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Rafael Lantigua

Blue Jays Sign Rafael Lantigua To Minor League Deal

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The Blue Jays brought infielder Rafael Lantigua back to the organization on a minor league contract, the team announced. Toronto also added infielder Carlos Mendoza and confirmed previously reported agreements with Jorge Alcala, Eloy Jiménez and Michael Plassmeyer. All five players receive non-roster invitations to big league camp.

Lantigua, 27, initially signed with the Jays out of the Dominican Republic during the 2016 amateur signing period. The righty-hitting utilityman played his way to Triple-A by the end of the 2022 season. He spent the next two full seasons with their top affiliate in Buffalo before qualifying for minor league free agency. Lantigua signed with the Phillies last winter and again played the majority of the year in the International League.

The 5’7″ infielder batted .230/.356/.330 across 495 plate appearances for Philly’s farm team. Lantigua walked at a 15.6% clip while only striking out 14.7% of the time. While that propped up his on-base percentage, he did very little damage on contact. He hit seven homers and had a .260 average on balls in play. There was probably some poor luck in the latter number, as his BABIP in the previous two seasons was much higher, but he did himself no favors by only making hard contact on a quarter of batted balls.

Lantigua received his first major league call in September thanks to an injury to Edmundo Sosa. The Phils optioned him three days later without getting him into a game. They outrighted him from the roster at the beginning of the offseason. Lantigua has reached the majors but hasn’t gotten an opportunity to debut, which he’ll hope will arise with his original organization at some point in 2026.

Mendoza is also a smaller infielder whose game is built around getting on base. He’s a lefty bat who hit .287/.394/.409 with more walks than strikeouts in the Detroit system last year. The Miami native spent the majority of the season in Double-A. He can play second or third base but has no shortstop experience. Mendoza didn’t crack Detroit’s 40-man roster before qualifying for free agency at the end of his seventh season in the minors.

Rafael Lantigua Becomes Free Agent

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The Phillies announced that infielder Rafael Lantigua has been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and has become a free agent. Right-handers Zack Wheeler and Daniel Robert have been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Philadelphia’s 40-man roster count is now at 30.

Lantigua had spent his entire career in Toronto’s organization prior to this past season. He signed with Philadelphia as a minor league free agent in December 2024. Lantigua briefly joined the big-league club in September, though he spent just three days on the roster and didn’t appear in a game. He’ll now head back to minor league free agency looking for another opportunity.

The Blue Jays signed Lantigua back in 2016. He’s logged considerable time in the minor leagues, racking up 3,357 plate appearances across eight seasons. Lantigua reached Triple-A Buffalo in 2022, where he played through the 2024 season. Despite the ample time on the verge of the majors, he never got the call with Toronto.

Lantigua has shown elite on-base skills at every level of the minors. He’s had an OBP above .345 in each of the past five seasons. A massive walk rate has helped Lantigua reach base at such a high clip. He posted a 17% walk rate in his first full season at Triple-A in 2023. He was at a strong 13.4% in 2024, before notching a 15.6% mark with Lehigh Valley this past season.

The 2025 promotion actually came after one of Lantigua’s weaker minor league seasons. He slashed .230/.356/.330 with the Iron Pigs in 2025. His 90 wRC+ matched the lowest for a full season in his career. Lantigua did steal 17 bases and walked more than he struck out, but his call-up was more of a need-based decision. The Phillies were missing all of Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, and Edmundo Sosa, necessitating a move for an infielder. Lantigua headed back to Lehigh Valley when Bohm returned from the IL.

Phillies Activate Alec Bohm, Outright Brewer Hicklen

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The Phillies activated third baseman Alec Bohm off the 10-day injured list, and optioned infielder Rafael Lantigua to Triple-A in the corresponding move.  In another transaction, the club also outrighted outfielder Brewer Hicklen to Triple-A after Hicklen (who was designated for assignment earlier this week) cleared waivers.

Bohm returns after a minimal stint, as his retroactive IL placement date was September 8.  A left shoulder cyst was the cause of Bohm’s absence, as he had to have the cyst drained and treated in order to correct the discomfort in his non-throwing arm.  The issue wasn’t seen as serious, so taking 10 days to fix the problem now gives Bohm some time to get back to action and get ramped up in advance of the playoffs.

Over 464 plate appearances this season, Bohm has hit .272/.319/.384 with nine home runs, translating to a subpar 94 wRC+.  It has been a up-and-down season for the third baseman, with injuries have been the story of his second half.  Between a fractured rib and his shoulder cyst, Bohm has been limited to just 20 games since the All-Star break, and he has hit only .231/.282/.333 over 85 PA during those 20 games.

The Phillies have clinched the NL East and are likely going to receive a first-round bye, giving the club some extra time to get healthy.  Bohm is now back, though the Phils are still short-handed in the infield with Trea Turner and Edmundo Sosa on the IL.  These absences opened the door for Lantigua to receive his first call to the majors on Tuesday, but he’ll return to Lehigh Valley without an official MLB debut, as Lantigua didn’t receive any playing time during his cup of coffee in the Show.

Lantigua’s selection to the 40-man roster came at Hicklen’s absence, as Hicklen found himself DFA’ed for the third time this season.  All three of those designations came with different teams.  The Brewers DFA’ed Hicklen on Opening Day and then traded him to the Tigers a day later, and Philadelphia then swung a trade in late July after Detroit designated Hicklen again.

Though all of these travels, Hicklen has appeared in exactly one big league game in 2025 — he had two hits as the Tigers’ starting center fielder in an 11-1 win over the Rockies on May 8, as Detroit swept a double-header against Colorado.  These were the first two hits of Hicklen’s brief Major League career, which consists of 10 games with the Royals, Brewers, and Tigers from 2022-25.

Most of Hicklen’s playing time has come in Triple-A ball over these last four seasons, with a solid .240/.346/.464 career slash line in 1731 PA at the top minor league level.  His numbers have taken a dip this year, however, as Hicklen has topped out at a .730 OPS while playing with the Phillies’ and Tigers’ top affiliates.  Unless a late injury changes Philadelphia’s plans, Hicklen will likely finish 2025 in Lehigh Valley.  He hasn’t been previously outrighted in his career and he has much less than three years of MLB service time, so Hicklen wasn’t able to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Phillies Select Rafael Lantigua

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The Phillies announced they’ve selected infielder Rafael Lantigua onto the big league roster. He replaces Edmundo Sosa, who heads to the 10-day injured list (retroactive to September 13) with a right groin strain. Philly needed to create a spot on the 40-man roster, so they designated outfielder Brewer Hicklen for assignment.

Lantigua gets his first major league call at age 27. A 5’7″ infielder, he signed with the Blue Jays as an amateur from the Dominican Republic. The righty-hitting utilityman played in the Toronto system through the end of last season. He spent two and a half seasons at Triple-A Buffalo without getting a major league call. Lantigua departed the organization last winter as a minor league free agent, catching on with the Phils on a non-roster deal.

Philadelphia assigned Lantigua to their top minor league affiliate. He has hit .232/.359/.333 across 491 trips to the plate for Lehigh Valley. Lantigua’s batted ball metrics and power numbers are unimpressive, but he has a clear understanding of the strike zone. He has walked at a huge 15.7% clip while rarely chasing pitches off the plate. He pairs that with plus bat-to-ball skills and a tidy 14.3% strikeout percentage.

Lantigua is mostly a second baseman. He has logged 661 innings there while tallying a little over 300 frames at third base. He has made a handful of starts at shortstop and in left field as well. Last month, Baseball America surveyed minor league managers on the various tools for rookie-eligible players. Lantigua was named the International League’s top defensive second baseman.

It could be a brief stay on the big league roster. The Phils are without each of Trea Turner, Alec Bohm and Sosa for the time being. Turner has a Grade 1 hamstring strain and is trying to make it back before the end of the regular season. Sosa will miss at least a week. Bohm could be back by this weekend’s series in Arizona, however, which probably pushes an infielder back to the minors. Bryson Stott is at shortstop tonight, leaving Weston Wilson and Otto Kemp at second and third base, respectively. Lantigua and the out-of-options Donovan Walton are available off the bench.

Hicklen landed with Philly in late July in a DFA trade with the Tigers. The 29-year-old has been on optional assignment to Lehigh Valley for the past two and a half months. Hicklen has turned in a .218/.293/.437 slash with eight homers but a near-32% strikeout rate over 32 games. He owns a .221/.318/.403 line between the Detroit and Philadelphia farm systems this year overall. Hicklen made one appearance for the Tigers, going 2-3 with a walk and a stolen base at Coors Field on May 8. He’ll be placed on waivers this week.

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