The Phillies signed right-hander Austin Brice to a minor league deal this morning, per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb. The deal comes with an invite to big league Spring Training.
Brice, 32 in June, last made an appearance at the big league level for the Pirates back in 2022. The righty made his major league debut in 2016 as a member of the Marlins, though he would ultimately pitch just 14 innings with the club before being sent to Cincinnati as part of the deal that sent Luis Castillo to Cincinnati. Over two seasons with the Reds, Brice struggled to a 5.40 ERA with a matching FIP across 70 innings of work before the club designated him for assignment following the 2018 season. After a series of waiver claims, Brice found himself back in Miami ahead of the 2019 season and enjoyed the best season of his career as he pitched to a solid 3.43 ERA in 44 2/3 innings of work for the Marlins.
Unfortunately, that success at the big league level was short-lived, as Brice has posted a 5.85 ERA in 40 innings of work since the start of the 2020 season and spent the entire 2023 campaign in the minor leagues pitching for the Twins and Diamondbacks, for whom he posted a combined 6.92 ERA in 40 1/3 innings. Despite those brutal numbers last year, Brice’s overall body of work at the Triple-A level still features decent numbers. In 170 1/3 innings of work at the level across six seasons, Brice has posted a 4.54 ERA with a solid 25% strikeout rate against a 10.3% walk rate alongside a strong 47.4% groundball rate.
Those serviceable peripheral numbers are brought down, however, by Brice’s troubles with the longball. Brice has allowed a whopping 17.6% of his fly balls to leave the yard for home runs throughout his major league career, and allowed an even higher percentage at the Triple-A level last year. Given his solid peripherals and penchant for grounders, it’s easy to see how Brice could be a serviceable big league reliever if he can get his home run issues under control.
The right-hander will have a chance to prove himself capable in that regard with the Phillies this spring, where he’ll join fellow NRIs such as Ryan Burr and Nick Snyder in competing for a role in the club’s crowded bullpen. Should Brice fail to make the big league roster out of camp, he’ll likely serve as relief depth at the Triple-A level alongside depth options already on the 40-man roster such as right-handers Michael Rucker and Kaleb Ort.
More must-reads: