Nick

Ward

Ward spent last year in the Phillies’ minor league system, posting a solid .735 OPS with 10 homers and 28 stolen bases across 484 plate appearances between High-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading. At 28 years old, he was a bit advanced for those levels, so he’ll presumably head to Triple-A Gwinnett for the Braves to open 2024. He’s merely organizational fodder at this point of his career.

The 27-year-old hasn’t played affiliated ball since the 2019 season where he toiled in Class-A ball for the Athletics. He had a strong 2022 campaign with the Washington WildThings in the independent Frontier League though -- slashing .349/.478/.620 with 19 homers, 61 RBI and 18 swipes in 82 games. He’ll add minor league depth for the Phillies.