Philadelphia Phillies Designate Struggling Reliever For Assignment
After a difficult start to the year, the Philadelphia Phillies have decided to designate one of their relievers for assignment and call up another option.
The Philadelphia Phillies haven't exactly gotten off to the start they were hoping for after falling to 1-3 following their extra innings loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.
It's not exactly foreign territory for them either, having struggled to get out of the gates quickly each of the past two seasons.
Much of their issues have come from the pitching staff with their bullpen getting a lot of attention for how poorly they've played so far.
Perhaps the posterchild of those struggles through four games has been Connor Brogdon. He's allowed six earned runs with two homers through only two innings of work. He's also walked six batters and threw seven straight balls in the 10th inning against the Reds before giving up a grand slam.
"I'm just kind of scrambled out there right now," the reliever told reporters after the game.
The Phillies decided to make a move after that performance, designating Brogdon for assignment according to Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
It's a disappointing development for the right-hander who played such a major role with the team during their 2022 World Series run. His ERA in the regular season was a career-best 3.27 across his 47 appearances, and he lowered it to 2.08 during the playoffs over seven games.
Brogdon struggled last year, however, causing them to send him down to the minors just like they are doing now.
Unfortunately, the righty is now out of minor league options so another team is able to claim him off waivers if they'd like.
Philadelphia has called up Ricardo Pinto to replace Brogdon as reported by Lauber.
Pinto hasn't pitched in a Major League game since 2019 with the Tampa Bay Rays and has spent the past two years playing professional baseball in China and Mexico.
