Phillies announce additional Spring Training non-roster invitees
The Phillies have signed catcher Jeff Mathis to a minor league contract with an invitation to attend major league spring training, the club announced today.
Mathis, 37, played in 24 games for the Texas Rangers in 2020, throwing out four of 12 attempted base stealers. He has played in 911 games at catcher over 16 major league seasons with the Los Angeles Angels (2005-11), Toronto Blue Jays (2012), Miami Marlins (2013-16), Arizona Diamondbacks (2017-18) and Rangers (2019-20). Those 911 games are sixth-most among all active catchers in baseball.
Additionally, the Phillies have invited catcher Rodolfo Durán to attend major league spring training. Durán participated in Florida Instructional League and played in the Dominican Winter League following the 2020 season. In 2019, Durán caught 26 of 64 attempted base stealers (40.6%) and did not commit an error in 64 games at catcher for single-A Clearwater. The previous season, he ranked among South Atlantic League leaders in nearly all defensive catching numbers and clubbed 18 home runs in 66 games. Durán, 22, was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 2014.
With the additions of Mathis and Durán, the total number of non-roster invitees to major league spring training stands at 12:
Pitchers (6): Neftalí Feliz, Brandon Kintzler, Bryan Mitchell, Iván Nova, Héctor Rondón, Michael Ynoa
Catchers (3): Christian Bethancourt, Rodolfo Durán, Jeff Mathis
Infielders (1): Ronald Torreyes
Outfielders (2): Travis Jankowski, Matt Joyce
The club has also extended invitations to the following 18 internal players to attend the mini-camp at spring training:
Edgar Cabral, C – Cabral, 25, was part of Philadelphia’s player pool at the alternate training site in Lehigh Valley in 2020. The California native has thrown out 38.2% of attempted base stealers in his minor league career. An 11th-round pick of the Phillies in the June 2015 draft, Cabral attended major league spring training with the Phillies in 2018.
Tyler Carr, RHP – The right-hander spent 2019 with single-A Lakewood, single-A Clearwater and double-A Reading, combining to post a 1.29 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 69.2 innings, while allowing just one home run and holding opponents to a .180 average over 39 relief appearances. The club’s 31st-round selection in the June 2018 draft, Carr, 24, has a 1.54 ERA in 54 minor league appearances, climbing five levels in the Phillies’ system between the 2018-19 seasons.
Enyel De Los Santos, RHP – The 6-foot-3, 225-pound right-hander spent brief time in the majors as both a starter and reliever in 2018 and 2019, and in 2020 spent the majority of the season at the alternate training site. In 106 games (100 starts) in the Phillies’ farm system, the 25-year old has gone 39-23 with a 3.57 ERA. Originally signed by the Seattle Mariners as an amateur free agent in 2014, De Los Santos was acquired by the Phillies from San Diego in the trade that sent Freddy Galvis to the Padres in 2017.
Julian Garcia, RHP – The 25-year-old Garcia has posted a 3.37 ERA in 76 games (47 starts) in the Phillies’ minor league system. He last pitched in 2019, appearing in 23 games, including a professional-high 22 starts, for single-A Clearwater and double-A Reading, going 9-8 with a 3.58 ERA. Garcia was selected by Philadelphia in the 10th round of the June 2016 draft.
Darick Hall, INF – In his last minor league season in 2019, Hall, 25, led the Eastern League with 59 extra-base hits (38 2B, 3B, 20 HR) in 132 games for double-A Reading and was named a midseason and postseason All-Star. A 14th-round selection by the Phillies in the June 2016 draft, he has hit 84 home runs in 438 minor league games, slashing .253/.338/.487. Hall attended major league spring training with the Phillies in 2020.
JD Hammer, RHP – The 26-year-old spent the 2020 season at the Phillies’ alternate training site in Lehigh Valley. In 2019, he posted a 3.79 ERA for the Phillies in his first 20 career appearances in the majors. A native of Fort Collins, Colo., Hammer was acquired from his hometown Colorado Rockies in July 2017.
Jonathan Hennigan, LHP – Hennigan, who pitched for Adelaide in the Australian Baseball League in 2020, has appeared in 125 games in relief in his minor league career with the Phillies, posting a 3.79 ERA and reaching as high as double-A Reading in 2019. He has allowed only eight home runs in 182.2 innings and averaged 9.95 strikeouts per nine innings. The 26-year-old southpaw was selected by the Phillies in the 21st round of the June 2016 draft.
Jakob Hernandez, LHP – The 6-foot-4 southpaw has pitched in 99 games (98 in relief) in his minor league career with the Phillies, posting a 2.20 ERA with 11 saves, averaging 10.70 strikeouts per nine innings and holding opponents to a .212 batting average with just six home runs. In his last season in 2019, he went 5-1 with a 1.68 ERA in 47 games for double-A Reading. Hernandez, 24, was selected by the Phillies in the 21st round of the June 2017 draft.
Odúbel Herrera, OF – Herrera, 29, is a five-year major league veteran, who last appeared in the majors in 2019. A 2016 National League All-Star, he has batted .276 with 122 doubles, 16 triples and 60 home runs in 631 games with the Phillies, setting career highs in home runs (22) and RBI (71) in his last full season in 2018. He has started 556 games in center field for Philadelphia. A native of Venezuela, Herrera was originally signed by the Texas Rangers as an amateur free agent in 2008 and was selected by the Phillies in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft.
Erik Miller, LHP – A 6-foot-5 southpaw, Miller appeared in 11 games (7 starts) between three minor levels in 2019 after being selected in the fourth round of the draft that June. The 23-year-old posted a 1.50 ERA, struck out 52 batters and did not allow a home run.
Logan O’Hoppe, C – The 21-year-old O’Hoppe spent the 2020 season at the Phillies’ alternate training site in Lehigh Valley. A right-handed hitter, he has batted .277 in 79 minor league games between the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Phillies and single-A Williamsport, where he was named a New York-Penn League All-Star in 2019. O’Hoppe was a 23rd-round selection by the Phillies in the June 2018 draft.
Jhailyn Ortiz, OF – In 2019 with single-A Clearwater, the 6-foot-3, 255-pound outfielder finished second in the Florida State League with 19 home runs and fourth with 65 RBI. Defensively, his 14 outfield assists were tied for second-most in the league, and following the season was rated as having the best outfield arm and being the best power hitter in the Phillies minor league system by Baseball America. Ortiz, a 22-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 2015.
David Parkinson, LHP – The 2018 Paul Owens Award winner as the best pitcher in the Phillies minor league system, Parkinson has gone 22-13 with a 2.71 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 55 minor league games (46 starts) after being selected by the Phillies in the 12th round of the June 2017 draft. Parkinson, 25, has struck out 301 batters in 276.0 innings and held opponents to a .226 batting average. During that 2018 season, his 1.45 ERA was the lowest among all qualifying pitchers in Minor League Baseball.
Johan Rojas, OF – Rojas, 20, is attending mini-camp after participating in Florida Instructional League in 2020. In two minor league seasons, he has batted .294 with 23 doubles, 15 triples and 33 stolen bases in 128 games. Rojas was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 2018.
Bryson Stott, INF – The Phillies’ first-round (14th overall) selection in the June 2019 draft, Stott is attending the mini-camp after spending the 2020 season at the club’s alternate training site in Lehigh Valley. In his first professional season in 2019, Stott, 23, slashed .295/.391/.494 with 18 extra-base hits in 48 games, most of which were played with single-A Williamsport. Following the 2020 season, Stott was named the No. 3 prospect in the Phillies system by Baseball America.
Matt Vierling, OF – Vierling, 24, has played two seasons in the Phillies minor league system after being selected in the fifth round of the June 2018 draft. He has batted .263 with 41 doubles and 29 steals in 180 games, including 22 in 2019 for single-A Clearwater, where he was named a Florida State League midseason All-Star.
Zach Warren, LHP – Warren, 24, pitched in 40 games in relief for single-A Clearwater in 2019, posting a 3.30 ERA and striking out 80 batters in 60.0 innings pitched. Originally selected by Philadelphia in the 23rd round of the June 2014 draft, Warren has a 2.71 ERA in 95 minor league appearances. The left-hander attended major league spring training with the Phillies in 2020.
Luke Williams, INF – The 24-year-old Williams spent 2020 as part of the Phillies player pool at the alternate training site in Lehigh Valley, after attending major league spring training as a non-roster invitee. In 2019, when with double-A Reading, Williams stole 30 bases in 39 attempts and was one of just two players in the Eastern league with at least 30 doubles and 10 home runs. Williams has played every defensive position in his career except pitcher and catcher, starting at least 10 games at all seven of those other positions. The Illinois native was selected by the Phillies in the third round of the June 2015 draft.
Those 18 join the previously announced right-handed pitcher David Paulino on the mini-camp roster. A positional breakdown of the 19 invitees to mini-camp is as follows:
Pitchers (10): Tyler Carr, Enyel De Los Santos, Julian Garcia, JD Hammer, Jonathan Hennigan, Jakob Hernandez, Erik Miller, David Parkinson, David Paulino, Zach Warren
Catchers (2): Edgar Cabral, Logan O’Hoppe
Infielders (3): Darick Hall, Bryson Stott, Luke Williams
Outfielders (4): Odúbel Herrera, Jhailyn Ortiz, Johan Rojas, Matt Vierling