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Hunter Pence Announces Retirement

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Longtime big league outfielder Hunter Pence announced he’s retiring from baseball (Twitter link). This brings to an end a fourteen-year career spent with four teams, although he’ll surely be remembered most for his time with the Giants.

Pence originally broke into pro ball in 2004, selected by the Astros in the second round out of the University of Texas-Arlington. Notably “awkward and unorthodox” as a prospect, in the words of Baseball America, Pence nevertheless played himself into top prospect status by 2007. He broke into the big leagues with a bang, hitting .322/.360/.539 en route to a third place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year voting that season. Pence continually produced over his time in Houston, earning his first two All-Star nods there, before the struggling Astros shipped him off to the Phillies at the 2011 trade deadline for four prospects.

He continued to perform well in Philadelphia, hitting .289/.357/.486 over parts of two seasons, but the Phillies lost in the Division Series in 2011 and were en route to a playoff miss in 2012. Pence again headlined a deadline deal, this one sending him to San Francisco. His midseason acquirer fared much better the second time around, as the Giants erased a pair of big playoff deficits against the Reds and Cardinals before sweeping the Tigers in the 2012 World Series.

Set to reach free agency after the 2013 season, Pence instead re-upped with the Giants that September. Already a highly productive and popular player, that extension set the stage for Pence to become permanently identified with the San Francisco organization. He combined for a .280/.335/.464 line between 2013-14, garnering down ballot MVP support each year. He was perhaps even more instrumental in the Giants’ 2014 World Series run than he’d been in 2012, going 12-27 with a home run in San Francisco’s seven-game triumph over the Royals.

Of course, it wasn’t simply Pence’s productivity that made him so revered, both among diehard Giants’ loyalists and many baseball fans generally. He played with an endearing energy and exuberance. Coupled with his oft-awkward hitting mechanics and general lack of gracefulness on the diamond, Pence brought something of an everyman feel to the sport that resonated with outside observers, teammates and coaches.

Unfortunately, that high-energy style of play caught up to him in his 30’s. After 2014, Pence only once again managed to exceed 110 games in a season. He continued to produce when healthy up through 2016, but he seemingly hit a wall thereafter. Pence struggled through a pair of poor years with the 2017-18 Giants, seemingly ending his time with the organization (and putting his career in jeopardy).

Forced to settle for a minor-league deal with his hometown Rangers entering 2019, Pence remade his swing at age 36. He rebounded to post a .297/.358/.552 line over 316 plate appearances in Texas last year, picking up his fourth and final All-Star trip in the process. That also inspired the Giants to offer a major league deal last winter, setting the stage for a tremendous return story.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. Pence got off to an abysmal start and was released after just 56 plate appearances. That’ll mark his last work in the big leagues, although it’s fitting that his final games came in the orange and black.

All told, Pence will hang up the spikes with a .279/.334/.461 line over 7006 plate appearances, good for a 115 wRC+. He hit 244 home runs, 324 doubles and 55 triples, while stealing 120 bases. Pence was worth around 31 wins above replacement, in the estimation of both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference. He’s obviously most notable for being an integral part of two World Series winners in San Francisco and for the infectious joy he spread to teammates and fans alike. MLBTR congratulates Pence on a stellar career and wishes him the best in retirement.

Greg Bird Tested Positive For COVID-19

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The Phillies signed Greg Bird to a minor league contract Sept. 15, but the first baseman tested positive for the coronavirus upon physical entry after that, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Consequently, the Phillies did not place Bird on their 40-man playoff roster. Fortunately, though, none of the Phillies at the team’s alternate site were exposed to Bird.

The Phillies signed Bird as a potential insurance policy at first base, where starter Rhys Hoskins hasn’t played since Sept. 12 because of a UCL injury in his left arm. It now seems likely the Phillies, who are battling for a playoff spot, will have to go the rest of the regular season without Hoskins. They’ve used a mix of Alec Bohm, Phil Gosselin and Jay Bruce in Hoskins’ place, while Jean Segura has taken over for Bohm as their primary third baseman and Scott Kingery has slid in for Segura at second.

Meantime, it’s very much up in the air whether Bird will ever play for the Phillies, though the main hope for now is that he’ll be able to recover well from this illness. Once a well-regarded Yankees prospect, Bird burst on the scene in 2015, but a series of health issues have derailed his career since then. The 27-year-old took 522 trips to the plate from 2017-19 but could only muster a .194/.287/.388 line, and Bird didn’t stick with the Rangers for long after they signed him over the winter.

Rhys Hoskins Unlikely To Return Before End Of Regular Season

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The Phillies are fighting for their playoff lives, but they’ll have to do so without one of their best hitters, as manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday that first baseman Rhys Hoskins is a long shot to return before the regular season draws to a close (Twitter link via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). Hoskins, out with a UCL injury in his non-throwing arm, took some dry swings today but isn’t yet ready to face live pitching.

It’s been a rough go of it on the injury front for the Phillies. Star catcher J.T. Realmuto was recently sidelined for more than a week due to hip trouble, and Bryce Harper has dealt with back discomfort in recent weeks. Both Harper and Realmuto are in tonight’s lineup and playing at less than 100 percent, per Girardi, which will likely be the case through season’s end. Harper is serving as the DH. Realmuto is at first base.

Hoskins, 27, has bounced back from a last year’s down season (by his standards). Through 185 plate appearances in 2020, he’s batted .245/.384/.503 with 10 homers, nine doubles and a hefty 15.7 percent walk rate. His output at the plate has been 39 percent better than that of a league-average hitter by measure of wRC+.

The Phillies aren’t dead in the water yet, but a four-game losing streak — capped by another bullpen meltdown and a walk-off loss against the Nats last night — hasn’t helped their chances. But at 27-29, the Phils are only a game back in the loss column to the three teams ahead of them in playoff standings (Cincinnati, Milwaukee and San Francisco. FanGraphs still gives them a one in three chance of making the postseason, but they’ll need to right the ship in a hurry — and likely see some of those previously mentioned competitors stumble — to secure their spot.

An Alternate Version Of The December 2018 Phillies/Mariners Trade

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  • The Mariners’ 2018-19 offseason was marked by several major trades, including a notable deal that saw Seattle land J.P. Crawford and (the soon-to-be-flipped) Carlos Santana from the Phillies in exchange for Jean Segura, James Pazos, and Juan Nicasio.  However, an earlier incarnation of that deal would have seen Segura and Edwin Diaz head to Philly, while Sixto Sanchez would have been part of the trade package coming back to the Mariners, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.  It makes for an interesting what-if for Seattle fans, as moving Diaz in that trade would have altered several other future deals, most obviously the blockbuster swap with the Mets that brought Kelenic and Justin Dunn into the organization and sent Diaz and Robinson Cano to New York.  Rosenthal adds another interesting detail in noting that the Mariners kept trying to acquire Sanchez even after he had been dealt to the Marlins as part of the J.T. Realmuto trade with the Phils in February 2019.  Needless to say, it doesn’t seem like Sanchez is going anywhere for a long time considering how impressive the young righty has looked in his first Major League season.

Phillies Place Heath Hembree On IL

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  • Right-hander Nick Pivetta will make his Red Sox debut Tuesday with a start against the Orioles, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia relays. Pivetta, whom the Red Sox acquired from the Phillies last month in the teams’ trade centering on relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree, pitched to a 5.50 ERA/4.64 FIP in 396 1/3 innings from 2017-20.
  • Meanwhile, the Phillies announced that Hembree’s heading to the 10-day injured list with a right elbow strain, which could put his season in jeopardy. Hembree has struggled mightily as a member of the Phillies, with whom he has yielded 13 earned runs on 17 hits in 9 1/3 innings.

Phillies Option Adonis Medina

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The Philadelphia Phillies optioned Adonis Medina after Sunday’s game, the team announced. Medina was called up on Sunday to make his major league debut. In the spot start,  the 23-year-old took the loss while yielding two earned runs on three hits in four innings against the Blue Jays. Medina also struck out four and walked three in the 84-pitch outing. The Phillies needed an extra arm after a doubleheader on Friday, which they swept.

Philadelphia now has seven games remaining. They trail the Marlins by 1 game for 2nd place and a guaranteed playoff spot, though they also have a half game lead for the top wild card position. They will finish the season with seven games on the road, four in Washington and a final weekend series at Tampa Bay.

The Phillies will probably need an additional starter to pitch one half of a doubleheader against the Nationals on Tuesday, which would be too soon for Medina to return. Ramón Rosso got the call as the 29th man in a similar situation last week. Jake Arrieta and Spencer Howard are both on the injured list, leaving Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Zach Eflin, and Vince Velasquez in the rotation.

Phillies Receive Joel Cesar To Complete August Trade

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The Pittsburgh Pirates announced a trio of trades today. The first deal completes their August deal for Austin Davis, which the Phillies announced earlier today. The Pirates sent right-hander Joel Cesar to Philadelphia to complete that transaction. Davis, 27, has 3 scoreless appearances since joining the Buccos.

Phillies Promote Adonis Medina

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TODAY: The Phillies have officially promoted Medina, with Mickey Moniak going back to the alternate training site in the corresponding move.

SEPTEMBER 19: The Phillies are set to promote prospect Adonis Medina to start tomorrow afternoon’s game against the Blue Jays, manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Athletic). It will be Medina’s major league debut.

The right-hander was once one of baseball’s top young pitchers, ranking as Baseball America’s #84 overall prospect in 2018. He participated in the Futures Game the same year. Medina’s stock has fallen a bit since then, thanks in part to his uninspiring performance last season in Double A.

Last year, Medina posted just a 4.94 ERA/4.53 FIP in 105.2 innings in the pitcher-friendly Eastern League. Along the way, his strikeout rate dropped to a mediocre 17.5% (6.98 K/9). That marked a far cry from the gaudy strikeout numbers (around 26%) he’d racked up between Low-A and High-A in the two years prior.

Despite his 2019 struggles, Medina’s still among the best young arms in the organization. BA placed him 11th among Phils’ farmhands midseason, noting that he continues to flash the three-pitch mix which once made him so well-regarded but hasn’t yet developed consistency with his secondary stuff. MLB Pipeline (6th), Keith Law of the Athletic (9th) and FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (11th) all continue to slot Medina among the organization’s top prospects.

Medina was added to the Phillies’ 40-man roster after the 2018 season, so the club needn’t make a move in that regard. If he sticks in the majors for good, he’d be controllable through 2026.

Phillies Acquire Joel Cesar To Complete Austin Davis Trade

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The Phillies announced that right-hander Joel Cesar has been acquired from the Pirates.  Cesar acts as the player to be named later from the August 26 trade that sent Austin Davis to Pittsburgh.

Cesar was a member of the Pirates’ 2015-16 international signing class, and the righty has posted some solid results over four seasons on the farm.  Cesar has a 3.18 ERA, 2.06 K/BB rate, and 8.7 K/9 over 138 2/3 innings, working as a reliever in 87 of his 90 career games.

The 24-year-old has yet to pitch beyond the Double-A level, though a Triple-A assignment would have been likely had there been a 2020 minor league season.  Cesar wasn’t included in Pittsburgh’s 60-man player pool, though he’ll now join Philadelphia’s 60-man mix and report to the Phils’ alternate training site.

Phillies, Brewers Complete David Phelps Trade; Brewers Release Jake Faria

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The Phillies have sent right-handrs Juan Geraldo, Brandon Ramey and Israel Puello to the Brewers as the three players to be named later in last month’s David Phelps trade, per announcements from both teams. Milwaukee also added that right-hander Jake Faria has been released.

The names in the trade were already known, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reported their inclusion not long after the completion of the trade. Still, it’s of some note that the swap is now official, without any of the involved pieces altered in the time that passed between agreement and completion.

None of the three pitchers going to the Brewers have pitched above Rookie ball. Geraldo and Puello, both 19, spent the 2019 season with Philadelphia’s affiliate in the Dominican Summer League. Ramey, who turned 20 on the day of the trade deadline, was with the Phillies’ Gulf Coast League club last year.

Because we’re looking at Rookie-level summer leagues, the sample of each pitcher’s body of work is rather small. Still, all three posted intriguing numbers last year. Geraldo logged a 3.96 ERA, mostly as a reliever, but added a more impressive 33-to-7 K/BB ratio in just 25 innings. Ramey logged 22 2/3 frames and posted a very similar 30-to-6 K/BB ratio with a 2.78 ERA. Puello racked up 65 2/3 innings as a starter and turned in a pristine 1.92 ERA with an 83-to-19 K/BB ratio.

None of the three were ranked within the Phillies’ 30 best prospects, and they’re all years from making an impact at the MLB level. Brewers president of baseball ops David Stearns has had luck with this type of low-level, quantity-forward approach in the past, though, most notably when he plucked a then-19-year-old Freddy Peralta away from the Mariners as one of three low level prospects acquired in exchange for Adam Lind.

As for the 27-year-old Faria, his release ends a disappointing tenure with the club. Acquired last year in the trade that sent Jesus Aguilar to the Rays, Faria joined the Brewers as a buy-low candidate but never got much of a look. He was tagged for 11 runs in just 8 2/3 frames last year after the trade, and Milwaukee outrighted him off the 40-man roster back in January. Although Faria was in the team’s player pool, he wasn’t ever summoned to the Majors in 2020.

Back in 2017, Faria looked like the latest somewhat out-of-the-blue arm to pop up with the Rays and carve out a spot in the bigs. He tossed 86 2/3 innings for Tampa Bay that season, working to a quality 3.43 ERA and a 4.12 FIP with averages of 8.7 strikeouts, 3.2 walks and 1.1 homers per nine innings. He’s never managed to replicate that output, however, and over the 2018-19 seasons he logged a combined 5.70 ERA and 5.45 FIP in a near-identical sample of 83 2/3 innings.

Phelps, like most other relievers in Philadelphia this year, hasn’t paid dividends since the trade. He’s appeared in seven games and surrendered runs in five of them, resulting in a dismal 11.37 ERA through 6 1/3 innings. Phelps has whiffed nine hitters in that time, but those results are still miles away from the excellent work he posted with the Brewers to begin the season and from his generally steady career track record.

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