Phillies Get Hoby Milner Back From Indians, Assign Him to Minor-League Camp
By John Town
The Indians returned left-handed reliever Holby Milner to the Phillies Friday and the team assigned him back to minor-league camp Saturday.
The Phillies lost one player to the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft last offseason as left-handed pitcher Hoby Milner was selected by Cleveland. However, Milner didn’t make the cut as Cleveland returned him to Philadelphia Friday.
The Indians selected Milner in the Rule 5 draft last offseason after he posted a 2.49 ERA, 1.108 WHIP, and 5.07 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 49 games between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley. While he performed well in Reading, he didn’t do as well in Lehigh Valley as he managed a 4.50 ERA in 16 innings there.
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In seven spring training games with the Indians, Milner gave up seven runs in seven innings for a 9.00 ERA. He did rack up nine strikeouts, but that doesn’t exactly nullify such a large amount of runs.
When they selected him, the Indians had just one lefty in their bullpen in Andrew Miller. After the team added Boone Logan, Milner making Cleveland’s major-league roster seemed like a stretch, and that turned out to be the case.
A part of Milner knew that he probably wasn’t going to make the team. He told Jordan Bastian of MLB.com:
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"“When I got Rule 5’d, I didn’t really see it as my spot to lose,” Milner said earlier this spring. “It was just kind of like the Indians paid for me to try out, basically. That’s the way I took it. That’s just how it is. If they want to carry three lefties in the bullpen, good. If not, I’m not necessarily just playing for the Indians. I’m playing for whoever wants me, if the Indians don’t.”"
Indians manager Terry Francona said Milner was an “interesting” player, telling Bastian, “With his deception and the angles that he throws from, he’s kind of built to face lefties.”
The Phils reassigned Milner to the minor-league camp Saturday, eliminating any chance of potentially competing for a role in the bullpen. Even then, he would have to be added to the 40-man roster, which would considerably hurt his chances.
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Instead, Milner will likely be a part of Lehigh Valley’s bullpen. If the Phils are really lacking left-handed pitchers, Milner may very well end up in the majors, but it seems like a longshot at this point.