Phillies sign veteran slugger Logan Morrison to a minor-league contract
The 31-year-old left-handed hitter could eventually add power to a Phillies bench that hasn't been productive this season.
In the interest of adding another option to the mix of bench candidates, the Phillies took a flier Saturday on a nine-year big-league veteran.
Logan Morrison signed a minor-league contract with the Phillies, a source confirmed, and will report to triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 31-year-old left-handed hitter recently opted out of his minor-league deal with the New York Yankees.
The Phillies have had one of the least productive benches in baseball this season. Entering Saturday night's game against the Washington Nationals, their reserves had combined to bat .164 with five homers and a .515 on-base plus slugging percentage, second-lowest in the majors. By comparison, the division-leading Atlanta Braves' non-starters were batting .223 with eight homers and a .741 OPS, 11th-best in the majors.
Morrison struggled last season with the Minnesota Twins and settled for signing a minor-league contract with the Yankees in April. Despite batting .289 with 15 homers and a .999 OPS in 43 games at triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre -- where he was a teammate of recently acquired Phillies utilityman Brad Miller -- Morrison was never called up by the Yankees and opted out of his contract. He was released on July 4.
In 959 games over nine seasons, Morrison has hit 137 homers and posted a .752 OPS. His best season came in 2017 when he reached career highs in homers (38) and OPS (.868) for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Morrison is the second lefty-hitting slugger acquired by the Phillies within the last month. They purchased Miller from the Yankees on June 13, and he was 7-for-24 with two homers and a 1.018 OPS through Friday night.