommy Hunter on the disabled list, meaning the Phillies will lose a combined $34.25MM in relief help before either of the two recipients of those contracts makes an appearance in the 2018 campaign. There’s no word, at present, of just how long Neshek will be sidelined, though obviously the news still serves as a blow to what now looks to be a largely inexperienced relief corps.
Last season, Neshek opened the year with the Phillies before being traded to the Rockies in July. In 62 1/3 innings between the two clubs, he turned in a 1.59 ERA with 10.0 K/9, 0.9 BB/9, 0.43 HR/9 and a 36.4 percent ground-ball rate.
The 24-year-old Rios, meanwhile, made his MLB debut with the Phils in 2017, working to a 4.41 ERA with a 17-to-9 K/BB ratio in 16 1/3 innings. He split the rest of his season between Double-A and Triple-A, working to a combined 1.92 ERA with 10.2 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and a roughly 38 percent ground-ball rate
Phillies Acquire Dean Anna
- In a minor swap for an unknown return, the Phillies acquired Dean Anna from the White Sox, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). The 31-year will give the Phils some infield depth, though they will surely hope not to have a need for it at the MLB level. Anna has scant MLB experience but has been playing at Triple-A since 2013. Most recently, he posted a .285/.364/.376 slash at the highest level of the minors with the Royals in 2017.
White Sox Acquire Ricardo Pinto
The White Sox have acquired righty Ricardo Pinto from the Phillies, per a club announcement. International bonus pool money of an unknown quantity will head to the Phils in the swap.
Pinto becomes the latest hurler to join the White Sox bullpen depth chart, though the odds are that he’ll open the season in the minors. The 24-year-old did not show well in his first effort at the majors but has generally been effective in the minors.
Last year, Pinto worked to a 3.86 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 60 2/3 Triple-A innings. Though he mostly functioned as a starter in prior seasons, he split his time between the rotation and bullpen in 2017. It certainly seems as if Pinto’s future hopes lie in the relief corps.
Sam Fuld Talks Player-Friendly Analytics
- Sam Fuld‘s status as a former player and a newly-minted member of the Phillies analytics department makes him an ideal conduit for bridging the gap between advances metrics and everyday baseball use, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Daily News writes. “Players are told to do something from someone that doesn’t quite have playing experience at a high level and it can be frustrating when you’re told to do something that is really, really difficult,” Fuld said. “It’s taken for granted sometimes. Hopefully I can relate.” Rhys Hoskins, for one, has already taken to Fuld’s advice, such as using a “cheat sheet” to determine specific batter-by-batter positioning while in the outfield.
Tommy Hunter To Open Season On DL
Phillies righty Tommy Hunter will open the year on the DL after being diagnosed with a hamstring strain, as Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com was among those to report on Twitter.
It’s not clear at the moment just how long Hunter will be sidelined, but skipper Gabe Kapler says the belief is it isn’t a serious injury, as Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Saying the team is acting “conservatively,” Kapler explained that there are no “long-term concerns” at the moment.
Hunter is expected to play a key role in the Phillies pen after joining the organization on a surprisingly hefty two-year deal over the winter. He was promised $18MM after a strong 2017 season in which he not only worked to a productive 2.61 ERA in 58 2/3 innings but ran up a career-high 9.8 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9.
The early returns have not exactly been exciting, though it’s certainly not worth rushing to any conclusions. Hunter managed only one strikeout and allowed three earned runs in his 4 1/3 Grapefruit League frames.
[RELATED: Updated Phillies Depth Chart]
While the injury to Hunter leaves the Phillies down another arm, after already losing a few hurlers to open the year, it does clear space for Jake Thompson. The younger righty, once considered a promising rotation prospect, had shown some promise in camp. He’ll likely be joined in the bullpen by 23-year-old Victor Arano, who’ll get his first full crack at the majors.
Phillies Release Cameron Rupp
The Phillies have released catcher Cameron Rupp, per a team announcement. They’ll save around $1.5MM in cutting Rupp, Matt Gelb of The Athletic notes. Rupp would have earned $2.05MM had he made the team.
Philadelphia has elected to open the season with Andrew Knapp as the backup to starting catcher Jorge Alfaro, which helped lead the club to designate Rupp for assignment on Sunday. The Phillies apparently couldn’t find a taker for Rupp via trade, but he could encounter interest on the open market at a minimum salary. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported Sunday that Rupp had piqued the Rangers’ interest, and he suggested on Monday that they could pursue him on the open market. It’s worth noting, then, that Rupp is a Dallas native.
Rupp’s next team will be getting a 29-year-old who has taken 1,127 trips to the plate in the majors and slashed .234/.298/.407 (86 wRC+). Defensively, Rupp has struggled in the pitch-framing department, especially in 2017, but he has thrown out a solid 31 percent of would-be base stealers since debuting in the league in 2013.
Phillies Sign Alexi Amarista
The Phillies have announced the signing of infielder/outfielder Alexi Amarista to a minor league contract. He’ll head to minor league camp with his new club.
The addition of Amarista should help make up for the loss of fellow utilityman Ryan Flaherty, who opted out of his minors pact with the Phillies last week and then signed a major league deal with division-rival Atlanta. Amarista, meanwhile, exited the Tigers last week after a failed bid to earn a big league spot with them.
A veteran of the Angels, Padres and Rockies, Amarista has never posed a threat offensively since debuting in 2011. That was again the case last year as a member of the Rockies, with whom Amarista hit .238/.269/.351 (45 wRC+) in 176 trips to the plate. He did line up at every outfield spot and three more in the infield (second, short and third), however.
Despite his defensive versatility, the 28-year-old Amarista seems like a long shot to make an impact in Philly. The team just added highly touted prospect Scott Kingery to its roster Sunday, and he’s likely to move all around the diamond. Kingery’s part of an impressive array of starting-caliber position players in Philly, which also has Pedro Florimon and Roman Quinn as infield/outfield types on its 40-man roster.