The Phillies release veteran shortstop Didi Gregorius
With Jean Segura returning from injury, the Phillies chose to stick with rookie Bryson Stott at shortstop and ditch Gregorius.
When the time came Thursday for the Phillies to clear a roster spot for second baseman Jean Segura’s return from the injured list, they faced a choice.
Move rookie Bryson Stott to the bench and bump utility infielder Yairo Muñoz to the minors.
Play Stott at his natural shortstop and bench veteran Didi Gregorius.
Release Gregorius, and roll with Stott at short and Muñoz and newly acquired Edmundo Sosa on the bench.
Many teams, including the Phillies in previous years, would have gone with Door No. 1 or 2 instead of eating the nearly $5 million owed to Gregorius. But money isn’t as much of an object when you’re already over the luxury-tax threshold, so the Phillies made the move that they believe will most help them on the field.
Bye bye, Didi.
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“Didi was really kind of the odd man out,” interim manager Rob Thomson said after the Phillies released Gregorius. “That doesn’t mean he’s a bad player because he’s played very well at shortstop for us. He just didn’t hit the way that he normally hits. It’s a difficult decision, but I think the right decision.”
Gregorius, 32, batted .210 with one home run and a .567 on-base plus slugging in 63 games. In particular, he struggled over the last two months since returning from a sprained left knee. In his last 45 games, he hit .181/.234/.284 with 10 extra-base hits in 167 plate appearances.
In Stott, the Phillies had an alternative at shortstop. The 2019 first-round pick was filling in for Segura, and although his numbers are lacking (.196/.262/.314, seven homers), he has delivered several big hits, including a walk-off three-run homer June 5 against the Los Angeles Angels.
The Phillies are impressed by Stott’s contact rate (eight strikeouts in his last 120 plate appearances entering Thursday night) and on-base ability (.317 since June 23).
Not that the 24-year-old saw the move with Gregorius coming.
“Kind of surprised,” Stott said. “You never kind of think that. I’m excited. I think it’s going to be good, and we’ll go from there.”
Said Bryce Harper, who is close with Stott: “It’s his spot to lose, right? I think his glove has been playing really well for us. He’s picking it really well. I think his swing has been coming along really well for him as well. So, I’m excited to see him get back to his position and play it every single day.”
Thomson said the Phillies talked with Gregorius “a little bit” about a potential bench role. But Gregorius has been an everyday player throughout his career and said in spring training that he didn’t view himself as a fit to come off the bench.
“We talked through it,” Thomson said. “At the end of the day, we just felt like this was the best move.”
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That didn’t make it any easier for Thomson, who goes back to 2015 with Gregorius with the New York Yankees.
Gregorius signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the Phillies in December 2019 and batted .284/.339/.488 with 10 homers in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The Phillies brought him back on a two-year, $28 million deal at a time when other free-agent shortstops (Andrelton Simmons, Freddy Galvis, even Marcus Semien) were getting one-year contracts.
Hampered last year by multiple injuries, including an elbow issue that he said was misdiagnosed as pseudogout and ultimately required offseason surgery, Gregorius batted .209/.270/.370 with only 13 home runs.
The Phillies were counting this season on a bounce-back. It never came.
“I don’t know what it is, but he just wasn’t hitting,” Thomson said, noting that Gregorius’ defense was actually improved over last season. “It doesn’t mean he won’t hit in the future, but right now he’s not hitting and so we felt like we had better pieces.”
Gregorius is one hit shy of 1,000 for his career. In his final game with the Phillies, he went 1-for-4 in a 3-1 victory in Atlanta. In a potential spot to use a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning and tough Braves lefty A.J. Minter, Thomson stuck with Gregorius, who grounded out.
Indeed, the Phillies believe the roster is deeper and potentially even more dynamic with Muñoz and Sosa coming off the bench. Sosa, acquired last weekend from the St. Louis Cardinals, is an above-average defender at multiple infield positions, including shortstop.
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Cutting ties with Gregorius comes two days after center fielder Odubel Herrera and reliever Jeurys Familia were designated for assignment to make way for just-acquired Brandon Marsh and David Robertson, both of whom were viewed as substantial upgrades.
Those moves, along with deadline trades for Marsh, Robertston, and Noah Syndergaard, have reverberated through the clubhouse, with Nick Castellanos saying it gives the Phillies “more wind at your sails” entering the stretch drive.
“I think it tells them that we’re in this thing and we’re in it for real,” Thomson said. “We’re serious about this. Hey, the game is about production. You have to produce. If you don’t, then we have to make some decisions.”