The Phillies made a pair of corresponding roster moves today, per the club. Johan Camargo and Ranger Suarez were activated from the 15-day injured list, while a pair of former number one overall draft picks in Mickey Moniak and Mark Appel were optioned back to Triple-A. Suarez has been an important piece of the Phillies rotation this year.
Through 15 starts, the southpaw has a 4.33 ERA/4.26 FIP in 79 innings, not all that far off from the 109 frames that he totaled last season, which was a career-high. Suarez steps back into the rotation that includes righties Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Kyle Gibson.
Appel gave the game one of the feel-good stories of the year when he made his Major League debut. Appel, who turned 31 yesterday, was twice a first-round pick, taken eighth overall by the Pirates and then first overall by the Astros in the following draft. It took until June 29th of this season for the big righty to get his first shot in the show, however.
Appel has now taken the hill four times for the Phillies, including a pair of multi-inning outings this month. In total, Appel registered seven innings of work, allowing just a single earned run on six hits and two walks while striking out three. For now, he’ll return to Triple-A, where he owns a 1.61 ERA over 19 relief outings totaling 28 innings with a 24-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Moniak, the first overall selection of the 2016 draft, has had limited opportunities with the Phillies over the past couple of seasons. This year, he has amassed 50 plate appearances over 18 games of action, slashing .130/.184/.152 in that time.
Camargo returns to take back his roster spot as a key reserve for the Phils. Capable of playing the infield or the outfield, Camargo’s value largely comes from his versatility. He has struggled with the bat, however, posting a 74 wRC+ on the year, which is his highest such mark since his 2018 breakout with the Braves.
Option two 1-1s at the same time. Has that ever happened? Hope they at least upgraded their ride back to Lehigh.
Moniak has seen 390 pitches as a MLB player. He has 2-extra base hits. U can do that blindfolded
He’s been playing a decent CF which is the only reason he is still up.
*was still up. Past tense. haha
I guess they aren’t ready cut their losses on Familia yet.
I misread Appel when it should say Familia.
Keeping Familia and dumping Appel is an example of why the Phillies will continue to struggle to end the year at .500 or better.
Familia has more upside if he gets going, but I think he’s pretty much toast. That being said, Appel is a great story, but he’s not a dominant force. I don’t necessarily agree with the move, but it’s not a huge deal.
I agree with your take. Neither Appel or Familia are going to help the Phillies win games.I think the better move would have been to dfa, Familia and send Appel down. I think Sanchez would be more useful in long relief. The problem with keeping Familia on the roster ( as you and all knowledgeable Phillies fans know), is using Familia in anything other than a blowout is risking another loss, that could be the difference of falling one game shy in the wild card race. He is a disaster waiting to happen. I think D D has been masterful in his overalll moves. This one is baffling to me.
Agreed. The Familia experiment is over. Time to pull the plug.
It was time at least two weeks ago. Going with a 12 man roster pitching allotment is preferable to having Famila still on the roster, and hoping he will survive an important inning.
I think the move is temporary with the goal of keeping both Appel and Familia under control for the time being while everything sorts itself out. Ideally, in a perfect world, they don’t need either of them with Brogdon and Romero both back. We all would be thrilled if Appel is anything more than just a fluke small sample mirage, but I stopped believing in miracles back in 1964.
Phils need to trade Moniak to a AAAA club like the A’s, Royals, Nats, Reds, etc. for some bullpen depth. It’s unfair for both team and player to keep him around like this. Or maybe Klentak wants him back up in Milwaukee?
Why? Even with his struggles he remains an asset and the club’s limited OF depth with Harper out and Castellanos sucking is important.
Coonrod, Emanuel and Sheriff are all close to returning. It is entirely possible that the Phillies don’t trade for any reliever. How Efflin responds ( with his knee), will determine whether or not a starting pitcher must be added.
I believe that either Bennitiendi or Peralta, should be the main targets. Hall has had some big hits, but he strikes out quite a bit, and the pitchers have made an adjustment on him.