The Phillies introduced Wednesday that right-hander Michael Rucker has been designated for project. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to fellow righty Nick Nelson, whose contract has been chosen from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Philadelphia additionally optioned righty Tyler Phillips to Lehigh Valley to open a spot on the lively roster for Nelson.
Rucker, 30, was acquired in a money cope with the Cubs again in February after he’d been designated for project in Chicago. He by no means obtained right into a recreation with the Phillies within the majors, as an alternative spending a lot of the season on the 60-day injured checklist owing to an arterial vasospasm in his proper hand. The Phils reinstated and optioned him previous to the commerce deadline. He’s pitched 26 minor league innings this season and been tagged for a 6.58 ERA, with the majority of the injury coming in Triple-A.
Grim as Rucker’s run-prevention has been, his 26.7% strikeout fee and eight.6% stroll fee are each positive marks (notably the previous). He’s additionally saved the ball on the bottom at a robust 45.2% clip. Rucker, nonetheless, has been affected by an astronomical .479 common on balls in play throughout his time with the IronPigs.
As just lately as 2022, Rucker was a stable member of the Cubs’ bullpen. He pitched a career-high 54 2/3 innings and logged a 3.95 ERA with a 21.8% strikeout fee and eight.7% stroll fee in that point. His followup effort in 2023 resulted in a extra troubling 4.91 ERA in 40 2/3 frames, however his strikeout and stroll numbers remained typically serviceable and his grounder fee spiked to a robust 51.4%. Total, Rucker carries a 4.96 ERA in 123 1/3 innings as a significant leaguer.
Rucker will now head to waivers, the place one other membership may have curiosity in his stable Triple-A monitor file. If not, he’ll be outrighted off the 40-man roster and persist with the Phillies as a depth piece. Rucker lacks the three years of service or prior outright project to elect free company.
The 26-year-old Phillips has had one of many strangest debut campaigns in current reminiscence. The unheralded righty dominated by his first 4 huge league outings, culminating a shutout of the AL Central-leading Guardians on July 27. He didn’t final two innings in his subsequent begin, yielding eight runs to a light-hitting Mariners offense, and has but to recuperate. His struggles reached a tipping level when he allowed six runs within the first inning versus the Blue Jays in yesterday’s begin. Overalll, since his shutout, Phillips has yielded 23 runs in simply 11 2/3 innings. His ERA has skyrocketed from 1.80 to six.87.
Taking Phillips’ spot on the roster will likely be Nelson, who’s spent the previous three seasons with the Phils. He solely pitched in 3 1/3 innings this season and has struggled to supply in Triple-A, the place he’s logged a 6.30 ERA on the season. It may very well be a fast keep on the 40-man roster in Nelson’s return, however he’s stretched out for a number of innings and will give the Phillies 4 and even 5 innings of labor on the heels of yesterday’s marathon recreation for the bullpen, if wanted. Nelson tossed 4 innings in a Triple-A look as just lately as Aug. 24. And, whereas he’s struggled on the season total, Nelson has been throwing higher of late; he’s yielded just one run in his previous 9 1/3 innings pitched in Triple-A.