When the Philadelphia Phillies signed Lou Trivino in early August, nobody was sure what the right-hander would provide the team. Inked to a minor league contract and sent to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Trivino impressed in seven scoreless innings with the IronPigs. He's now getting his shot with the Phillies.
It helped that Joe Ross and Jordan Romano had been borderline unusable in the bullpen, leading to the former's release and the latter's placement on the 15-day IL on Aug. 26. The Phillies added the 33-year-old to the bullpen as part of that roster shuffle.
So far, Trivino, who hails from Green Lane, has looked good in his limited sample size in the big leagues with the Phillies. He has appeared in three games, posting three scoreless innings with two strikeouts and a walk.
Lou Trivino's postseason experience and track record could be big help to Phillies' bullpen
If Trivino does enough to stick in the big leagues and make the postseason roster, the Phillies might have a secret weapon on their hands in October, based on his previous playoff results. For his postseason career, Trivino has a 0.96 ERA with 10 strikeouts and three walks in 9 1/3 innings.
The 11th round draft pick out of Slippery Rock began his MLB career in Oakland, where he pitched in two postseasons with the Athletics. In 2018, his rookie year, Trivino appeared in one game in the American League Wild Card, throwing three scoreless innings and striking out four of the 10 New York Yankees he faced. In 2020, he pitched 2 2/3 innings across two outings in the Wild Card Series and American League Division Series, allowing one earned run and striking out two.
Trivino's most recent postseason experience came in 2022 with the Yankees, when he recorded four strikeouts in 2 2/3 scoreless innings.
But his experience in October won't matter unless he can figure out what has caused his struggles this season. It could be as simple as the fact that he's coming back from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent early in the 2023 season.
Trivino didn't pitch in the majors in 2024, only throwing 11 innings in the Yankees' minor league system before they declined his option. He bounced from the San Francisco Giants to the Los Angeles Dodgers this year. Trivino posted a 5.84 ERA in 12 1/3 innings with the Giants and then a 3.76 ERA in 26 1/3 innings for the Dodgers, who released him in July.
Trivino sits at 95.1 mph with his sinker and 94.7 mph with his four-seamer. While he's not going to wow anyone with big strikeout stuff, his five-pitch mix (six if you include his seldom-used curveball) generates impressive weak contact. He boasts a 94th percentile 86.6 mph average exit velocity and an elite 98th percentile 30.5 hard-hit rate.
Hopefully, that's enough for him to succeed in the bullpen down the stretch. And hopefully the Phillies' decision to take a flier on Trivino pays off when playoff baseball starts.