3 pitchers the Phillies should target as minor league depth this season
The Phillies still need to add pitching depth for the 2024 season, and we found three veteran hurlers who could fill that role.
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?
Matt Barnes
Matt Barnes is a former first-round draft pick in 2011 (19th overall) for the Boston Red Sox. Although he came up as a starter through the Red Sox farm system, he found greater success in a bullpen role. He made his major league debut in 2014 and was a significant arm out of Boston's bullpen from 2015 to 2022, appearing in 429 games.
A World Series champion on the Red Sox 2018 ball club, Barnes had his best season in 2021. He was selected to his only All-Star game in a season that saw him record 24 saves and a 3.79 ERA in 60 games and 54 2/3 innings pitched. After signing an $18.75 million contract to stay in Boston mid-season, Barnes took a dreadful turn and was later traded to the Miami Marlins in January 2023. The downturn continued in Miami as Barnes appeared in only 24 games with a bloated 5.48 ERA.
Could Caleb Cotham and the Phillies pitching coaches find a way to fix Matt Barnes? The 33-year-old right-hander is a free agent for the first time and will likely have to settle for a minor league contract after seeing his star fade in recent years.
According to Baseball Savant, Barnes relies on three pitches: a knuckle curve, a 93.4 mph four-seam fastball, and a split-finger. While his curve has regressed a bit from its former glory, hitters destroyed Barnes' four-seamer in 2023, hitting a scorching .395 against the pitch.
Maybe a tweak to his fastball will be all it takes to make Matt Barnes an effective reliever again. If Barnes figures things out, perhaps we could see him return to a ninth-inning role.
Carlos Carrasco
Carlos Carrasco is another name Philadelphia Phillies fans know well. The once highly touted Phillies prospect was traded to Cleveland for some guy named Cliff Lee at the Trade Deadline in 2009. Yeah, I don't remember Lee either.
Carrasco had his best run as a major league pitcher from 2015 to 2018, solidifying himself as a viable starting pitcher. 2017 was a career year for Carrasco as he compiled a record of 18-6, a 3.29 ERA, and 226 strikeouts in 200 innings. He would follow that up in 2018 with another solid season that saw the then 31-year-old win another 17 games and strike out a career-high 231 batters.
2019 was a tough time for Carrasco on and off the field. He missed three months of the season after being diagnosed with leukemia in May. With the exception of a solid 2022 with the New York Mets that saw him post a record of 15-7, he hasn't been a reliable starter who can provide innings since before his cancer diagnosis.
Carrasco recently threw a live bullpen session for interested scouts at Driveline Baseball.
Here's the entirety of Carlos Carrasco's (@cookie_carrasco) Pro Day Live AB's 🙌 pic.twitter.com/4LCjrsokyt
— Driveline Baseball (@DrivelineBB) January 23, 2024
Carlos Carrasco could be an intriguing option if the Phillies want to stash away a veteran pitcher in the minor leagues for a late-season push or a spot start in the event injuries should strike in the starting rotation. Only two years removed from a 15-7 season, the Phillies could do worse than signing the 36-year-old to a minor league deal to see if he has anything left in the tank.
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