The Phillies added a former Yankees pitcher with lots of experience under Joe Girardi. They agreed to a minor-league deal with 29-year-old right-hander Bryan Mitchell, according to Jayson Stark.
Mitchell pitched for the Yankees from 2014-17 and for the Padres in 2018. He spent 2019 in the minor leagues in San Diego’s system and had a rocky season as a starter, posting a 9.41 ERA in 44 innings at Triple A in the extremely hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
In 2020, he spent time at the White Sox alternate site but was released in August.
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Mitchell has made 64 career big-league appearances, 44 in relief. He owns a 6.32 ERA as a reliever and a 4.25 ERA in 20 starts.
He is a contact pitcher (5.4 strikeouts per nine for his career) and is reliant on groundballs. Mitchell’s had three seasons with a groundball rate of at least 50% and is at that mark for his career.
He will vie for a spot on the Phillies’ pitching staff, likely either as rotation depth or a long man.
The Phillies are not bursting with major-league-ready starting pitchers beyond their projected five-man rotation of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Zach Eflin, Vince Velasquez and Spencer Howard.
MLB
Under new president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies have signed Archie Bradley and traded for relievers Jose Alvarado and Sam Coonrod. They’ve added relievers Neftali Feliz and Michael Ynoa, catcher Christian Bethancourt and infielder Ronald Torreyes on minor-league deals.
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