Three free agent relievers the Philadelphia Phillies need to sign
By David Esser
Drew Storen
Some serious begging may have to be involved, but bringing back Drew Storen after wrongfully releasing him in June just makes too much sense at this point in time.
Matt Klentak and the Philadelphia Phillies added a handful of “bounce-back candidate” veterans during the offseason. Leading up to Spring Training, guys like Bud Norris, Anthony Swarzak, Francisco Liriano, Blake Parker, and Storen were all signed to minor league contracts, with the assumption given that if they impressed during the spring that they would crack the Phillies roster (due to their obvious lack of relief arms).
However, things got a little bit weird when the team released left-hander Liriano, despite the veteran posting a 0.00 ERA through four appearances during Spring Training.
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In fact, the Phillies didn’t promote a single one of their “minor league veterans”. Parker is on the roster now (and is pitching well), but he was only added due to the Phillies sending down Nick Pivetta and Austin Davis.
While Liriano would have been my first choice in terms of begging a veteran to come back, he decided to opt-out of the season altogether due to COVID-19 (following his failure to crack the Phillies main roster). With him now out of the picture, former National Drew Storen is the next best option.
The 6-1 right-hander posted a 4.45 ERA across 58 appearances with the Reds in 2017, and while that’s not necessarily impressive, it would immediately make him one of the Phillies top bullpen arms. Storen has a career ERA in the mid-3.00s and also has a long history of closing out games for the Nats. Considering the fact that Hector Neris has already blown two saves for the Phillies this year, having Storen as an alternate closer would be beyond useful.
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Storen looked decent enough during this past Spring Training, allowing four hits and two runs while recording five total strikeouts (5.0 innings of work). At still just 33 years of age, he likely still has some juice left in the tank, and would immediately give Girardi another veteran reliever to lean on.