Drew

Hutchison

Hutchison is the prototypical veteran journeyman at this stage of his career and latches on with the Phillies as emergency starting pitching depth at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 32-year-old righty was cut loose by the Blue Jays earlier this month after opting out of his minor league contract. He compiled a serviceable 4.53 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 68/42 K/BB ratio across 105 1/3 innings (28 appearances, 18 starts) last year for the Tigers. He made 11 relief appearances for the Phillies back in 2018.

Hutchison exercised the opt-out in his minor league contract with the Blue Jays and the club elected to grant him his release rather than add him to their active roster. The 32-year-old journeyman right-hander is merely emergency starting pitching depth at this stage of his career, but should be able to latch on somewhere else rather quickly.

It’s that time of the year where teams are trying to whittle down their rosters in advance of Opening Day. Hutchison has been dealing with some left oblique tightness this spring, but he was always a longshot to crack the Opening Day roster anyways. He’ll likely start the season as additional rotation depth at Triple-A Buffalo, but should see some action with the big league club before the 2023 campaign is said and done.

Hutchison was able to get in some light throwing on Sunday and will extend to long tossing on Monday. The hope is that he’ll be ready to resume throwing off a mound later this week.

Hutchison will miss his next scheduled spring training start due to left oblique tightness. However, an MRI showed no structural damage, which means he could return sooner than later. He’s merely organizational starting pitching depth at this stage of his career.

An MRI ruled out anything major, so the Blue Jays are calling him day-to-day. Hutchison was rocked by the Yankees in his most recent appearance on Tuesday and holds a rough 11.57 ERA over four appearances this spring.

Woof. The right-hander also issued a pair of walks in the contest and didn’t record a strikeout. He started the nightmare by serving up a leadoff homer to DJ LeMahieu. Then a single to Giancarlo Stanton, double to Anthony Rizzo and a three-run bomb to Josh Donaldson and he was down 4-0 just four batters in. Estevan Florial put the final nail in the coffin with a two-run blast. So far this spring, the 32-year-old hurler has posted a troublesome 11.57 ERA and 2.71 WHIP over his seven innings of work.

Hutchison is back where it all began in Toronto nearly a decade ago. The 32-year-old journeyman right-hander wound up compiling a serviceable 4.12 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 78/53 K/BB ratio across 126 2/3 innings (37 appearances, 20 starts) over the last two seasons for the Tigers. He’ll provide the Blue Jays with some emergency starting pitching depth at Triple-A Buffalo to open the 2023 campaign.

Hutchison was designated for assignment and outrighted after being unclaimed by the Tigers, and instead of electing to report to Triple-A Toledo. The right-hander posted a 4.53 ERA and 68/42 K/BB ratio in his 105 1/3 innings with Detroit in 2022. He’s likely to get a minor league deal with a new club this winter, or could be an option for an overseas club.

The Tigers needed to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Jermaine Palacios and it looks like Hutchison was the odd-man out. Entering his final season of arbitration eligibility, the right-hander was likely to be non-tendered anyways this winter, now it just gives him a head start on exploring the free agent market. Hutchison registered a 4.53 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 68/42 K/BB ratio over 105 1/3 innings with the Tigers in 2022.