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Nick Nelson

Nick Nelson Signs With NPB’s Hanshin Tigers

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Right-hander Nick Nelson has signed with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per an announcement from Beverly Hills Sports Council, his agency. It’s a one-year deal worth $1MM plus incentives. Phillies Tailgate reported last week that the two sides were in negotiations.

Nelson, 29, pitched in each of the past five major league seasons but without sustained success. He logged 114 1/3 innings for the Yankees and Phillies, allowing 5.20 earned runs per nine. His 23.1% strikeout rate and 42.6% ground ball rate were both close to average but he gave out walks at a high rate of 12.9%.

As is often the case with players heading overseas, the minor league numbers are a bit more interesting. A starter for most of his minor league career, he worked primarily in relief in 2021. He tossed 52 Triple-A innings that year with a 3.81 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate, 12.3% walk rate and 53.6% ground ball rate.

In 2022, he was kept in the majors, tossing 68 2/3 innings with a 4.85 ERA. The Phils tried stretching him out in 2023, which didn’t go especially well. He made 20 Triple-A starts but with a 4.35 ERA, 17.7% strikeout rate, 9.9% walk rate and 49.3% ground ball rate. A return to a primary relief role in 2024 didn’t immediately get him back on track, as he threw 54 1/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 6.13 ERA, 18% strikeout rate, 11% walk rate and 41.6% ground ball rate.

Nelson exhausted his final option year in 2024. The Phillies outrighted him off their 40-man twice late in the year, once in August and once in September. He didn’t have a roster spot at season’s end and elected free agency.

Had he stayed in North America for the 2025 season, he likely would have been looking at minor league deals, having to fight for a roster spot. By heading to Japan and joining the Tigers, he locks in a nice payday above the MLB league minimum, which will be $760K next year. If he takes advantage of his new opportunity, he could parlay that into a raise with the Tigers or perhaps attempt a return to North American ball down the line, following the path of guys like Miles Mikolas and Colin Rea.

10 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.

Outfielders

Pitchers

Phillies Outright Nick Nelson

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September 11: Philadelphia announced this evening that Nelson again cleared waivers and was outrighted back to Lehigh Valley. There’s no indication that he’ll elect free agency, though he’ll be a minor league free agent at the end of the year unless the Phils call him back up.

September 7: The Phillies announced a quartet of roster moves in advance of their game with the Marlins, as catcher Aramis Garcia is joining the big league roster after his contract was selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.  Right-hander Jose Cuas is also joining the organization on a waiver claim from the Blue Jays and has been assigned to Triple-A.  In corresponding moves, Philadelphia designated right-hander Nick Nelson for assignment and placed infielder Rodolfo Castro on the 60-day injured list.  Castro was first called up from Triple-A before the IL placement, and it was already known that his season would be over after he tore a thumb ligament at the end of August.

Garcia is back in the Show to give the Phillies some extra catching depth since J.T. Realmuto is a little banged up.  Manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer) that Realmuto will need “a couple of days” to rest up after fouling a ball off his knee in yesterday’s game, but the Phils don’t think Realmuto will need to visit the 10-day injured list.  Garcia and Garrett Stubbs will therefore handle catching duties for what the team hopes is just a short time until Realmuto is feeling better.

This is the second time this season that Cuas has changed teams via the waiver wire, as the Blue Jays claimed him off the Cubs’ roster back in June.  Cuas tossed three innings across four appearances for Toronto before the Jays DFA’ed him earlier this week, and the righty has a rough 7.71 ERA in 16 1/3 total innings this season with the Blue Jays and Cubs.  It has been a big step down from the 3.84 ERA Cuas posted over 103 innings with the Royals and Cubs during the 2022-23 seasons, and even that respectable number was undermined by some shaky secondary metrics.

Control problems have contributed to Cuas’ struggles in both the majors and minors this year, as he has a 6.67 ERA across 27 combined Triple-A frames.  Still missing a lot of bats despite those walks, the Phillies will take a look at Cuas and his plus sweeper, and Cuas will essentially replace Nelson as a depth arm.

Nelson was also designated for assignment last month before he cleared waivers and was outrighted to Lehigh Valley.  This prior outright means that Nelson can now decline another outright assignment in favor of free agency, if he is perhaps looking for a fresh start after three seasons with the Phillies.  He pitched 68 2/3 innings over 47 appearances with Philadelphia in 2022 but he has made just five MLB appearances since, totaling 10 2/3 frames at the big league level.  A couple of injuries contributed to some of Nelson’s missed time on the Phils’ roster, but the club seemed to just view Nelson as a depth pitcher, first as a starter in 2023 and then back to relief work this season.

Phillies Designate Michael Rucker For Assignment

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The Phillies announced Wednesday that right-hander Michael Rucker has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to fellow righty Nick Nelson, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Philadelphia also optioned righty Tyler Phillips to Lehigh Valley to open a spot on the active roster for Nelson.

Rucker, 30, was acquired in a cash deal with the Cubs back in February after he’d been designated for assignment in Chicago. He never got into a game with the Phillies in the majors, instead spending most of the season on the 60-day injured list owing to an arterial vasospasm in his right hand. The Phils reinstated and optioned him prior to the trade deadline. He’s pitched 26 minor league innings this season and been tagged for a 6.58 ERA, with the bulk of the damage coming in Triple-A.

Grim as Rucker’s run-prevention has been, his 26.7% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate are both fine marks (particularly the former). He’s also kept the ball on the ground at a strong 45.2% clip. Rucker, however, has been plagued by an astronomical .479 average on balls in play during his time with the IronPigs.

As recently as 2022, Rucker was a solid member of the Cubs’ bullpen. He pitched a career-high 54 2/3 innings and logged a 3.95 ERA with a 21.8% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate in that time. His followup effort in 2023 resulted in a more troubling 4.91 ERA in 40 2/3 frames, but his strikeout and walk numbers remained generally serviceable and his grounder rate spiked to a strong 51.4%. Overall, Rucker carries a 4.96 ERA in 123 1/3 innings as a major leaguer.

Rucker will now head to waivers, where another club could have interest in his solid Triple-A track record. If not, he’ll be outrighted off the 40-man roster and stick with the Phillies as a depth piece. Rucker lacks the three years of service or prior outright assignment to elect free agency.

The 26-year-old Phillips has had one of the strangest debut campaigns in recent memory. The unheralded righty dominated through his first four big league outings, culminating a shutout of the AL Central-leading Guardians on July 27. He didn’t last two innings in his next start, yielding eight runs to a light-hitting Mariners offense, and has yet to recover. His struggles reached a tipping point when he allowed six runs in the first inning versus the Blue Jays in yesterday’s start. Overalll, since his shutout, Phillips has yielded 23 runs in just 11 2/3 innings. His ERA has skyrocketed from 1.80 to 6.87.

Taking Phillips’ spot on the roster will be Nelson, who’s spent the past three seasons with the Phils. He only pitched in 3 1/3 innings this season and has struggled to produce in Triple-A, where he’s logged a 6.30 ERA on the season. It could be a quick stay on the 40-man roster in Nelson’s return, but he’s stretched out for multiple innings and could give the Phillies four or even five innings of work on the heels of yesterday’s marathon game for the bullpen, if needed. Nelson tossed four innings in a Triple-A appearance as recently as Aug. 24. And, while he’s struggled on the season overall, Nelson has been throwing better of late; he’s yielded only one run in his past 9 1/3 innings pitched in Triple-A.

Phillies Outright Nick Nelson

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The Phillies announced this afternoon that reliever Nick Nelson went unclaimed on outright waivers. He’ll stick in the organization at Triple-A Lehigh Valley without occupying a 40-man roster spot.

A fourth-round pick of the Yankees in 2016, Nelson landed in Philadelphia at the start of the 2021-22 offseason in a four-player trade. The Phils had carried him on their 40-man roster since that point. They nudged him off the roster on Sunday as the corresponding move for their waiver claim of Kyle Tyler from Miami.

Nelson made 47 appearances in 2022, logging 68 2/3 innings of relief for the Phils during their pennant-winning season. Philadelphia gave Nelson one inning of mop-up work during the Fall Classic. He hasn’t been much of a factor over the two years since then. Nelson has combined for four major league appearances against 46 Triple-A outings since the start of 2023. The Phils stretched him out as a depth starter with Lehigh Valley a year ago but returned him to the bullpen this season.

A rough showing this year pushed him off the roster. Nelson has surrendered upwards of seven earned runs per nine across 40 2/3 frames for the IronPigs. His 17.8% strikeout rate is subpar while he’s walking more than 11% of batters faced. The Phils can keep Nelson around as non-roster depth for the stretch run. He’ll have sufficient service time to reach minor league free agency next winter unless Philadelphia adds him back to the 40-man within a few days of the start of the offseason.

Phillies Claim Kyle Tyler, DFA Nick Nelson

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The Phillies have claimed right-handed pitcher Kyle Tyler off of waivers from the Marlins, the Phillies announced. He was been optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In a corresponding move, fellow right-hander Nick Nelson has been designated for assignment.

Tyler, 27, was designated for assignment on Friday, when the Marlins selected southpaw Kent Emanuel to the 40-man roster. Tyler had pitched 31 2/3 innings over eight appearances (seven starts) for Miami. He had a 5.40 ERA and a 5.11 SIERA. The righty also made 11 appearances (nine starts) for Triple-A Jacksonville with much better results, pitching to a 3.06 ERA and 4.04 FIP. His performance for the Jumbo Shrimp represented a step in the right direction for a pitcher who had a 5.60 ERA over 135 innings last season at Double-A.

Tyler is probably just an organizational depth piece for the Phillies, but that is certainly something the team could use with Ranger Suárez and Taijuan Walker the IL. While Walker and Suárez are on their way back, a little extra pitching depth is always valuable. What’s more, Tyler has another option year remaining, so the Phillies could easily retain him at Triple-A in 2025.

As for Nelson, 28, the right-hander has spent most of the past two seasons in the minors. He was a capable mop-up man for Philadelphia in 2022, but he struggled to transition back to a starting role at Triple-A in 2023. Over 26 appearances (five starts) with Triple-A Lehigh Valley this year, he has a 7.52 ERA and a 6.32 FIP. The Phillies clearly have not trusted him to pitch meaningful major league innings over the past two years, so it was only a matter of time before his roster spot went to a fresh arm.

Phillies Select Jeff Hoffman, Designate James McArthur

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The Phillies announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Jeff Hoffman. To open a spot on the active roster, fellow right-hander Yunior Marté was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. To create room on the 40-man roster, righty James McArthur was designated for assignment. The club also announced that righty Nick Nelson, who was on the injured list with a hamstring strain, was reinstated from the IL and optioned to Double-A Reading.

It was reported earlier today that Hoffman had an opt-out in his minor league deal, which he had triggered on Monday. The club then had 48 hours to add him to the big league roster or release. More than 48 hours have elapsed since then, but it seems the two sides worked something out to get Hoffman his roster spot today.

The 30-year-old Hoffman signed a minor league deal with the Twins in the offseason but he had opt-outs in that deal, the first of which was at the end of March. He didn’t make the club out of camp and was granted his release, signing another minor league contract, but this time with the Phillies. The latter deal came with a $1.3MM base salary and opt-outs on May 1 and July 1.

The righty reported to Lehigh Valley and made nine appearances. His ERA of 7.00 in that time certainly isn’t pretty, nor is his 17.9% walk rate. However, he struck out 41% of batters faced and also had an unfortunate strand rate of 37.7%, leading to a much more palatable FIP of 3.71. Matt Gelb of The Athletic had reported earlier that Hoffman has been touching 99 mph in that short stint.

In a sense, that mixed bag is a sort of microcosm of Hoffman’s career. He’s long tantalized clubs with his power arm, getting selected ninth overall by the Blue Jays back in 2014. He’s since bounced around to the Rockies and Reds, logging 348 1/3 innings with a 5.68 ERA while walking 11.1% of batters faced. Last year was a bit more encouraging as he pitched for the Reds exclusively as a reliever, apart from one outing as an opener. He finished the year with a 3.83 ERA in 44 2/3 innings, striking out 22.8% of batters faced but with a high walk rate of 11.7%.

The Phils will give him a shot to see if he can harness his stuff at the big league level this year. If he’s able to succeed and hang onto his roster spot, they would have the ability to retain him via arbitration for another season as well. Hoffman currently has four years and 105 days of service time, meaning he would be between five and six years if he stayed up the rest of the way. But if the Phils want to remove him from the roster at any point, Hoffman is out of options and would have to be designated for assignment.

In order to prevent Hoffman from returning to the open market, the Phils have removed McArthur from their roster. A 12th round pick of the Phils in 2018, he was added to the 40-man roster in November of 2021 to prevent him from being selected in that year’s Rule 5 draft. At that time, he had just finished a season in which he tossed 78 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A with a 4.25 ERA. Unfortunately, he’s hit a few speed bumps since then, making just 13 starts last year before suffering a stress reaction in his throwing elbow that prevented him from pitching after June. He reached Triple-A for the first time this year but has a 7.31 ERA through 16 innings.

The Phils will now have a week to trade McArthur or pass him through waivers. His rough showing this year notwithstanding, he’s a starter that can be optioned to the minors. Given that multiple clubs around the league are dealing with significant rotation injuries, it’s possible one of them could be interested in picking him up.

Phillies Dealing With Injuries To Pitching And Catching Depth

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The Phillies announced a batch of injuries to reporters, including Matt Gelb of The Athletic (Twitter links). Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez and right-hander Nick Nelson have both been shut down, due to triceps soreness and a moderate hamstring injury, respectively. Catcher Garrett Stubbs is headed for an MRI on his sore right knee while fellow backstop Rafael Marchán hasn’t played in eight days and can’t currently hit due to a bruised right hamate.

Sánchez, 26, has made just 22 major league appearances thus far in his career, but he notched a strong 3.14 ERA in Triple-A last year. He struck out 24.4% of batters faced at that level, walked just 8.4% and got grounders at a very strong 62% clip.

As of a few weeks ago, he wasn’t expected to be a key piece of the club’s rotation, but some recent developments have thinned out the club’s depth in that department. Andrew Painter has been shut down with a UCL sprain while Ranger Suárez has been dealing with some forearm tightness. Painter will be shut down for four weeks, taking him out of consideration for the Opening Day rotation. Suárez, meanwhile, has been throwing but it’s still unclear if he’ll be ready for the start of the season. Gelb also relays that the club is encouraged by his progress but his overall timelines are still murky.

The club should still have a strong front of their rotation, with Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Taijuan Walker taking three spots. Bailey Falter previously seemed like he would have to compete with Painter for a spot but that’s no longer the case, likely pushing him into the mix. The fifth spot could go to Suárez if he’s healthy enough to take it. If not, Sánchez would have been in the mix to jump in there but that’s probably not on the table any longer. The club hasn’t provided a timeline on his expected absence but the fact that he has been shut down from throwing with just two weeks until Opening Day isn’t encouraging.

If none of Painter, Suárez or Sánchez are available, the Phils have Michael Plassmeyer and James McArthur on their 40-man roster. Arthur has yet to reach Triple-A and only made 13 Double-A starts last year due to injury. Plassmeyer has two big league appearances and tossed 128 1/3 Triple-A innings last year with a 4.21 ERA.

In the case of Nelson, he was going to be in the mix for a job in the club’s bullpen. He tossed 68 2/3 innings for the club last year with a 4.85 ERA, 22.5% strikeout rate, 11.8% walk rate and 39.8% ground ball rate. It doesn’t seem as though his injury is too severe, though he’s been shut down for the moment. As a reliever, he’ll have an easier time getting back into game shape than a starter like Sánchez.

In terms of the catching situation, those two ailments are noteworthy for the club since they have just three backstops on their 40-man roster. J.T. Realmuto has a lock on the starting job but the Phils will need a backup. Stubbs and Marchan would be the likely candidates for such a job, since they are the other two on the roster, but they are both question marks now due to these setbacks.

Stubbs, 30 in May, was acquired from the Astros prior to the 2022 campaign and ended up having a nice season as Realmuto’s backup. He got into 50 games and hit .264/.350/.462 for a wRC+ of 128. He was recently participating in the World Baseball Classic for Team Israel but departed when this knee issue popped up. Marchan, 24, only has 23 games of big league experience and was likely ticketed for more time in the minors behind Realmuto and Stubbs.

At this point, the path forward for both players is still unclear but there are concerns in both cases. Stubbs’ injury is significant enough to require an MRI while Marchan has already been out of action for over a week. Even if he suddenly heals up, he’ll need some time to get back into game shape. If the Phils eventually need someone else to step up and take on the backup job, they have a few catchers in camp as non-roster invitees, including Aramis Garcia and John Hicks.

Latest On Phillies’ Rotation Competition

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The Phillies entered camp with much of the season-opening roster in place. The biggest storyline was the battle for the final rotation spot. The Phils have consistently maintained top pitching prospect Andrew Painter would be given a legitimate chance to claim the job even though he won’t turn 20 until next month.

Those plans were seemingly put on hold last week, as the hard-throwing young righty reported some discomfort in his elbow. The Phils sent Painter for further examination. The club has yet to provide many specifics, though Todd Zolecki of MLB.com wrote yesterday that the team has not received any indication Painter could require surgical repair. It seems the current expectation is Painter will be able to rest and rehab but that won’t be officially known until orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache has an opportunity to review the young hurler’s medicals.

Even if Painter avoids going under the knife, the issue certainly diminishes his chances of cracking the majors out of camp. That’d point towards left-hander Bailey Falter securing the final rotation spot behind Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suárez and Taijuan Walker. Falter started 16 of 20 appearances last season, pitching to a 3.86 ERA in 84 frames. The 25-year-old had an average 21.2% strikeout rate and excellent 4.9% walk percentage to support that solid run prevention. The home run ball was a bit of an issue for the fly-ball specialist, but Falter showed enough to suggest he could be a viable back-of-the-rotation option.

Falter addressed his role with reporters this week, indicating he’s not much concerned with where the club deploys him. “As long as I’m one of those 26 guys (on the active roster), I’ll do whatever they want me to do,” he said (link via Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer). Falter has a decent amount of experience in the relief corps as well, coming out of the bullpen 21 times in 22 outings during his rookie season two years ago.

Aside from Falter and Painter, southpaw Cristopher Sánchez perhaps represents the top option for the fifth rotation spot. Zolecki notes that manager Rob Thomson has named righty Nick Nelson as another starting candidate. Nelson has only started four big league games and none of those appearances lasted more than two innings as opener work. He worked primarily in a multi-inning relief capacity last season, his first in Philadelphia. Nelson threw 68 2/3 innings over 47 outings, pitching to a 4.85 ERA with a 22.5% strikeout rate and 11.8% walk percentage.

Phillies Announce World Series Roster

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The Phillies announced their 26-man roster for the World Series.  Aaron Nola will start Game 1 tonight against the Astros.

Two changes were made to the group that defeated the Padres in the NLCS.  Right-hander Nick Nelson and infielder Nick Maton have been added to the roster, replacing left-hander Bailey Falter and outfielder Dalton Guthrie.  Nelson was on the NLDS roster in place of the then-injured David Robertson, but Nelson will now take the spot of Falter, who was rostered for the entirety of Philadelphia’s postseason run.  Maton is back on the roster for the first time since the Wild Card Series, as Guthrie had been added for the NLDS and NLCS.

Neither Nelson or Maton have seen any action to date in the postseason, and Guthrie had one appearance as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement late in Game 3 of the NLDS.  Falter had the most prominent appearance as the starter of Game 4 of the NLCS, though it was slated to be more of an opener role.  Falter ended up retiring only two batters and was charged with four runs, though the Phillies rebounded from an early deficit for a 10-6 victory.

With the Astros so deep in right-handed bats, the Phillies felt the right-handed Nelson was the better option than the southpaw Falter, even though Nelson’s splits indicate that he has been slightly better against left-handed batters during his relatively brief (103 2/3 IP from 2020-22) career in the majors.  Likewise, the left-handed hitting Maton actually has better splits against lefties than righties over his 216 career plate appearances, but he’ll get the nod over Guthrie (a right-handed hitter).

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