Phillies Select Lou Trivino

The Phillies announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Lou Trivino. Fellow righty Chase Shugart was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the corresponding active roster move. The 40-man roster has had a vacancy since Bryse Wilson was designated for assignment last week, later going to the Cubs via waivers. Trivino fills that final spot.

Trivino, 34, is a veteran journeyman at this point in his career. He has thrown 335 1/3 innings, allowing 4.00 earned runs per nine. His 10.4% walk rate is a bit high but his 23.4% strikeout rate and 45.1% ground ball rate are both a bit better than par.

He signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in the offseason. He opted out of that deal on May 1st and then landed a big league deal with the Orioles, though he allowed six earned runs in three innings and was designated for assignment after less than a week on the roster. He cleared waivers, elected free agency and re-signed with the Phillies on a new minor league deal.

Though he sports an ugly ERA of 18.00 in the big leagues this year, he has been much better in Triple-A. He has thrown 28 1/3 innings for the IronPigs with a 1.27 ERA. He has struck out 29.1% of batters faced, kept walks at an acceptable 8.5% level and induced grounders on 47.2% of balls in play. His four-seamer and sinker have both been averaging around 95 miles per hour as he has also been throwing a cutter, slider and changeup.

Based on those strong results, the Phils will give him another shot in the big leagues. Ideally, he’ll have more success than he did with Baltimore last month. Trivino has years and years of service time and therefore can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent. If things don’t work out this time and the Phils want him off the active roster, he’ll have to be bumped off the 40-man as well.