David Robertson expects to join Phillies’ bullpen in early August: ‘I feel like this is a good opportunity’

After not finding the contract that he sought in free agency last winter, David Robertson returned home to Rhode Island with unplanned leisure time on his calendar.

“I played a lot of tennis,” he said. “Got my butt kicked.”

Robertson stayed busy in other ways, too, like dropping off and picking up his three children, cooking meals, and other “dad things.” But even after turning 40 in April, he let it be known throughout baseball that he was keeping his arm in shape to pitch this season.

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The time has come. Robertson agreed Sunday night on a prorated one-year, $15 million contract with the Phillies that will pay him approximately $6 million. He accepted a 15-day assignment to triple A, where he hopes to get into about four games before joining the bullpen by Aug. 5.

“I was kind of planning to line it up around this time [to come back] because I feel like this is a good opportunity,” said Robertson, who represents himself and has had two previous stints with the Phillies. “Instead of having to trade for me, you can just pick me up and they don’t lose any prospects. So, I thought it gave me a little bit more leverage and a better opportunity to throw for teams and have them actually come see me.”

Robertson threw for Phillies special assignment scout Todd Donovan recently before holding a showcase for several teams Saturday in Providence, R.I. The Phillies dispatched scout Charley Kerfeld, who noted an 88-90 mph cutter and similar spin on his curveball from last season with the Rangers.

“He called me right away and said, ‘I’d sign him,’” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “He said, ‘He’s ready.’”

Well, almost. Dombrowski estimated that Robertson is “at like March 10 in spring training” in terms of building up his arm strength, an indication that the Phillies expect him to get closer to his 93-mph average on his cutter last season.

But Robertson is postseason-tested. He won a World Series with the Yankees in 2009 and has appeared in 42 playoff games, including eight with the pennant-winning Phillies in 2022.

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“He’s an experienced guy that’s been through this before,” said manager Rob Thomson, who coached Robertson as a rookie with the Yankees and worked with him twice before with the Phillies. “He’s comfortable with Philadelphia. Last year, he had a really good year. If he can do that again, we’re a much better club.”

And for a shot at winning another World Series, Robertson decided shuttling his kids to and from school can wait.

“I want to keep going until I can’t throw a baseball anymore,” Robertson said. “The league hasn’t told me yet that I’m not good enough to play anymore. So, if I’ve got the opportunity to step in between the lines and give everything I’ve got again, I’m going to fulfill that itch and try to win some ballgames and help us out.”

Even after adding Robertson, the Phillies are looking for bullpen upgrades before the July 31 trade deadline, according to multiple major league sources.

The market hasn’t fully taken shape, in part because the week began with only nine teams that were more than five games out of a playoff spot in either league. Several bullpen-needy teams, including the Phillies, are focused on the Guardians and Twins, who could deal closers Emmanuel Clase and Jhoan Durán, respectively, if they choose to sell.

Dombrowski reiterated that the Phillies would move at least one starting pitcher to the bullpen for the playoffs. But they haven’t discussed top prospect Andrew Painter as a bullpen option after he missed two years with a torn elbow ligament that required Tommy John surgery.

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Painter has a 5.01 ERA in 12 triple-A starts, hardly what Dombrowski expected when he suggested in the offseason that the 22-year-old righty could make his hotly anticipated major league debut by “July-ish.”

“We always said ‘July-ish’ that he’d be ready to join the rotation, not that he was going to rejoin the rotation because he has to be pitching well,” Dombrowski said. “It’s a situation where he isn’t guaranteed a spot in a rotation at any point. He’s never been told that he is, so we’ll just play it by ear, see how he’s throwing, how our club fits together.”

Alec Bohm is the primary protection for Bryce Harper in the middle of the order. Considering the third baseman is expected to miss about a month with a fractured left rib, does it affect their deadline pursuit of another hitter?

“I don’t think at all,” Dombrowski said. “Because he’s not going to be out for an extended period.”

Besides, the market appears to be lacking in difference-making hitters, especially after the Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the Giants last month. But the Phillies’ offense was hot-and-cold before Bohm’s injury.

“Some of that fix has to come internally,” Dombrowski said. “It just has to. You’re not going to go out and make a bunch of trades. You can look to supplement, but some of our guys internally, I think we hope will do better. But it’s been inconsistent, and we need to get more consistent from the offensive perspective.”

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One internal option: outfield prospect Justin Crawford. But Dombrowski said the Phillies would have to be sure that he would get at-bats. Maybe the picture will become clearer after the trade deadline.

“If you’re bringing Justin Crawford up at this point, he needs to play,” Dombrowski said. “We need to kind of sort out our own situation here and see when he comes up that he’s going to be a guy that’s playing all the time.”

Dombrowski said suspended lefty reliever José Alvarado is throwing in Venezuela. The Phillies can send him on a minor league assignment beginning Aug. 4, 15 days before he’s eligible to return. They expect him to rejoin the bullpen by Aug. 19, but he’s barred from the postseason. … Aaron Nola (rib) is scheduled for a bullpen session Tuesday, the precursor to a minor league assignment. … Commissioner Rob Manfred met with both the Phillies and Red Sox before the game. He meets with every team annually. … Cristopher Sánchez (8-2, 2.50 ERA) is slated to start at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday against Red Sox righty Richard Fitts (1-3, 4.28).