The Phillies announced that right-hander Ricardo Pinto has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A LeHigh Valley. This is his second career outright, meaning he has the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so.
Pinto, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Phils in the winter and was added to their roster a few days into the season. He made six appearances, tossing 10 2/3 innings, but allowed 13 earned runs in that time. He struck out eight batters and walked five.
He likely didn’t deserve to have results quite that bad. His 59.1% ground ball rate was quite strong while his .405 batting average on balls in play and 51.7% strand rate are both on the unlucky side. His 6.04 FIP and 4.19 SIERA each paint a nicer portrait than Pinto’s ERA. Regardless, he was bumped off the Phillies’ roster and none of the 29 other teams decided to take a chance on him. He previously pitched in the big leagues in 2017 and 2019 but those stints didn’t go well either, so he now has a career ERA of 9.07 in 42 2/3 career innings.
As mentioned, Pinto has the right to elect free agency but he’s listed on the roster of the IronPigs, which seems to suggest he’ll stick with the Phils as non-roster depth.
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