Phillies select SS Kyle Holder from Yankees in Rule 5 Draft

The Phillies selected SS Kyle Holder from the Yankees in Thursday’s Rule 5 Draft.

Thursday afternoon, the Philadelphia Phillies may have found their replacement to free-agent shortstop Didi Gregorius.

With the 13th overall pick in the Major League portion of the 2020 Rule 5 Draft — marking the end of this year’s virtual Winter Meetings — the Phillies selected shortstop Kyle Holder from the New York Yankees organization.

No Phillies prospects were selected in Rule 5 draft, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury. Meanwhile, one of their bullpen arms from the 2020 season, RHP Reggie McClain, was selected by the Yankees in the draft’s minor-league phase, The Athletic’s Matt Gelb reports.

In recent weeks, the Phillies added the following six prospects to their 40-man roster to ensure they would lose them: left-handed pitchers Kyle Dohy, Bailey Falter), Damon Jones; right-handed pitcher Francisco Morales; infielder Nick Maton; and outfielder Simon Muzziotti. Among the organization’s prospects who were left unprotected included right-handed pitcher Enyel De Los Santos and outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz.

A former first-round 2015 amateur draft Yankees pick (30th overall) out of the University of San Diego, Holder was at the team’s alternate training site this past season and has been praised as having a big-league-ready glove.

A native to San Diego, California, the now-26-year-old slashed .265/.336/.405 with 25 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, and 40 RBI spanning 112 games and 472 plate appearances with the Double-A Trenton Thunder in 2019.

The same season in the field, Holder logged 107 starts and 901 1/3 innings at shortstop, committing only 10 errors spanning 369 chances, while turning 40 double plays.

The Phillies must keep Holder on their big-league roster throughout the 2021 season, or risk losing him back to the Yankees. With no clear replacement for Gregorius — and with fellow infielder Jean Segura involved in recent trade rumors — one would have to wonder if the Phillies are looking at Holder as cheap alternate to one, or both.

Alec Bohm, Rhys Hoskins, and Scott Kingery are also Phils infielders in the mix. The club also recently re-signed Ronald Torreyes to a minor-league deal.