With top left-handed reliever José Alvarado serving his 80-game PED suspension, the Philadelphia Phillies are desperately on the lookout for bullpen help. They made their first move on Tuesday, just 48 hours after the news broke of Alvarado's suspension.
The Phillies signed right-hander Lucas Sims to a minor league contract (subscription required), according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic.
Reeling Phillies fans expect the front office to go out and get one of the premier high-leverage arms who will potentially be on the trade market this summer. But still over two months from the July 31 trade deadline, depth moves seem much more likely right now, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
Nonetheless, the Phillies' inking of the 31-year-old Sims signals that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is going to start throwing things at the wall and see what sticks.
As Phillies evaluate bullpen landscape in wake of José Alvarado suspension, they'll churn through internal options.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) May 20, 2025
They'll make some marginal adds before July. One of them: They've signed righty Lucas Sims to a minor-league contract. https://t.co/PmluTgaZuj
Phillies' desperate bullpen search begins with minor league deal for former Braves' first-rounder Lucas Sims
Sims was a former first-round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2012. MLB Pipeline ranked him as Atlanta's No. 1 prospect in 2014, and he spent a few seasons in their top five. He eventually wound up in Cincinnati, putting together a couple of strong seasons out of the Reds' bullpen. His most recent successful campaign came in 2023, when he appeared in 67 games, posting a 3.10 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 61 innings.
Most recently pitching for the division rival Washington Nationals, Sims was released on May 10 after struggling in the nation's capital to start the year. After signing a $3 million contract in February, he pitched to a 13.86 ERA and 2.27 WHIP in 12 1/3 innings, with 13 strikeouts, 12 walks and seven wild pitches.
Since debuting with the Braves in 2017, Sims has a career 4.86 ERA with 366 strikeouts in 318 1/3 MLB innings. He has a career 26.5 percent strikeout rate, but has also struggled with free passes, posting a 12.5 percent walk rate.
Gelb, who broke the news on Tuesday morning, says that Sims will head to the Phillies' pitching lab in Florida.
Interestingly, Sims and Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham crossed paths with the Reds during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He primarily relies on a 95 mph four-seam fastball and an 85 mph sweeper, but will also occasionally throw a curveball, a sinker, a cutter and a slider.
How Sims turns out after the Phillies' pitching development team gets its hands on him is anyone's guess. But you can be sure that Dombrowski and general manager Preston Mattingly aren't even close to being finished scouring the league for bullpen help.