The Philadelphia Phillies have done a decent job so far this winter of retooling their roster for the 2025 season. But if you actually take a closer look at some of the moves that the Phillies have made, you might find a common trend among some of the key players that they have added. Whether it be Jordan Romano, Max Kepler, Jesús Luzardo or even Joe Ross, they have all endured injury woes in recent years. So it appears that the Phillies’ philosophy has been to give players with past injury histories a chance to bounce back in a big way, with cheaper price tags.
If that is indeed their mindset, then Philadelphia should not pass up the opportunity to add another intriguing arm to their bullpen coming off two injury-plagued seasons. According to Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated, former New York Yankees reliever Lou Trivino threw a bullpen session on Tuesday as his audition to teams that would be interested in his services for the upcoming season.
Free agent RHP Lou Trivino threw a bullpen session at Cressey Sports Performance in Palm Beach in front of scouts this morning
— Pat Ragazzo (@ragazzoreport) January 21, 2025
Yankees, Dodgers, Guardians, Cubs, Giants, Reds, Royals were among those in attendance and teams came away impressed, I’m told
Got his sinker up to 94…
Apparently, Trivino is catching the eye of several teams. Organizational representatives from the Yankees, Cleveland Guardians, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals were all in attendance and came away impressed by his showing.
Lou Trivino would fit perfectly in Phillies’ offseason philosophy after injury problems
The list of teams mentioned by Ragazzo isn't an exhaustive list, according to Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors, so we don't know if the Phillies sent a representative. Although the Phillies haven’t specifically been linked to Trivino, they should still seriously consider the 33-year-old veteran right-hander.
After all, the last time he was in action in the majors, he helped lead the Yankees into the 2022 MLB Playoffs by posting a 1.66 ERA while giving up just four earned runs with 22 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings pitched down the stretch run. Unfortunately, an elbow injury that ended up requiring Tommy John surgery, along with elbow inflammation and shoulder ailments during his recovery process, wiped out the bulk of his past two seasons and caused the Yankees to decline his $5 million option for 2025.
Nevertheless, Trivino has previously shown to be a reliable bullpen arm, compiling a career 3.86 ERA and 1.34 WHIP with 37 saves and 299 strikeouts in just 284 2/3 innings over 285 appearances in his five-year MLB career. He has also been a stud during the postseason, posting a stellar 0.96 ERA and 0.75 WHIP with three walks and 10 strikeouts in nine career playoff appearances. There’s no doubt the Phillies could have used some of that when their relief corps failed to deliver during their postseason run last season.
Trivino’s sinker topped out at 94 mph during his bullpen session, so his velocity appears to be more or less back up to speed, and he should have a clean bill of health going forward. As a result, the Phillies should give the right-hander a ring to complete their bullpen makeover this offseason.