3 pitchers the Phillies should target as minor league depth this season
By Matt Dargan
The Philadelphia Phillies are 20 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training, but constructing the roster for the 2024 squad is still an ongoing process. This offseason has been the slowest for the Phillies in recent memory as Dave Dombrowski and the front office have failed to make a headline-grabbing move to date. Is time running out?
What's less exciting to Phillies fans is the process of filling out the top levels of the minor league system with depth. The season is long, after all, and injuries at the major league level are a near certainty in 2024. What if there are injuries in the starting rotation, and Mick Abel and Griff McGarry aren't ready to answer the call? Is there another Jeff Hoffman sitting unsigned in minor league free agency?
Let's take a look at a few pitchers who the Phillies could sign to minor league contracts and could potentially help the big club next year.
Ken Giles
Ken Giles is a familiar name to Philadelphia Phillies fans. The 33-year-old Giles spent his first two big league seasons coming out of the Phillies bullpen. The right-hander made his first big impression by saving 15 games and recording a 1.80 ERA during the 2015 season. Giles was traded in December of that year in a seven-player swap with the Houston Astros that notably included Vince Velasquez and former top prospect Mark Appel heading to Philadelphia.
Over parts of three seasons in Houston, Giles appeared in 166 games, with 61 saves and a much higher ERA of 3.57 in 159 innings. Following a 2018 trade to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for controversial closer Roberto Osuna, Giles recorded 23 saves in 2019, despite battling elbow problems that have derailed his career. Tommy John surgery wiped out most of the 2020-2021 seasons, and Giles last appeared in five games for the Seattle Mariners in 2022.
Giles is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Friday for interested teams and is said to be fully recovered from the numerous injuries he has dealt with in recent years. Could Ken Giles make an impact for the Phillies bullpen in 2024?