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Phillies scout veteran starters Anibal Sanchez, Julio Teheran

By Matt Rappa |
Former Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Julio Teheran (Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports)
Former Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Julio Teheran (Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports)
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The Philadelphia Phillies are prioritizing to fill their catcher, shortstop, and bullpen voids first this offseason, but that apparently will not preclude them from looking to add starting pitching depth.

After missing out on signing Jose Urena last month, the Phillies reportedly have their sights set on two other veteran right-handers. According to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury, the club was “one of several” to scout Anibal Sanchez and Julio Teheran during a Miami-area workout on Tuesday.

Salisbury’s report comes just a day after Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters that, ideally, they would like to add some starting pitching depth: “Sometimes they are non-roster invitees that can come in and pitch,” he said. “But, I think that where we are, we have some young arms that we really like. I’m not sure how close they are to contributing right now. I think from an ideal perspective, it’s something we’re at least looking to see if we can find.”

Anibal Sanchez and Julio Teheran have a combined 25 years of MLB experience.

Sanchez, who will turn 37 next month, has pitched 15 seasons in the majors. This past season, he made 11 starts for the Washington Nationals, allowing a National League-most 39 earned runs over 53 innings en route to a 6.62 ERA. A year prior, the Venezuela native helped the Nationals to a World Series championship, including tossing 7 2/3 shutout innings in an NLCS start opposite the St. Louis Cardinals.

Teheran, who will turn 30 later this month, is a two-time All-Star and 10-year veteran, having first debuted with the Atlanta Braves in 2010. The right-hander is an even 77-77 for his career with a 3.81 ERA, 1.223 WHIP, and 1,204-474 strikeouts-to-walks ratio spanning 1,391 1/3 innings. His only season not with the Braves was in 2020, when he went a disappointing 0-4 with a 10.05 ERA through 10 appearances and nine starts with the Los Angeles Angels.

Dave Dombrowski and Anibal Sanchez #19 of the Detroit Tigers (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Dave Dombrowski and Anibal Sanchez #19 of the Detroit Tigers (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Eight days ago, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi first linked the Phillies to having interest in Sanchez. “Think about the importance of relationships,” Morosi said. “Sanchez made his debut and threw a no-hitter for the then-Florida Marlins back in 2006 when Joe Girardi — the current Phillies manager — was managing the Marlins. Sanchez won the ERA title some number of years later in Detroit, when Dave Dombrowski — now the Phillies president of baseball operations — had the same title with the Tigers back in 2013.”

Both Sanchez and Teheran have plenty of experience pitching within the National League East. Of Sanchez’s 350 career appearances, 199 were on the mound as a member of either the Florida and Miami Marlins (2006-12), Atlanta Braves (2018), and Nationals (2019-20). For Teheran, 229 of his 239 career outings were in a Braves uniform.

Phillies manager Joe Girardi comments on the back-end of the starting rotation.

If the season were to start today, Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Zach Eflin would be locks for the first three spots in the rotation. After that, there are question marks regarding Vince Velasquez and Spencer Howard.

“I like our rotation, I like how Wheeler and Eflin set up. I thought Velasquez made some strides last year. At the end of the year, he was throwing the ball pretty well. He was in and out of our rotation,” Girardi said Tuesday on MLB Network. “Spencer Howard, when he went to the first spring training, he was strong and he threw the ball extremely well. When he went to our second spring training, he was down 10 pounds and never put it back on.”

“He had a harder time working out. We expect bigger and better things from him, and I like our rotation.”

If the Phillies were to add another veteran starter, such as Sanchez or Teheran, it would allow Velasquez to move back to the bullpen — giving them another reliever option to potentially turn to and avoid a repeat of the near all-time worst 2020 bullpen.

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