Free-agent options for two Phillies’ needs: Relief pitching and a bench outfielder

When the Phillies re-signed Aaron Nola to a seven-year, $172 million contract on Nov. 19, they crossed off the most pressing item on their offseason to-do list. But despite the fact that they “don’t have a glaring need” to fill, in the words of president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, there still are ways they can improve on the margins.

Two less glaring — but still important — needs would be adding a versatile reliever who can pitch multiple innings and a bench outfielder who can create some defensive flexibility. Dombrowski has said that the Phillies will need to see more from Johan Rojas at the plate if is he going to stay with the big league club in 2024. Cristian Pache made strides offensively last season, but in a small sample size as right elbow and right knee injuries caused him to miss a lot of time.

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Brandon Marsh has improved against left-handed pitching, and Dombrowski has said he’ll get more playing time against lefties, but whether that actually comes to fruition is another question mark. All of this is to say that there is a lot of promise but also a lot of uncertainty in the outfield, especially with Kyle Schwarber moving from left field to designated hitter next season.

Dombrowski said on Nov. 20 that he doesn’t intend to have Rojas be a “part-time periodic player.” But he also acknowledged that they need to cover themselves, too, in case Rojas is sent down to the minors. Doing so, without blocking Rojas at center field, will be a tricky puzzle to solve.

Signing a reliever should be less tricky. With Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman returning for 2024, and the emergence of younger players like Orion Kerkering with established back-end relievers such as José Alvarado, the Phillies are in good shape. But there is still room to add a versatile reliever who can pitch multiple innings, in the mold of Strahm or Dylan Covey.

Ahead of baseball’s winter meetings next week, here are a few outfielders and relievers they can realistically consider.

Stratton is a 33-year-old right-handed pitcher with parts of eight seasons of big league experience. He is coming off a strong season, split between the Cardinals and the Rangers, in which his walk rate dropped to the lowest in his career (7.4%). His strikeout rate ticked up too, from 21.5% in 2022 to 24% in 2023 (league average last season was 22.7%).

Stratton isn’t a flamethrower — he averaged 93.1 mph on his four-seam fastball in 2023 — but he provides value in his durability. He pitched 86⅔ innings last season, including the Rangers’ World Series run. For reference, Strahm gave the Phillies 87⅔ regular-season innings in 2023.

Stratton also has experience starting. He pitched out of the rotation from 2017 to 2019. The ability to make spot starts would be a big help to the Phillies in 2024, given their lack of starting pitching depth.

Rodriguez, 27, has had an atypical path to MLB free agency. The right-handed pitcher was born in Cuba and pitched for his native country in the Cuban National Series from 2015 to 2021, and went to Japan to pitch for the Chunichi Dragons from 2020 to 2022. He sat out last season for the Dragons on the restricted list, and was granted his release in October.

Outside of pitching for Cuba in this year’s WBC, Rodriguez hasn’t pitched competitive baseball since 2022. But his stint in the WBC was enough to intrigue some teams. Using the MLB baseball, he posted a 2.45 ERA in 7⅓ innings with 10 strikeouts in the WBC. He made two starts.

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The Dragons used Rodriguez as a reliever, but he has 73 games worth of experience starting from his time pitching in Cuba. He posted a 1.15 ERA over 52⅔ innings pitched with the Dragons in 2022, with a 27.5% strikeout rate and an 8.3% walk rate. He posted a 3.03 ERA with 188 strikeouts over three seasons in Japan.

Rodriguez throws a fastball in the upper 90s with a good slider and curveball. Scouts who have seen him say he does a good job of changing his arm slot and timing to keep hitters off-balance. Given his age and dominance overseas, Rodriguez will command a larger price — MLB Trade Rumors is projecting four years, $32 million — but if the Phillies are willing to pay it, he could provide some much needed stability in the rotation and the bullpen.

Brasier, 36, overlapped with Dombrowski in Boston, where he pitched from 2018 to 2023. He struggled with the Red Sox in the first half of his 2023 season, posting a 7.29 ERA in 21 innings with a 9.5% walk rate and an 18.9% strikeout rate — figures that were abnormally high and low for him.

After the Red Sox released him, Brasier signed as a free agent with the Dodgers in June and saw a complete turnaround. The Dodgers added a cutter to Brasier’s arsenal which complemented the other pitches in his arsenal (his four-seam, two-seam, and slider). Now, he throws two fastballs that average around 96 mph, coming at one plane of movement, a slider that averages 85 mph at a different plane of movement, and a 92 mph cutter with 10 inches of vertical break, forcing the hitter to cover three different planes of movement and velocities.

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After making the changes to arsenal, Brasier’s velocity ticked up, his walk rate dropped to 7%, and his strikeout rate jumped to 26.6%. He posted a 0.70 ERA in 38⅔ innings for the Dodgers. He has been used in several roles — including multi-inning stints — and would be a good fit as a medium-leverage type reliever, who can bridge to a closer.

Pham, 35, is coming off a strong 2023 spent with the Mets and Diamondbacks. He slashed .256/.328/.446 with an above average walk rate (9.8%) and a below average strikeout rate (22%). He can play all three outfield positions, although the defensive metrics don’t love him. According to Fangraphs, he posted zero defensive runs saved (DRS) and -1 outs above average (OAA) in 2023.

Nevertheless, he would let the Phillies mix and match in the outfield, and would help lengthen their lineup. He hits the ball hard (at an average exit velocity of 92.3 mph) and doesn’t chase a lot — which would be a good fit for a lineup full of aggressive hitters who have had trouble with chasing. An added bonus: He overlapped with infield coach Bobby Dickerson and Strahm in San Diego, so there is some familiarity there.

The Phillies were rumored to be interested in Duvall at the trade deadline last season. He could still be a fit. Duvall, 35, has substantial postseason experience from his time with the Braves, can play all three outfield positions, first base, and even a bit of third base. He has good platoon splits — relatively even against right-handers and left-handers — and hits for power.

The one big knock against him is his approach. Duvall strikes out a lot — at a rate of 31.2% last season — and walks at a rate of 6.2%. His chase percentage of 34.1% ranks well above the MLB average of 28.5%. That could be a tough fit on a team, as mentioned above, that chases plenty.

Merrifield, a 34-year-old three-time All-Star, would bring positional flexibility, speed on the base paths, and a good approach at the plate. He has played more games at second base, but has considerable time playing the outfield. He also has experience at first and third base. He doesn’t hit the ball hard but hits for average. He posted a .272/.318/.382 slash line for the Blue Jays last season, with 11 home runs.

His low strikeout rate (17.1%) ranks in the 81st percentile of all MLB hitters and whiff rate (19.5%) ranks in the 82nd percentile. His sprint speed of 28.7 feet per second ranks in the 85th percentile of all MLB baserunners.

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Merrifield would be a fit, on paper, but there are two big obstacles here. The first would be playing time. He’s played 162 games in two of his eight seasons, and played 145 games last season. It’s fair to ask whether he would be interested in a bench outfielder role. The second would be contract terms. If Merrifield is looking for a multi-year deal, the Phillies likely won’t overextend themselves.