Phillies claim reliever off waivers, designate Ramón Rosso

For the first time since early December, the Philadelphia Phillies have won a waiver claim.

According to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, they claimed right-handed pitcher Brady Lail off waivers from the Seattle Mariners and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In a corresponding move, right-hander Ramón Rosso was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

The Phillies claimed RHP Brady Lail off waivers on Sunday.

Lail, 27, has a career 6.00 ERA through 11 appearances and nine games finished. In 21 innings, the Utah native surrendered 20 hits, 14 runs (all earned), seven home runs and eight walks, while striking out 15 of his 91 batters faced.

The New York yankees drafted Lail out of high school in the 18th round of the 2012 draft. He went on to debut for them in August 2019, before later appearing for the Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Lail had a 13.50 ERA in a pair of appearances with Seattle this season, all the while throwing in the low-90s.

By designating Rosso for assignment, the Phillies risk losing a right-handed reliever of their own. The 24-year-old Dominican Republic native posted a 6.52 ERA in seven appearances (including one start) as a rookie last season.

In his lone 2021 appearance, Rosso tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit to his four San Francisco Giants batters faced. He was later optioned to clear a roster spot for Spencer Howard.

Rosso has proved to be an innings-eater, at least in the minor-leagues — as he recorded 123 innings between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019. Time will tell whether another team takes its chances on Rosso and claims him as the Phillies did with the now-former Mariners reliever Lail.

The Phillies need to get creative to continually stay on top of their roster and field a team of the best possible 26 players, game in and game out. Whether Lail contributes in any way this season remains to be seen.