News Phillies Team Notes

Jake Diekman Announces Retirement

Jake Diekman announced his retirement in a lengthy social media post this evening. The longtime reliever appeared with nine major league teams during a career that spanned parts of 13 seasons. His announcement is worth a full read, as he went on to thank his former organizations, teammates, family, fans, representatives at Beverly Hills Sports Council and more.

Now 38, Diekman entered professional baseball as a 20-year-old back in 2007. The Phillies drafted the lanky lefty in the 30th round out of a Kansas junior college. He’d been committed to attend the University of Nebraska the following spring but elected to sign with the Phils. Diekman moved to the bullpen a couple seasons into his minor league career and received his first MLB call in May 2012.

USATSI_10823523-209x300.jpg


Diekman made 191 appearances over three and a half seasons for the Phils. Philadelphia was rebuilding for most of that run, but he was part of a combined no-hitter in 2014 and tallied a cumulative 3.84 earned run average. The Rangers acquired him alongside Cole Hamels in a massive 2015 deadline deal.

While that was primarily the Hamels trade, Diekman was a significant part of the Texas bullpen for the next few years. He tallied 124 1/3 innings of 3.18 ERA ball over parts of four seasons as a Ranger. He appeared in the postseason in 2015 and ’16, firing six innings of one-run ball in his first October action during the former season.

Diekman was on the move at the 2018 deadline. Texas was headed to a 95-loss season and he was ticketed for free agency, making him an obvious trade candidate. The D-Backs picked him up for the stretch run, though he struggled during his brief stint in the desert. Diekman signed a one-year contract with the Royals during the winter. Kansas City flipped him to the A’s at the 2019 deadline, and he impressed the team enough to re-sign on a two-year deal the following offseason.

After three seasons in Oakland, Diekman firmly moved into journeyman territory for his final few seasons. He played for another four teams between 2022-24, concluding his big league run with 43 appearances for the Mets last year. The Nebraska native returned home on a contract with the independent Lincoln SaltDogs a few weeks ago, but he’s now decided to wrap up his playing days.

Diekman finishes with a 3.91 ERA in a little over 600 big league frames. He recorded 764 strikeouts, fanning almost 29% of opposing hitters throughout his career. He never had pristine command, but he reliably missed bats behind a fastball that got into the 97-98 MPH range at his peak. He recorded 187 holds, a mark topped only by Tony Watson and Adam Ottavino since his 2012 debut, and secured 19 saves in scattered closing opportunities. Baseball Reference calculates his career earnings north of $28MM. MLBTR congratulates Diekman on a strong career and sends our best wishes for his post-playing endeavors.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/05/jake-diekman-announces-retirement.html
 
NL East Notes: Montas, Blackburn, Manaea, Nola, Finnegan

Frankie Montas saw his first proper game action of the 2025 season on Saturday, when the right-hander tossed 37 pitches over 1 1/3 innings for high-A Brooklyn in the first game of a minor league rehab assignment. Montas signed a two-year, $34MM free agent deal with the Mets this past winter, but was immediately sidelined at the start of Spring Training by a significant lat strain. Saturday’s game officially started the 30-day clock on Montas’ rehab assignment, and he’ll naturally need to further build up his arm strength over multiple outings before he is ready to be activated from the 60-day injured list.

Paul Blackburn should beat Montas back to the active roster, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Lutz writes that the plan is for Blackburn to make his seventh and final minor league rehab outing before joining the Mets at some point in June. Blackburn has missed the entire big league season due to right knee inflammation, while Sean Manaea has also yet to pitch due to an oblique strain. Manaea is throwing off a mound, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that Manaea’s projected timeline is about two weeks behind Montas. Despite all of these pitching injuries, even the makeshift version of the Mets’ rotation has posted tremendous results this season, giving the club a potential arms surplus to address if and when everyone is healthy.

More from around the NL East…

  • The Phillies are another club relatively deep in starting pitching options, though they may be without Aaron Nola for longer a 15-day minimum stint on the injured list. Manager Rob Thomson told Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer and other reporters that Nola’s sprained ankle is still feeling sore, which scrapped plans for Nola to begin throwing off a mound this weekend. Nola’s IL placement began on May 15, and while Thomson didn’t this continued discomfort as any sort of big setback, he hinted that Nola might need to face some live batters (whether in the form of a live batting practice or a minor league rehab start) before being activated.
  • Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan is dealing with some shoulder fatigue, though manager Davey Martinez told MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman that tests didn’t reveal any structural problems. Finnegan hasn’t pitched in either of Washington’s last two games, but figures he can avoid the IL with another day or two of rest. Finnegan has a 2.41 ERA over 18 2/3 innings this season, and figures to be a sought-after pitcher at the trade deadline if the Nationals can’t get into contention. The reliever’s secondary numbers (such as a 3.69 SIERA and slightly below-average strikeout and walk rates) are less impressive, but Finnegan has a 48.1% grounder rate and has done a solid job of inducing soft contact.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/05/nl-east-notes-montas-blackburn-manaea-nola-finnegan.html
 
Blue Jays Trade Josh Walker To Phillies

The Phillies announced the acquisition of lefty reliever Josh Walker from the Blue Jays for cash considerations. Philadelphia has had a free 40-man roster spot since José Alvarado was suspended. They optioned Walker to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, so no additional move was necessary.

Toronto had designated Walker for assignment earlier in the week. An injury to backup catcher Tyler Heineman forced the Jays to select Ali Sánchez to pair with Alejandro Kirk. That required a 40-man roster move and squeezed Walker off the depth chart. The 6’6″ southpaw had been on optional assignment and pitching in Triple-A for most of this month.

Walker had a brief stay on Toronto’s MLB roster earlier in the year. He made three appearances and allowed four runs over five innings. He struck out eight against two walks while relying primarily on a mid-80s curveball. Walker backs up that breaking pitch with both a four-seam and two-seam fastball that typically land in the 93-94 MPH range.

A product of the University of New Haven, Walker entered the professional ranks as a 37th-round draft choice by the Mets in 2017. He overcame that lack of prospect pedigree to get to the majors in 2023. Walker hasn’t had much success against big league hitters, tallying a combined 6.59 earned run average through 27 1/3 frames. He has pitched well up through the Double-A level, though his Triple-A results are more mixed.

Walker carries a 4.45 ERA with an above-average 26.6% strikeout rate over parts of five seasons at the top minor league level. He has struggled there in the early going, giving up eight runs (seven earned) on 13 hits and seven walks through his first 10 innings this season. He has managed 16 strikeouts on only 51 batters faced, however, which is presumably a selling point for Philadelphia.

Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks are each pitching well in Rob Thomson’s bullpen. They were the only two lefty relievers on the 40-man roster. Walker is in his last option year and can bounce between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley for the remainder of the season.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/05/blue-jays-trade-josh-walker-to-phillies.html
 
Phillies Moving Taijuan Walker To Short Relief

For the second time in as many months, the Phillies are pulling right-hander Taijuan Walker from their starting rotation. Paul Casella of MLB.com reported this morning that Walker’s being moved to the bullpen permanently in a move that will clear the way for right-hander Mick Abel to be promoted to the majors and fill in for Aaron Nola in the starting rotation. Matt Gelb of The Athletic added further context to that reporting, noting that Walker is specifically moving to a one-inning, setup role in order to help bolster the club’s late-inning mix. Meanwhile, Gelb notes that Abel will get at least two starts for the Phillies before Nola’s return, which the club currently expects to occur near the middle of June.

It’s a big change for Walker, who has just ten career relief appearances and has served exclusively as a long relief arm in those outings. Gelb notes that Walker has never pitched on back-to-back days before in his career, an adjustment that will surely take some getting used to for the right-hander. Still, it’s understandable for Philadelphia to want to try him in this new role given the state of their pitching staff. Abel is knocking on the door of the majors as a potential rotation option with top prospect Andrew Painter potentially not all that far behind, and the Phillies’ rotation is already full when healthy. Without much of a path to a long-term rotation role in the cards for Walker anyway, it makes sense for the club to try him in a new role.

Given that the Phillies recently lost Jose Alvarado to a PED suspension, saw Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez depart in free agency over the winter, and have watched Jordan Romano struggle badly this year after being signed to serve as the club’s closer, there’s perhaps no greater need on the roster than that for a high leverage relief arm to join Matt Strahm in supporting Romano. Walker will now be tasked with doing just that, and Gelb notes that he seemed intrigued by the idea after his last start.

“If I have one inning to blow it out, whatever it is, I feel like my stuff would play up just a little bit more,” Walker said last week, as relayed by Gelb. “Knowing that I got one inning, just let it eat.”

Walker’s departure from the rotation makes room for Abel to join the mix, at least temporarily. The right-hander made his big league debut earlier this season in a spot start and was extremely impressive, tossing six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts against zero walks. The Phillies were clearly intrigued by that dazzling performance, and now he’ll get to make at least a couple additional starts. Abel is set to join the club to start Thursday’s game against the Blue Jays, and Gelb notes that after that he’ll be in line to start against the Cubs next week. Those offenses are far more impressive than the Pirates lineup Abel dominated in his big league debut, so these next pair of outings will be a major test for the 23-year-old right-hander.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/phillies-moving-taijuan-walker-to-short-relief.html
 
Phillies Non-Tender José Rodríguez, Re-Sign Him To Minor League Deal

5:10 pm: Rodríguez has already agreed to re-sign with Philadelphia on a minor league contract, reports Francys Romero. He’ll be assigned to Low-A for now as he gets back into game shape but will presumably head to Double-A or Triple-A at some point.

4:24pm: Infielder José Rodríguez has been reinstated from the restricted list and non-tendered by the Phillies, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. The Phillies had an opening on their 40-man roster and could have optioned Rodríguez to the minors while keeping him on the 40-man. However, Gelb suggests the Phils may want to use that roster spot on a pitcher in the coming days.

Rodríguez was one of four players serving a one-year ban for breaking MLB’s regulations about betting on baseball games. Rodríguez wagered a total of $749 on baseball games while he was playing Double-A ball in the White Sox’ system. Some of his bets included MLB games though he was not on Chicago’s 40-man roster on the time.

Non-tenders are usually reserved for a specific date in the offseason. Any player on a roster in-season was already tendered a contract by his club over the winter or signed as a free agent. However, MLBTR has confirmed that because Rodríguez was on the ineligible list in the offseason, he could not be tendered a contract or non-tendered. That decision had to wait until he was eligible for reinstatement.

Today marks the expiration of the one-year bans on Rodríguez, A’s right-hander Michael Kelly, D-backs lefty Andrew Saalfrank and Padres left-hander Jay Groome. Kelly and Saalfrank were each reinstated by their respective clubs today. Groome and Rodríguez were both non-tendered.

Because Rodríguez is being non-tendered, he won’t have to pass through waivers. He’ll immediately become a free agent. He’s eligible to re-sign with the Phillies on a minor league deal but can also explore opportunities with any team around the league.

Rodríguez has spent most of his career with the White Sox. He was added to that club’s 40-man roster in November of 2022, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. His major league career consists of one game in 2023. He entered as a pinch runner and scored but did not get a plate appearance. He was designated for assignment in April of 2024 and traded to the Phils for cash considerations.

In the minors, he has generally been good for 30-40 steals per year while splitting his time between the three infield spots to the left of first base. He has a batting line of .282/.324/.444 over his minor league career, which translates to a 103 wRC+. He still has one option year remaining.

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/phillies-non-tender-jose-rodriguez.html
 
Phillies Recall Alan Rangel For MLB Debut

The Phillies announced that right-hander Alan Rangel has been recalled to the big league roster. He’ll be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Fellow righty Seth Johnson was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley as the corresponding move.

Rangel, 27, has actually been in the big leagues before. He was on Atlanta’s roster during the 2022 season but on optional assignment for most of it. They recalled him late in September but optioned him back to the minors three days later without getting him into a game. He was non-tendered after that season and has been stuck in the minors since then.

The Phillies signed him to a minor league deal last summer and evidently liked what they saw. They added him to their 40-man roster in November to prevent him from qualifying for minor league free agency. He has been in good form this year, having tossed 57 1/3 innings over 12 Triple-A starts. The 5.02 earned run average doesn’t look too exciting but his 25.4% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate are both good numbers. The ERA has seemingly been inflated by a .325 batting average on balls in play and 16.2% home to flyball ratio.

Philadelphia is doing a bullpen game tonight, with Aaron Nola on the injured list and Zack Wheeler on the paternity list. Joe Ross will technically be the starter, though he’s been in the bullpen this year and likely can’t go more than two innings. Taijuan Walker was stretched out earlier in the year but has only thrown one inning in the past week. Rangel gives the club a fresh arm capable of covering multiple innings.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/phillies-recall-alan-rangel-for-mlb-debut.html
 
Braves Claim Jose Ruiz From Phillies

The Braves announced that right-hander Jose Ruiz has been claimed off the Phillies’ waiver wire. Atlanta has yet to announce a corresponding move for the 26-man roster, and a 40-man move doesn’t need to be made since the Braves only had 39 players on their 40-man roster.

Philadelphia designated Ruiz for assignment last week, after the righty posted an 8.16 ERA in 14 1/3 relief innings this season. A 4.11 SIERA paints a better picture of Ruiz’s quality, as a .383 BABIP and a 57% strand rate contributed to that inflated ERA. Still, Ruiz didn’t help his cause by allowing a lot of hard contact, and striking out only 17.6% of batters. He also spent just under three weeks on the injured list in May due to neck spasms, and he was charged with seven earned runs (over three innings) over his three appearances after returning from the IL.

Ruiz has pitched in parts of the last nine Major League seasons, amassing a 4.55 ERA in 284 2/3 innings with four different teams (primarily the White Sox from 2018-23). Inconsistency has marked Ruiz’s career, though he has been a solid bullpen piece during his better seasons — a 3.05 ERA over 65 innings for the AL Central champion White Sox in 2021, and a 3.71 ERA over 51 frames for the Phillies just last year. Ruiz has always been a hard thrower, but his 95.7mph fastball this season is down a mile from the 96.7mph average he posted prior to 2025.

While the results haven’t been there this season, the Braves saw enough in Ruiz to put in a claim, and absorb the 30-year-old’s remaining 2025 salary (roughly $765.6K of a $1.225MM salary). It isn’t a huge figure, and it’s enough for the Braves to take a flier on Ruiz and add him to the long list of pitchers cycled through the back of Atlanta’s struggling bullpen.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/06/braves-claim-jose-ruiz-from-phillies.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top