5 former Phillies who still don't have a job entering spring training
With a long list of free agents still on the market, there are a number of former Phillies who are still looking for new teams for the 2024 season.
Baseball is in the air. Spring training is officially underway, with the Philadelphia Phillies holding their first workout for pitchers and catchers on Wednesday.
The at-times frustrating MLB offseason has been moving along in fits and starts, held hostage by some of the big names early on, like that Shohei Ohtani guy. Then there was the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes, which the Phillies were in but couldn't pull off.
And there are still plenty of big-name fish in the sea looking for work while teams are ramping up in Florida and Arizona for six weeks of training camp and Grapefruit and Cactus League action.
Some former Phillies have already found new homes, most notably the beloved Rhys Hoskins signing in Milwaukee and the NLCS scapegoat Craig Kimbrel landing in Baltimore.
But what about other former Phillies, from last season and from previous years, who are still waiting to ink deals for the 2024 season?
Brad Hand
Brad Hand was last spotted in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform in 2022. He came to the Phillies on a one-year, $6 million deal and helped the team make it to the postseason for the first time since 2011. In his single season in Philadelphia, the lefty appeared in 55 games, recording a 2.80 ERA, a 1.33 WHIP, and 38 strikeouts in 45 innings. He collected 13 holds and five saves.
While he missed the last week of the season and the National League Wild Card Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, he made it off the IL for the rest of the run to the World Series, appearing in seven games with a 4.76 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 5 2/3 innings. He picked up two wins in the playoffs, including the series-clinching Game 4 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves.
Most recently, Hand spent 2023 with the rival Braves. He was last seen on the mound at Citizens Bank Park in Game 3 of the NLDS, being victimized by Bryce Harper, who hit his second home run of the night off of his former teammate.
You might recall the moment:
Vince Velasquez
Vince Velasquez spent five and a half seasons wearing red pinstripes, pitching for the Phillies from 2016 until being released partway through the 2021 campaign. After coming to Philadelphia from the Houston Astros as part of the Ken Giles trade, the right-hander put up his best season as a Phillie in 2016.
He went 8-6 in 24 starts, recording a 4.12 ERA, a 1.33 WHIP, and 152 strikeouts over 131 innings. Unfortunately, that was about as good as it got in Philly for the former second-round draft pick. He appeared in 133 games (making 116 starts) and left town with a 4.93 ERA and 1.40 WHIP over 582 2/3 innings.
Velasquez spent 2023 with the Pittsburgh Pirates but only pitched 37 1/3 innings before going down with elbow soreness and eventually had the second UCL surgery of his career. Before the injury, the 31-year-old was putting together the best season of his career with a 3.86 ERA and 3.87 FIP. He'll be out until sometime later in 2024, so he might have a hard time finding a job this season.
Chase Anderson
Chase Anderson didn't even spend a full season with the Phillies. After signing as a free agent in February 2021, Anderson lasted until Aug. 27, when the team released him following a forgettable 14 games (with nine starts). Well, maybe not forgettable, but you wouldn't remember them for anything good.
Maybe it's the April 25 game in Colorado when he was lit up for six runs in 3 2/3 innings, or perhaps the May 16 seven-run blitzing at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays (which happened in just 1 1/3 innings). Either way, the now 36-year-old finished his almost five-month stint in Philadelphia with a 6.75 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, and 10 home runs allowed in 48 innings.
Anderson started 2023 with the Tampa Bay Rays but was picked off waivers by the Rockies. Pitching in the thin Colorado air didn't help the right-hander. He finished his 17 starts with a 1-6 record, a 5.75 ERA, and 17 home runs allowed in 81 1/3 innings before becoming a free agent at season's end.
Noah Syndergaard
Noah Syndergaard, who arrived in Philadelphia at the 2022 MLB Trade Deadline for Mickey Moniak and Jadiel Sanchez, was part of the franchise's return to the postseason and the first World Series appearance since 2009.
Prime "Thor" was well in the rearview mirror by the time he joined the Phillies, but he still contributed a 5-2 record through his nine regular season starts. He finished with a 4.12 ERA and 1.32 WHIP and only managed 5.10 K/9, but still had a 3.66 FIP. In the postseason, he made four appearances (two starts) and logged a 3.24 ERA and 0.84 WHIP in 8 1/3 innings. He even bumped up his K/9 to almost a strikeout per inning at 8.64.
The 31-year-old split 2023 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians, finishing the year with an unseemly 6.50 ERA in 88 2/3 innings. Most recently, he was half of the duo of former Phillies who threw a bullpen showcase for teams at the end of January, along with a more recent Phillie, Michael Lorenzen.
Michael Lorenzen
Speaking of Michael Lorenzen, the no-hitter-throwing pitcher is still looking for an employer for 2024 but has been garnering interest from around the league.
Lorenzen came to the Phillies from the Detroit Tigers at the Trade Deadline this past season and got off to a hot start, throwing the franchise's 14th no-hitter in just his first home start (second overall) as a Phillie. After throwing 17 innings over his first two outings, he made only five more starts, with a 7.96 ERA, before being relegated to the bullpen for the final weeks of the season.
The 32-year-old right-hander provided 2 2/3 scoreless innings in the postseason, only making two appearances through the entire run to Game 7 of the NLCS.
Over his nine-year career, the former 38th overall draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds has a 4.11 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP with a 40-38 record in 724 innings. He'll surely get picked up before long as teams start filling out pitching depth as we get deeper into spring training.
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