Phillies To Designate Bryse Wilson For Assignment

The Phillies are designating right-hander Bryse Wilson for assignment, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Lefty Kyle Backhus is expected to rejoin the club. Righty Max Lazar is also headed back to Triple-A. Gelb adds that right-hander Alan Rangel is a candidate to be recalled and pitch on Monday.

Wilson was added to the roster earlier this week after triggering an upward mobility clause in his contract. He tossed two scoreless innings out of the bullpen on Thursday. Wilson seemed to be a candidate to take over Andrew Painter‘s spot in the rotation. The young right-hander was sent down on Wednesday after a disastrous start against the Marlins. Instead, he’ll head to DFA limbo after one appearance.

The 28-year-old Wilson has spent virtually the entire season in the Phillies’ organization. He joined the club on a minor league deal in December. The veteran righty fell short of a roster spot out of camp and did not pitch well at Triple-A. He was released in early June, but quickly re-upped on a new minor league agreement. There may have been another opt-out situation in play there.

Wilson has been a useful swingman as recently as two years ago with the Brewers. He compiled 181 1/3 innings of a 3.72 ERA with Milwaukee from 2023 to 2024. Wilson scuffled to a 6.65 ERA in 20 games with the White Sox last year. He was on and off the roster multiple times. Wilson was striking out more than a batter per inning at Lehigh Valley this season, but he was having a tough time keeping runs off the board (6.29 ERA). All but one of his 12 appearances came as a starter.

It seems like Rangel will get the first crack at taking over Painter’s rotation spot. His most recent Triple-A start was on Wednesday, so he’ll be on regular rest for tomorrow’s matchup against the Nationals. The righty appeared once in the big leagues earlier in the season, allowing a run over three innings in a late April loss to the Cubs.

Rangel earned his first crack in the majors last season after a lengthy minor league career. He posted an underwhelming 8:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but was able to limit the damage, permitting three earned runs over 11 frames out of the bullpen. The 28-year-old has operated mostly as a starter this year. He has a sub-4.00 ERA with a 24.8% strikeout rate in 70 innings with the Iron Pigs.

Backhus has been out since late April with elbow inflammation. He’s made five rehab appearances at Triple-A. The lefty came to the Phillies in an offseason trade with the Diamondbacks. Backhus broke camp with the team, but was optioned in early April. He’d been back with the big-league squad for a couple of weeks before the elbow issue popped up.

Lazar was recalled earlier this week. He made three appearances out of the bullpen, tossing four innings in low-leverage spots. Lazar opened the year on the injured list with an oblique strain. He’s in his second minor league option year. The righty could be back in the majors the next time the Phillies need some length in the bullpen.