The Phillies announced that they have claimed right-hander Brett de Geus off waivers from the Malins and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He was designated for assignment by the Fish a couple of days ago. The Phils don’t need to make a corresponding move because they had an open 40-man spot after designating infielder Buddy Kennedy for assignment when setting their Opening Day roster.
de Geus, now 27, has 61 1/3 innings of big league experience. Most of that came as a Rule 5 pick in 2021, though he was also in the bigs last year. His career 7.48 earned run average is obviously not inspiring. His 16.6% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate are both subpar, though he’s generated ground balls at a strong 52.5% clip.
Despite those rough major league numbers, de Geus has been popular in transaction logs. Going into 2024, he signed a minor league deal with the Mariners. They added him to their big league roster in early April. He was designated for assignment in August and has since gone to the Marlins, Blue Jays, Pirates, Marlins again and now the Phillies on waiver claims.
Last year, he averaged 98 miles per hour on his four-seamer and 96.4 mph on his sinker. He also mixed in a splitter, knuckle curve and cutter. His 39 Triple-A innings last year still resulted in a fairly unexciting 5.31 ERA and 15.6% strikeout rate but he got grounders at a 56.6% clip.
Even though he hasn’t quite put it all together yet, teams clearly think there are enough ingredients where he could click. Since the Phils had an open 40-man spot and de Geus has options, there’s little harm in taking a flier to see how things go with the IronPigs. He’ll give the club some extra bullpen depth and could be in the majors if he performs well and a need arises.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images