Infielder T.J. Rivera was among the minor league players the Phillies released Friday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. It’s not yet known which other players the Phillies cut.
Rivera signed a minors pact with the Phillies back in December, at which point he was coming off a respectable offensive run with the division-rival Mets. The 31-year-old was a .304/.335/,445 hitter with a meager 14.2 percent strikeout rate in 344 plate appearances from 2016-17, though health problems have taken a sledgehammer to his career since then.
Rivera underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2017, and his Mets tenure came to a close when they released him in March 2019. He has since played with the Nationals’ Double-A affiliate, in the Puerto Rican and Dominican Winter Leagues, and with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. If another major league team does take a chance on Rivera, he’ll surely have to work his way back via the minors, where he has performed well. Rivera is the owner of a .335/.375/.490 line in 663 trips to the plate in Triple-A ball.
I feel bad for the dude. He’s a great,consistent hitter but has just been stuck behind better players. His age and injuries is the only reason he isn’t desirable
Agreed. Hoping he will latch on elsewhere.
He’ll do well in Japan or S. Korea.
Hopefully he get another shot in the bigs.
This guy is the absolute definition of a slap hitter, even in the minors. wow
I’d much rather have a slap hitter who can get on base and avoid strikeouts as a backup infielder than Jurickson Profar. There’s a lot of value in T.J.
Im not saying it as a bad thing. Im very impressed by his consistent ability to make contact at all levels
So you get banned for acting inappropriately then decided to double down on the username. Go figure.
who, me?
stinks. was hoping he’d pan out here, but probably wasnt making the taxi squad so probably for the best for him.
career .321 hitter in the minors
career .304 hitter in the majors
No reason not to take a flier on him.
Candidate to go to the NPB or KBO.
I can’t believe nobody has given him a shot. Hope he latches on with the braves milb contract
Maybe the Rockies give him a shot. I think they had uncertainty in their 2B depth.
So they named the surgery after him?
Injury (he hasn’t played since 2017 in MLB) and lack of a true everyday position has hurt TJ. Would need to prove he is healthy before catching on. Now with the arm surgery and the extra long recovery you would really need to see him make the throws.
you would need to see him hit before anything else. Rivera’s game is his bat-to-ball ability. if he cant do that then he doesnt provide value.
Never liked him and I’m a Mets fan!
Just kidding!
I LOVE YOU,T.J.!