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Phillies Outright Scott Moss

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MARCH 16: Moss has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, the team announced. He doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization.

MARCH 15: The Phillies announced Tuesday that they’ve designated lefty Scott Moss for assignment. That’s one of two corresponding moves to make room for the signings of lefty Brad Hand and righty Jeurys Familia — both of whom signed one-year, $6MM contracts to join the Philadelphia bullpen. Both contracts have now been formally announced. The Phils also placed lefty JoJo Romero on the 60-day IL.

Moss, 27, is still searching for his MLB debut. The former fourth-round pick posted solid numbers with both Cincinnati and Cleveland early in his professional career, with his 2019 season in particular standing out. That season saw Moss make 26 starts between Double-A and Triple-A while working to a 2.96 ERA with an impressive 28.9% strikeout rate (against a much less-inspiring 12.7% walk rate).

Moss was in Cleveland’s 60-man player pool during the shortened 2020 season but never got a look in the big leagues. This past year in Triple-A, injuries limited him to just nine games and 20 1/3 innings, during which time he posted a 7.08 ERA. The Phillies claimed him off waivers from the Guardians back in November, but he’ll now either be traded within the week or again made available to all 29 other teams via outright waivers.

Phillies To Sign Jeurys Familia

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The Phillies are in agreement with reliever Jeurys Familia, pending a physical, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). It’s a one-year, $6MM guarantee for the ACES client, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post (Twitter links). The deal also contains an additional $1MM in possible incentives.

Familia has a solid track record throughout his ten-year MLB career. He owns six seasons with at least 20+ innings of sub-4.00 ERA ball, including a three-year peak when he was one of the top late-game arms in baseball. Familia was a dominant option for the Mets from 2014-16, including a league-best 51-save 2016 campaign. The righty’s strikeout rates were good but not elite; instead, he thrived on racking up ground-balls at a massive clip.

Since that prime, Familia’s performance has fluctuated. He followed up a solid 2018 showing with a rocky campaign. Familia’s run prevention in 2020 (3.71 ERA in 26 2/3 innings) was alright, but his strikeout and walk numbers that year were dismal. His ERA ticked up a bit to 3.94 last season, but Familia’s K/BB rates were better. He punched out an impressive 27.5% of opponents; his 10.3% walk rate remained a bit high, but it marked a notable improvement over the prior year’s 15.8% mark.

As he has throughout his career, Familia did a nice job keeping the ball on the ground. Last year’s 51% rate wasn’t at his peak levels, but it’s still far above the 43.1% league average for bullpen arms. That’s no doubt of appeal to a Philadelphia team that plays in one of the league’s most hitter-friendly home ballparks. Familia’s home run rate spiked a bit last season, but he’s traditionally been excellent at keeping the ball in the yard.

He was also one of the hardest throwers remaining on the free agent market. Familia averaged 97.3 MPH on his heater last season, and he’ll give skipper Joe Girardi another power arm he can rely upon late in games. It’s possible the 32-year-old even picks up some save opportunities. He’s worked in the middle innings over the past few seasons, but he’d obviously shown himself capable of having success in the ninth earlier in his career. At present, fellow offseason signee Corey Knebel seems the favorite for saves, but the Phils didn’t promise him the closer’s role when they added him before the lockout. If Girardi prefers to use Knebel in high-leverage work earlier in games, Familia could be an option to pick up some ninth-inning time.

Of course, it’s also possible the Phillies make another bullpen pickup or two in the coming weeks. Philadelphia’s troubles holding leads in recent years have been well-documented. Last year, Phillie relievers tied with the Nationals for the league lead in blown saves (34). The Phils have seen Héctor Neris and Archie Bradley hit free agency (Bradley remains unsigned), leaving Connor Brogdon as the only returning bullpen arm who tossed 20+ innings with a sub-4.00 ERA.

The Phillies created a spot on the 40-man roster this evening by placing left-hander JoJo Romero on the 60-day injured list. The 25-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery last May; given the timeline of that procedure, it’s no surprise he’ll miss at least the first two months of the season.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Phillies’ JoJo Romero To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Phillies left-hander JoJo Romero will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the 2021 season, manager Joe Girardi announced to reporters (link via Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia). He’ll undergo the procedure next week and miss a good portion of the 2022 season as well.

The 24-year-old Romero hasn’t yet had much success at the big league level yet, surrendering 16 earned runs on 25 hits and six walks with 18 punchouts in 25 2/3 innings. But he’s regarded as one of the organization’s more promising young arms, placing 13th among Phillies farmhands at FanGraphs and 21st at Baseball America. Romero has tallied 392 2/3 innings in the minors since being selected in the fourth round of the 2016 draft, pitching to an overall 3.69 ERA with a 21.7 percent strikeout rate, an 8.1 percent walk rate and a hearty 53.2 percent ground-ball rate. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen tabs him as a possible multi-inning reliever for the Phils.

Romero’s season-ending injury allowed the Phillies to move him to the 60-day injured list and free up a 40-man roster spot for infielder Ronald Torreyes, who returned from the Covid-19 list last night and delivered a two-run, pinch-hit double in Philadelphia’s win over Miami.

Phillies Place Archie Bradley On 10-Day Injured List

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3:50 pm: Bradley’s IL placement is now official, with the team announcing it’s a left oblique strain. The Phillies recalled southpaw JoJo Romero in a corresponding move.

1:51 pm: The Phillies will be placing right-hander Archie Bradley on the 10-day injured list due to an oblique injury, The Athletic’s Matt Gelb reports (Twitter links).  Bradley just pitched yesterday, allowing two hits and recording one out against the three batters he faced, and he was charged with the loss as Philadelphia dropped a 5-4 result to Atlanta.

IL visits are rare for Bradley, who hasn’t officially missed any time since the 2015 season.  The severity of the oblique problem isn’t yet known, as more severe strains can lead to months-long absences.  Even a 10-day stint for Bradley would represent a blow to the Phillies’ bullpen, which has posted some solid results this year following a thoroughly disastrous performance in 2020.

Bradley was one of several new faces added to the rebuilt bullpen over the offseason, as he signed a one-year, $6MM deal with Philadelphia after being non-tendered by the Reds earlier in the winter.  The Reds’ decision was seemingly more based around saving money on Bradley’ arbitration salary (projected to fall between $4.3MM and $5.7MM) than on Bradley’s performance, as he posted a 2.95 ERA/3.44 SIERA over 18 1/3 combined innings with the Diamondbacks and Reds in 2020.  Bradley has worked as a closer in the past, but seemed slated for set-up duty or general high-leverage usage thus far with the Phillies.

Phillies Option Scott Kingery, JoJo Romero; Release Christian Bethancourt

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The Phillies announced a set of roster moves, including the news that utilityman Scott Kingery, left-hander JoJo Romeo, and catcher Rafael Marchan have been optioned to Triple-A.  Outfielder Travis Jankowski and catcher Rodolfo Duran were reassigned to the team’s minor league camp, and catcher Christian Bethancourt (in camp on a minors contract) has been released.

Though Kingery has had a tough time at the plate in Spring Training, it still counts as something of a surprise to see the 26-year-old not break camp with the team.  While Kingery could be recalled in relatively short order, today’s move underlines how the former top prospect has struggled since the start of the 2020 season, a year that saw him suffer through a positive COVID-19 diagnosis during the summer and then hit just .159/.228/.283 in 124 plate appearances once he got onto the field.

The Phillies thought so highly of Kingery’s potential in 2018 that he was signed to a contract extension before even debuting in the majors.  Though he had a rough 2018 rookie season, Kingery looked to be turning the corner with a respectable .258/.315/.474 slash line over 500 plate appearances in 2019 before his season-long setback last year.  Heading into the current season, Kingery was seen as a candidate to win the Phillies’ center field job.  While Kingery would still have been a backup option at multiple other positions, it seemed as though he would primarily be focused on outfield work — perhaps a necessary move, given how Kingery has spoken in the past about the extra difficulties associated with a super-utility role.

With Kingery now in the minors, it could be a sign that the Phillies are confident that Brad Miller will be ready to go on Opening Day and assume super-utility duties.  Miller has been out since March 10 due to an oblique injury, but he is in Philadelphia’s lineup today for their Spring Training game with the Yankees.

Romero’s demotion also counts as a bit of a surprise, both because he’d pitched well in camp and because Jose Alvarado now looks to be the only left-hander in the Philly bullpen after Tony Watson opted out of his minor league contract earlier this week.  The hard-throwing Romero (a fourth-round pick for the Phillies in the 2016 draft) worked exclusively as a reliever when making his MLB debut in 2020, but since he has otherwise operated as a starting pitcher in the minors, he could be kept stretched out as potential rotation depth.

Bethancourt signed minor league contracts with the Phillies in each of the last two offseasons, but has yet to appear in a big league game with the team.  Bethancourt hit .222/.252/.316 over 489 PA with the Braves and Padres from 2013-17 and hasn’t since returned to the Show, spending 2018 with the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate and playing in South Korea in 2019.

Phillies Likely Done Spending For Now

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The Phillies payroll is roughly where it was last year – at least as long as they entertain rostering Brandon Kintzler and Tony Watson on opening day. A lot remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a possibility that the pair of veteran relievers makes the team. In that case, they would both make $3MM, pushing their luxury tax payroll close to $208MM, writes the Athletic’s Matt Gelb. Wanting to leave a touch of breathing room under the tax for an in-season acquisition, the Phillies are likely done adding Major League players. Whether the Phillies should trifle over surpassing the luxury tax by a million or two is certainly worth the question, but it’s not a level of spending they’ve breached in the past.

If they are using that line as a soft cap,  there won’t be much flexibility even for a mid-season acquisition. Clearing close to $6MM by not putting Kintzler and Watson on the roster might be appealing for that cause, but considering the disaster that was their 2020 bullpen, they may prefer having those veteran hands at the ready. Kintzler was the Marlins closer last year with a 2.24 ERA over 24 1/3 innings. Watson logged a 2.50 ERA across 18 innings for the Giants. Both have been steady Eddies for the past decade out of the bullpen.

Watson, for his part, fits a particular need for the Phillies. Southpaw Ranger Suárez is behind in his preparation by a couple of weeks because of visa issues, notes Gelb. Suárez would be one of the lefties competing for a spot in the bullpen. If Suárez isn’t ready for opening day, Watson would be in competition with JoJo Romero for deputy southpaw behind nominal sheriff José Alvarado. The 24-year-old Romero had a 7.59 ERA in 12 appearances last year. There are plenty of reason to be bullish on Romero, however. He had a 3.66 FIP and minuscule 4.3 percent walk rate, suggesting better times may be ahead for the crowd-pleasing southpaw. Still, Watson is by far the most experienced arm with a 2.80 ERA/3.61 FIP in 591 career innings.

Damon Jones, Kyle Dohy, Cristopher Sánchez, and Bailey Falter are the other left-handers on the Phillies 40-man. None of the four have experience at the Major League level, however.

Phillies Acquire Cristopher Sanchez From Rays

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The Phillies announced that they’ve acquired lefty Cristopher Sanchez from the Rays in exchange for minor league infielder Curtis Mead. Sanchez has been selected to the 40-man roster, per the team, as have three other players: right-hander Mauricio Llovera and left-handers Garrett Cleavinger and JoJo Romero.

The 22-year-old Sanchez had been with the Rays since they signed him out of the Dominican Republic in 2013. He has pitched almost exclusively in the low minors since then, and is now coming off a season in which he threw 34 innings of 1.85 ERA ball with 9.53 K/9, 3.44 BB/9 and a 54.1 percent ground-ball rate at the Single-A level.

The Australian-born Mead, 19, signed with the Phillies since May 2018. He impressed over 175 plate appearances in 2019 at the rookie level, where he batted .285/.351/.462 and hit four home runs.

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