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Which Remaining Free Agent Relievers Are Coming Off The Best Seasons?

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The offseason floodgates opened this month, with an avalanche of free agent activity once the Winter Meetings got underway. Things have quieted down in recent days thanks to the holidays, but clubs are likely to again get back to attacking the free agent market in earnest this week.

Most of the winter’s top names are off the board, leaving teams to mostly look through lower-cost options as they search for upgrades on the margins of the roster. There are still a number of experienced options available, particularly for teams seeking to round out the bullpen. Using MLBTR’s free agent list, we find 47 pitchers who tossed at least 20 innings out of a team’s bullpen in 2022 and remain unsigned.

We’ll sort the remaining free agent relievers by various metrics of 2022 performance to identify some of the top arms. There are obviously other factors for teams to consider — quality of raw stuff, pre-2022 track record, the player’s injury history, etc. — but a brief snapshot on the top bullpen arms by last year’s performance should provide a decent starting point for players teams might target moving forward. (All figures cited, including league averages, are looking solely at pitchers’ outings as relievers).

ERA (league average — 3.86)

  1. Matt Moore (LHP), 1.95
  2. Alex Young (LHP), 2.08
  3. Matt Wisler (RHP), 2.23
  4. Wily Peralta (RHP), 2.72
  5. Brad Hand (LHP), 2.80
  6. Andrew Chafin (LHP), 2.83
  7. David Phelps (RHP), 2.87
  8. Ralph Garza Jr. (RHP), 3.34
  9. Jackson Stephens (RHP), 3.38
  10. Michael Fulmer (RHP), 3.39

Strikeout rate (league average — 23.6%)

  1. Daniel Norris (LHP), 30%
  2. Darren O’Day (RHP), 27.7%
  3. Andrew Chafin, 27.6%
  4. Matt Moore, 27.3%
  5. Aroldis Chapman (LHP), 26.9%
  6. Steve Cishek (RHP), 25.8%
  7. Chasen Shreve (LHP), 25.4%
  8. Will Smith (LHP), 24.9%
  9. David Phelps, 23.9%
  10. Noé Ramirez, 23.7%

Strikeout/walk rate differential (league average — 14.5 percentage points)

  1. Andrew Chafin, 19.8 points
  2. Daniel Norris, 19 points
  3. Darren O’Day, 17 points
  4. Chasen Shreve, 16.7 points
  5. Steve Cishek, 16.4 points
  6. Craig Stammen (RHP), 15.7 points
  7. Will Smith, 15.3 points
  8. Matt Moore, 14.8 points
  9. Ross Detwiler (LHP), 14.8 points
  10. Luke Weaver (RHP), 13.8 points

Ground-ball rate (league average — 43.5%)

  1. Luis Perdomo (RHP), 62.5%
  2. Joe Smith (RHP), 57.5%
  3. Alex Young, 55.7%
  4. Alex Colomé (RHP), 55.6%
  5. T.J. McFarland (LHP), 53%
  6. Craig Stammen, 52.6%
  7. Garrett Richards (RHP), 52.4%
  8. Bryan Shaw (RHP), 51.8%
  9. Andrew Chafin, 51.3%
  10. Jacob Barnes (RHP), 50.7%

FIP (league average — 3.86)

  1. Luke Weaver, 2.46
  2. Alex Young, 2.65
  3. Matt Moore, 2.98
  4. Andrew Chafin, 3.06
  5. David Phelps, 3.11
  6. Garrett Richards, 3.16
  7. Jackson Stephens, 3.45
  8. Michael Fulmer, 3.57
  9. Brad Hand, 3.93
  10. Darren O’Day, 4.04

Innings Pitched

  1. Matt Moore, 74
  2. Caleb Smith (LHP), 69
  3. Steve Cishek, 66 1/3
  4. Michael Fulmer, 63 2/3
  5. David Phelps, 62 2/3
  6. Hunter Strickland (RHP), 62 1/3
  7. Will Smith, 59
  8. Andrew Chafin, 57 1/3
  9. Bryan Shaw, 54
  10. Jackson Stephens/Hirokazu Sawamura (RHP), 50 2/3 each

Rangers Recall Yerry Rodriguez

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The Rangers have called up right-hander Yerry Rodriguez to the majors for the first time.  The 24-year-old will take the roster spot of left-hander Matt Moore, who was placed on the paternity list.

Even if it’s only for a cup of coffee in the majors while Moore is away, Rodriguez is now on pace to make his MLB debut.  He has been a member of the Rangers’ 40-man roster since the 2020-21 offseason, and the former international signing is in his sixth season of pro ball.

MLB Pipeline ranks Rodriguez as the 24th-best prospect in the Texas farm system, citing his ” deceptive delivery with a flat approach angle and the athleticism to repeat it consistently.”  His fastball and changeup both received 55 grades on the 20-80 scouting scale, though Pipeline’s scouting report notes that since Rodriguez moved to mostly full-time bullpen work this season, he has used his changeup less often than a slider, with shaky results.

Over 42 2/3 innings at Triple-A this year, Rodriguez has a 4.43 ERA and a 28.6% strikeout rate.  The righty has been able to consistently generate strikeouts on his way up the minor league ladder, but his control has suddenly become an issue, with his walk rate spiking to 13.6% this year.  That problem will surely have to be corrected if Rodriguez is going to be part of the conversation for a bullpen role in 2023, but the Texas coaching staff will get an opportunity for a first-hand look at the youngster in the coming days.

Bullpen Rumors: Soto, Givens, Moore

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While just about any team in need of bullpen help would love to get its hands on Tigers closer Gregory Soto, Detroit is setting a lofty asking price, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The Tigers are seeking multiple MLB-ready or nearly MLB-ready pieces and will surely be focused on players with several years of club control remaining, given that Soto himself has three years of team control beyond the current campaign. The 27-year-old is averaging a massive 98.6 mph on his heater and has pitched to a 2.36 ERA with a 25.5% strikeout rate, a 10.3% walk rate, a 46.5% ground-ball rate and 19 saves so far in 2022. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports that the Astros are among the clubs with interest. Houston hasn’t had a single left-handed reliever eclipse ten innings this season, so it’s no surprise they’d have their eyes on a high-end southpaw like Soto.

More rumblings on the bullpen market…

  • The White Sox picked up Jake Diekman in a deal with the Red Sox this evening, but they’re still on the hunt for relief help. Bruce Levine of 670 the Score reports that the Sox are among the clubs with interest in Cubs reliever Mychal Givens (Twitter link). The veteran righty is quite likely to move by tomorrow evening’s deadline, as he’s on track to hit free agency after the season. Givens’ deal contains a 2023 mutual option, but those are rarely exercised by both sides. The righty is due what remains on a $3.5MM salary for this season, plus a $1.5MM buyout on the option. Givens, who signed with the Cubs over the offseason, has a 2.66 ERA across 40 2/3 innings. He’s punched out an excellent 29.7% of opponents, although his 11% walk rate is a bit higher than ideal. Nevertheless, a relatively affordable middle reliever with a strong track record and Givens’ bat-missing abilities should attract interest from contenders.
  • As part of an overview on the Rangers deadline outlook, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News posits that reliever Matt Moore is the most likely player on the club to be traded. MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored Moore’s trade candidacy a few weeks ago, noting that the veteran southpaw has adapted well to a bullpen conversion after a career as a primary starter. Signed to a minor league deal over the winter, Moore made the big league roster two weeks into the season. He’s followed with 48 2/3 innings over 36 outings, posting a 1.66 ERA with an above-average 26.1% strikeout rate and a huge 52.5% grounder rate. An elevated walk percentage (12.1%) stands as a bit of a black mark on his record, but that combination of strikeouts and grounders will no doubt appeal to contending clubs. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote last night that Moore — as well as Tigers reliever Michael Fulmer — was on the Yankees radar, but it’s not clear whether those hurlers are still on the wish list after New York brought in Scott Effross and Lou Trivino in separate deals this afternoon.

Matt Moore’s Bullpen Rebound

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To call Matt Moore’s career a roller coaster would be to undersell the peaks and valleys that have proliferated his time in professional baseball. An eighth-round pick by the Rays back in 2007, Moore skyrocketed through the minors (relative to most  high school arms), debuting in a September playoff push in 2011. The second start of Moore’s career was a scoreless, seven-inning ALDS gem against the same club for which he now pitches back in that 2011 season. In the 2011-12 offseason, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus ranked Moore as the game’s No. 1 prospect — ahead of a pair of outfield prospects by the name of Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. Baseball America ranked him second — behind Harper and ahead of Trout.

Early in his career, Moore largely delivered on those lofty prospect rankings. He wasn’t an immediate Cy Young favorite but nevertheless pitched to a 3.53 ERA over the course of his first 347 big league innings. Moore struck out 22.8% of his opponents during that span — a below-average mark in today’s game but well above the league-average of 19.4% from 2011-13. Moore made the All-Star team in 2013, pitched to a 3.29 ERA over 27 starts, and grabbed a few down-ballot Cy Young votes, finishing ninth.

Matt Moore | Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Tommy John surgery early in the 2014 season, however, would wipe out the majority of Moore’s 2014-15 campaigns. He made just two starts in 2014 before hitting the injured list due to ligament damage in his pitching elbow, and Moore was limited to 12 mostly ugly starts upon returning in 2015. His fastball, which averaged 96 mph in his electric rookie showing, averaged 92.7 mph over those dozen appearances.

Moore briefly looked to be back on track in 2016. Traded from Tampa Bay to San Francisco in July, he posted an identical 4.08 ERA with both teams en route to 198 1/3 innings. At the very least, he looked like a league-average starter, but Moore unraveled with the Giants in 2017 (5.52 ERA in 31 starts) and posted an ERA just under 7.00 in 102 innings with the 2018 Rangers. He made just two starts for the 2019 Tigers before sustaining a season-ending knee injury while fielding a ground-ball. Moore parlayed a strong 2020 showing with Japan’s SoftBank Hawks into a big league deal with the Phillies heading into the 2021 season, but he logged a 6.29 ERA in 73 innings last season in Philly.

Unsurprisingly, given that tumultuous run from 2017-21, Moore settled on a minor league deal this past winter — returning for a second stint with the Rangers. So far, it’s proven to be one of the best minor league fliers any team took over the winter.

This marks the first time in Moore’s career that he’s been used exclusively as a reliever, and the results been excellent. He’s sporting a 1.88 ERA with a strong 26.6% strikeout rate, a career-best 54.9% ground-ball rate and a 94.4 mph average fastball velocity that represents his highest level since his pre-Tommy John days in 2012.

Moore is throwing that heater at a career-low 42.3% mark so far in 2022. As we’ve seen so often with pitchers — particularly when they move to short-relief stints — he’s found success by ramping up the usage of his secondary offerings. Moore’s curveball is actually his primary pitch so far in 2022, as he’s thrown the pitch at a 44.3% clip that is far and away the highest of his career. He’s mixing in his changeup (13.5%), giving him a third pitch that helps keep righties at bay. (Just three of his 86 changeups this year have been thrown to lefties.) Gone is the cutter he threw at a 9% clip from 2014-21. The sinker he featured briefly from 2012-16 has also been scrapped. All three of Moore’s current pitches have been positives, per FanGraphs’ run values.

Moore’s Statcast profile is quite favorable, too, lending some further weight to his bullpen breakout. He’s in the 73rd percentile of big league pitchers in terms of whiff rate and the 79th when it comes to inducing chases off the plate. Moore ranks in the 85th percentile or better in fastball spin rate, barrel rate, hard-hit rate and in each of his “expected” ERA, opponents’ batting average, slugging percentage and wOBA. Put more simply: Moore is missing bats, and when he does allow contact, it’s generally weak.

It’s not all roses, of course. There’s no denying that Moore has still yielded far too many free passes in 2022 (13.9% walk rate), and while he’s begun to slightly scale back the rate at which he issues those walks, no one’s going to claim that he has above-average (or even average) command right now. Moore also hasn’t allowed a home run this season. That’s obviously a good thing — but it’s also a trend that no pitcher is likely to sustain over the course of a full season. Even if the bulk of contact against a pitcher is weak, hitters are generally going to barrel up a mistake and make them pay on occasion.

Few relievers check all the boxes though, and generally those that can sustain plus strikeout rates with plus command and ground-ball tendencies while also limiting hard contact and home runs are among the highest-paid pitchers in the game. Those types of relievers are rarely available at the trade deadline. Moore, however, should be available — and he has the strikeout, ground-ball and weak contact tendencies that teams tend to covet, even if they’re accompanied by at-times spotty command.

Beyond the impressive showing in his first foray into full-time relief work, the southpaw is also eminently affordable. Moore’s minor league deal over the winter came with a $2.5MM base salary. He’ll be a free agent at season’s end, so he’s a pure rental, but he’d only cost his new club about $1.17MM through season’s end as of this writing. That number, of course, will continue to tick downward as the Aug. 2 deadline approaches.

The Rangers find themselves within striking distance of the newly created third Wild Card spot in the American League, and their offseason blockbuster signings of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien were a clear indication that they’re aiming for a return to relevance in the AL West. But teams in this era of baseball are rarely strict buyers or sellers at the deadline. It’s certainly possible for the Rangers to continue exploring deals that might net them controllable big leaguers while also shipping short-term assets like Moore to more clear-cut postseason contenders to stockpile a bit more future value.

If Moore can net a decent prospect — and given how he’s pitched, there’s reason to think he should — trading him while still pursuing controllable, MLB-ready help in the outfield and starting rotation would represent a sensible means of toeing the buyer/seller line for a Rangers club that isn’t quite a surefire contender yet.

Rangers Select Matt Moore, Place Josh Sborz On 10-Day IL

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The Rangers announced that right-hander Josh Sborz has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to right elbow soreness.  Taking Sborz’s place on the active roster is Matt Moore, as the veteran southpaw’s contract was selected from Triple-A.

Moore signed a minor league deal with Texas shortly after the lockout, looking to again try and get his big league career back on track.  After injuries and poor performances during the 2017-19 seasons, Moore pitched well over 78 innings with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in 2020, but his return from Japan didn’t lead to better results in MLB.  Moore posted a 6.29 ERA over 73 innings with the Phillies last season, allowing 15 home runs while starting 13 of 24 games.

This will be Moore’s second official stint on the Rangers’ active roster, as he pitched 102 innings of 6.79 ERA ball for Texas in 2018.  The expectation is that Moore will be used out of the bullpen in a long relief role, or perhaps as a bulk pitcher behind an opener depending on how the Rangers navigate some injuries in their rotation.  Both Jon Gray and Spencer Howard are on the injured list with blisters, and while at least Gray may be back after just the minimum 10 days, the Rangers might be in need of some short-term starting help until their rotation is back to fuller strength.

Sborz is off to a shaky start, with an 11.25 ERA after his first four innings of work in 2022.  A balky elbow could be responsible for these struggles, and Sborz will now get a chance to heal up and essentially reset his season.  Sborz’s first season with the Rangers was a success, as he posted a 3.97 ERA over 59 innings out of the 2021 Texas bullpen, albeit with a troublesome 12.5% walk rate.

Rangers Sign Matt Moore To Minors Deal

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The Rangers have signed Matt Moore to a minor league deal, tweets Jeff Wilson. Moore is already in camp today.

Before making his MLB debut, Moore was often ranked alongside Mike Trout and Bryce Harper as a trio of generational talents that were about to join the big leagues. Unfortunately, Moore hasn’t delivered on that hype to the same degree as Trout and Harper.

The lefty got a cup of coffee with the Rays in 2011 as a 22-year-old and then seemed to be making good on his prospect status in 2012. He threw 177 1/3 innings in 31 starts with a 3.81 ERA, 23.1% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been as good since, with the 2.4 fWAR he put up that season still his career best.

After just ten innings in 2014, Moore had to undergo Tommy John surgery, which wiped out the rest of that season and much of the next. His first full season after the surgery, 2016, was a nice enough bounceback, as he threw 198 1/3 innings with an ERA of 4.08, 21.2% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate. Things trended the wrong way over the next couple of seasons, though, as Moore’s ERA was 5.52 and then 6.79 in 2017 and 2018. Knee surgery wiped out his 2019 after just ten innings.

In 2020, however, he was able to turn the ship around in Japan after signing with the SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball. He made 13 starts and logged 78 innings with an ERA of 2.65. He parlayed that into a $3MM deal to join the Phillies last year, but was unable to bring his success across the ocean. In 73 innings with the Phils last year, he put up an ERA of 6.29, along with subpar strikeout and walk rates of 18.9% and 11.4%.

Moore will surely hope to get another crack at a comeback in Texas. Despite the club’s wild spending spree this offseason, they still have question marks when it comes to the pitching staff. Jon Gray, who signed before the lockout, will surely be at the front of the rotation. They also signed veteran Martin Perez a couple of days ago to take another spot. Beyond that, the other names on the chart are younger arms with limited experience. Dane Dunning and Taylor Hearn should be in the mix for spots, along with other candidates like A.J. Alexy, Kolby Allard, Spencer Howard and Glenn Otto. As the club continues moving out of their recent rebuild, they will want to give opportunities to some of that group, as performance warrants. But if they should struggle to make the transition to the big leagues, a veteran like Moore could potentially step in and give the club some innings.

Phillies Place Archie Bradley On Injured List, Select Kyle Dohy

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The Phillies have placed Archie Bradley on the IL with an oblique injury, according to a team announcement. The club has selected the contract of lefty Kyle Dohy to take his place. To make room on the 40-man roster, lefty Matt Moore was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL.  (Matt Gelb of The Athletic first reported Bradley was heading to the IL and that Dohy would be coming up.)

This is surely a frustrating development for Bradley and the Phillies, as he has been a largely solid member of a shaky relief corps for the club. The righty has logged 51 innings for the Phils with an ERA of 3.71. His strikeout and walk rates are both slightly worse than average, at 17.9% and 9.8%, respectively, but his 55.7% groundball rate is excellent. This is his second trip to the injured list this year, as he missed over a month at the beginning of the season, also with an oblique injury. If this injury is as severe as that one, it has the potential to finish Bradley’s season. The Phils are still hunting for the NL East crown and are just 1 1/2 games behind Atlanta, but another month-long stretch on the injured list would keep Bradley out of action until the World Series. For what it’s worth, Bradley himself said he hopes to pitch again in October, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Signed by the Phillies to a one-year, $6MM deal in January, the 29-year-old is a free agent at season’s end.

As for Dohy, he was added to Philadelphia’s 40-man roster in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft, but cleared waivers and was outrighted off the roster April 1st. The southpaw has spent the bulk of this year at Double-A, logging 37 1/3 innings out of the bullpen there, as well as 5 1/3 innings at Triple-A. Overall, he has an ERA of 2.95, with an excellent strikeout rate of 35.1%, but a concerning walk rate of 15.1%. As soon as he is called upon to enter a game, it will be his major league debut.

Moore was just placed on the 10-day IL September 23rd with a lower back strain, meaning today’s transfer to the 60-day IL officially concludes his season. The Phillies signed him to a one-year, $3MM deal in the offseason, based on a strong performance in Japan in 2020. Unfortunately, 2021 didn’t go quite as smooth for the 32-year-old. He logged 73 innings this year in 24 games, 13 starts, with an ERA of 6.29. His strikeout rate of 18.9% and walk rate of 11.4% were both worse than league average.

Phillies Promote Spencer Howard, Place Matt Moore On 10-Day IL

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The Phillies have officially called up right-hander Spencer Howard to start tonight’s game against the Red Sox.  A roster spot was created when left-hander Matt Moore was placed on the 10-day IL due to a back injury, according to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).  According to the Phillies, Moore is suffering from back spasms, and his placement is retroactive to May 21.

Howard began the season in Philadelphia’s bullpen, as the team intended to deploy him as a reliever in order to better manage his innings.  However, since Moore and Chase Anderson both struggled as the team’s fourth and fifth starters, the decision was made to stretch Howard out back into a starting role.

Manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury) yesterday that Howard would be limited to roughly 55-60 pitches today.  It remains to be seen how long Howard’s stint in the rotation will last, or whether or not the Phillies will eventually use him as something of a “normal” starter, or whether they’ll continue to use him in these rather limited starts to get as much game action out of the young righty as possible.

Vince Velasquez’s health status will certainly be a factor, as Velasquez was a late scratch from his most recent start due to a finger numbness issue that has bothered him in the past.  Beyond the impressive top trio of Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin, and Zack Wheeler, Velasquez had been giving the Phillies some quality work as the fourth starter, so if he is able to stay healthy and Howard is able to pitch up to expectations, the Phils might suddenly have one of the more solid rotations in the game.  Of course, there isn’t much depth beyond those options, given how Anderson has been relegated to bullpen work and Moore will be out of action for at least the next 10 days.

Howard has a 6.28 ERA over 28 2/3 innings in his brief MLB career thus far, though the 2017 second-rounder is considered to be one of baseball’s better pitching prospects.  Injuries have slowed Howard’s progress (hence the innings limit), though he has performed well when healthy in the minor leagues.  Getting his first taste of Triple-A this year, Howard has allowed only a single run over nine innings, though he has issued five walks.

Phillies Plan To Move Spencer Howard Into Rotation

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The Phillies optioned righty Spencer Howard to their alternate site this week, but it’s not the demotion it might appear to be upon first glance. Rather, they’ll get him stretched out to work as a starter over the next few weeks with an eye toward adding him to the rotation next month, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

It’s a quick change in direction for a Phillies club that had previously planned to keep Howard, the organization’s top pitching prospect, in a bullpen role for the 2021 season. President of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski plainly said as much prior to the season, but as Breen highlights, the team’s fourth and fifth spots in the rotation have yielded dreadful results.

Lefty Matt Moore, signed to a one-year deal on the back of a solid showing in Japan last year, has yet to give the Phillies a competitive start. He’s been tagged for a dozen earned runs on 17 hits with an ugly 12-to-9 K/BB ratio through 11 innings of work. Righty Chase Anderson was mostly solid during his first three starts, yielding two runs apiece, but those starts lasted just five, four and four innings, respectively. He was clobbered for six runs in 3 2/3 innings in his most recent turn (albeit at Coors Field). Vince Velasquez has made only one start, lasting four innings, and hasn’t fared especially well in relief.

Fortunately for the Phillies, the top three starters in their rotation have each been excellent. Ace Aaron Nola is sitting on a 2.84 ERA through 31 2/3 innings and recently hurled a shutout in which he punched out 10 Cardinals. Zack Wheeler’s strikeouts are back after a 2020 hiatus, and he’s sporting a 3.13 ERA through an identical 31 2/3 inning workload. Zach Eflin leads Philadelphia starters with a 2.77 ERA and a brilliant 19-to-2 K/BB ratio in 26 innings.

Ideally, Howard will get stretched out and turn that strong trio into a formidable quartet. The 2017 second-rounder has ranked among the game’s Top 50 prospects for the past two seasons, according to each of Baseball America, FanGraphs and MLB.com. He hasn’t exactly thrived in the Majors to this point (6.28 ERA, 4.44 SIERA), but he’s only tallied 28 1/3 MLB innings and is still just 24 years of age. We don’t have 2020 minor league numbers to look at for obvious reasons, but back in ’19, Howard tallied 71 innings across four levels and logged a combined 2.03 ERA with a brilliant 34.8 percent strikeout rate and a tiny 5.9 percent walk rate.

Of course, the Phillies’ initial reason for wanting to use Howard in the ’pen was to limit his 2021 workload after he battled shoulder troubles in both 2019 and 2020. He’s not going to be plugged into the rotation and given the go-ahead to toss six or seven innings every fifth day through season’s end. Breen suggests the righty could be tasked with working the first four or perhaps five innings of a game every fifth day. Perhaps both he and Anderson — if Anderson can continue working in mostly solid four- or five-inning blocks — could then round out the starting staff, with the Phils leaning more heavily on the ’pen on those days.

The Phillies have one of the game’s bottom 10 farm systems by most rankings (including BA and MLB.com), so it’s not a huge surprise that they’re lacking in upper-level alternatives to plug into the rotation. Left-hander Bailey Falter and righty Adonis Medina give them a pair of candidates, and both have already very briefly cracked the big leagues.

The Phils will surely have some other internal arms pop up, and they have some depth pieces like Bryan Mitchell and Enyel De Los Santos slated to begin the year in Triple-A. They were also among the teams to watch Anibal Sanchez’s workout last Friday. Still, if they continue to hover around .500 and remain in the playoff hunt, it’s easy to envision Dombrowski hitting the summer trade market in search of some arms to augment his starting staff.

Phillies Activate Jose Alvarado, Matt Moore; Select Odubel Herrera

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The Phillies have activated left-handers Jose Alvarado and Matt Moore from the injured list and selected the contract of center fielder Odubel Herrera, per a club announcement. The team optioned lefty Bailey Falter, righty Spencer Howard and outfielder Mickey Moniak in corresponding moves.

The Phillies went the past week without Alvarado and Moore, whom they placed on the COVID list along with infielder Ronald Torreyes on April 19. None of those players tested positive for the virus.

The most noteworthy move here is the return of Herrera, a 29-year-old who last appeared in the majors in 2019. Herrera was a standout with the Phillies earlier in his career, leading the team to sign him to a five-year, $30.5MM extension heading into the 2017 season. Two years later, though, Major League Baseball issued an 85-game suspension to Herrera for a violation of the MLB-MLBPA joint domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy. The Phillies outrighted Herrera in January 2020, and he was off their 40-man roster until today.

Philadelphia’s hope is that Herrera will provide a spark in center, which has been a problem position for the club this season. The Phillies have divided playing time among Moniak, Adam Haseley and Roman Quinn, though their production has been horrid. They’ve hit a combined .114/.213/.177, which pales in comparison to Herrera’s lifetime .276/.333/.423 mark through 2,492 plate appearances.

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