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Ryan Sherriff

Dodgers Sign Ryan Sherriff To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have signed left-hander Ryan Sherriff to a minor league deal, as revealed by the pitcher himself via social media.  Sherriff announced he was heading to Los Angeles with a tweet, and he updated both his Twitter and Instagram pages with Dodgers tags. Alex Freedman of the Oklahoma City Dodgers announced the deal today.

The southpaw inked another minors contract with the Red Sox during the offseason, which resulted in five appearances and 6 2/3 innings for Sherriff at the big league level.  Boston designated Sherriff for assignment earlier this month and he elected to forego an outright assignment to Triple-A in favor of free agency — Sherriff had that right because he has previously been outrighted off a 40-man roster earlier in his career.

The five games with the Red Sox marked Sherriff’s first Major League action since 2021, as he spent last year pitching in the Phillies’ minor league system and on the injured list due to a shoulder strain.  Since making his MLB debut in 2017 with the Cardinals, Sherriff has only 49 appearances and 51 total innings over parts of five seasons, as injuries (most prominently a Tommy John surgery) have repeatedly stalled his career.

When Sherriff has pitched, the results have been decent, as he has a career 3.53 ERA and 52.6% grounder rate over his 51 innings in the Show.  His 18.5% strikeout rate isn’t noteworthy, but Sherriff’s ability to keep the ball both on the ground and in the ballpark altogether (only three homers allowed to MLB hitters) makes him a useful relief asset.  However, the three-batter rule is an obstacle to a manager’s ability to shield Sherriff from his drastic splits, as right-handed batters have a hefty .891 OPS against him over 132 career plate appearances.  Conversely, Sherriff has shut down left-handed hitters to the tune of a .382 OPS.

At the cost of just a minor league contract, there isn’t any risk to the Dodgers in taking a look at the 33-year-old Sherriff to see if he can contribute to their big league bullpen.  Los Angeles has been hit with a number of injuries to both relievers and starters this season, and pitching figures to be a priority for the team heading into the trade deadline.  Adding a big-name arm or two is certainly possible, but the Dodgers have had enough past success in finding hidden pitching gems that taking a flier on Sherriff might prove quite valuable.

Ryan Sherriff Elects Free Agency

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Left-hander Ryan Sherriff went unclaimed on outright waivers following his DFA by the Red Sox and has elected free agency rather than accept an assignment to the minors, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports (Twitter link).

Sherriff, 33, held opponents to two runs on six hits and a pair of walks with five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings earlier this season. He’d since been optioned to Triple-A and, after pitching well in 22 1/3 innings, diagnosed with a flexor strain that sent him to the injured list. The Sox reinstated him last week but immediately designated the southpaw for assignment, needing a 40-man roster spot to reinstate infielder Yu Chang from the 60-day injured list.

While Sherriff has seen action in parts of five big league seasons, injuries have frequently limited his ability to take the field. In addition to this year’s flexor strain, Sherriff has also dealt with a broken toe, a shoulder strain and undergone Tommy John surgery over the past five years. In 51 major league innings, Sherriff has a 3.53 ERA, an 18.5% strikeout rate, an 8.6% walk rate and a hefty 52.6% ground-ball rate. He’s also turned in a 3.08 ERA in 193 innings at the Triple-A level.

If Sherriff is healthy enough to get back on the mound, he ought to draw interest from clubs in need of some left-handed depth in the bullpen. That could include a return to the Red Sox, as it’s not uncommon for veterans of this nature to reject an outright assignment and quickly return on a new minor league contract.

Red Sox Designate Ryan Sherriff For Assignment

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The Red Sox announced a number of moves before tonight’s series opener with Oakland. Infielder Yu Chang is back from the 60-day injured list and starter James Paxton returned from paternity leave. In corresponding moves, infielder David Hamilton was optioned while reliever Kaleb Ort was placed on the 15-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation. Boston designated reliever Ryan Sherriff for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot for Chang’s return.

Chang has been down since late April after fracturing the hamate bone in his wrist. He’s expected to assume the primary shortstop role now that he’s healthy, at least until Trevor Story is able to return from the internal brace procedure on his elbow. Chang steps back into the starting lineup tonight, hitting ninth against A’s southpaw Sam Long.

Boston has used a revolving door at shortstop in Story’s absence. They haven’t found any kind of consistency. Boston shortstops have hit .214/.284/.328 on the season. They’re 25th in on-base percentage and 28th in slugging. Chang contributed to those offensive struggles, hitting only .136/.174/.341 through 47 trips to the plate. He has a modest offensive track record at the big league level, but the Sox will hope he can at least stabilize things defensively.

Hamilton had picked up 10 starts at the position since receiving his first big league call a few weeks ago. The 25-year-old infielder hit .138/.265/.207 to begin his career. He’ll head back to Triple-A Worcester, while Chang’s return pushes Sherriff off the roster entirely.

Boston signed Sherriff to an offseason minor league contract and selected his contract two months ago. The left-hander made five big league appearances, allowing two runs in 6 2/3 innings. He’s now up to 51 MLB frames over parts of five seasons, putting together a 3.53 ERA despite a middling 18.5% strikeout rate.

Sherriff has had a decent season in Worcester, allowing 2.82 earned runs per nine while fanning just under 26% of opposing hitters. He’d unfortunately been on the minor league injured list since late June and was reinstated yesterday. The Sox will have a week to trade him or put him on waivers.

Red Sox Select Ryan Sherriff

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4:15pm: The Red Sox have now made these moves official, announcing Schreiber’s injury as a right teres major strain.

2:15pm: The Red Sox are calling up relievers Justin Garza and Ryan Sherriff, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Sherriff isn’t on the 40-man roster but the Sox already have an opening there after designating Ryan Brasier for assignment on the weekend. The corresponding moves to get Garza and Sherriff onto the active roster are righty John Schreiber going on the 15-day injured list and lefty Brennan Bernardino being optioned, per Ian Browne of MLB.com.

Sherriff, 33 next week, has 44 1/3 innings of major league experience but scattered across multiple seasons. The lefty tossed 20 combined innings for the Cardinals over 2017 and 2018 and then 24 1/3 for the Rays in 2020 and 2021. Tommy John surgery in between those stints wiped out the latter half of his 2018 and then all of his 2019. In all of those seasons combined, he has a 3.65 ERA in the majors along with an 18.7% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 56% ground ball rate.

The Rays put Sherriff on waivers at the end of 2021 and he was claimed by the Phillies. A shoulder strain limited him to just 14 minor league appearances last year and he was outrighted off the Philly roster in August. He became a free agent at season’s end and signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox. Through 15 Triple-A appearances this year, he has allowed exactly 3.00 earned runs per nine innings, striking out 24.6% of opponents while walking 12.3% and getting grounders on 47.5% of balls in play.

Sherriff will give the Sox a fresh lefty arm after Bernardino has pitched in three of the past four days, including the last two. Richard Bleier is in the same situation while Joely Rodríguez has just come off the injured list, so the Sherriff-Bernardino swap makes their southpaw contingent a bit less weary. Sherriff still has options himself, allowing the Sox to perhaps reverse this lefty swap later in the year whenever the need arises.

As for Schreiber, he’s emerged as a key piece of the bullpen for Boston, posting an ERA of 2.22 last year while striking out 28.8% of opponents, walking just 7.4% and getting grounders at a 56.3% clip. He worked his way up the bullpen chart, earning eight saves and 22 holds on the season. This year, his walk rate has ticked up to 11.4% but he’s still managed to lower his ERA to 2.12 and pick up another six holds. He had departed last night’s game with lat tightness and manager Alex Cora said after the game that an IL stint was likely, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. His spot will go to Garza, 29, whom the Sox just claimed off waivers from the Angels last month. Between the two organizations, he has a 3.95 ERA in Triple-A this year.

Red Sox, Ryan Sherriff Agree To Minor League Deal

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Left-hander Ryan Sherriff announced over the weekend that he’s signed with the Red Sox (Twitter link). Presumably, it’s a minor league deal for the southpaw that’ll give him a chance to compete for a job during spring training.

Sherriff, 32, has pitched in parts of four Major League seasons, most recently with the Rays in 2021. He sports a career 3.65 ERA with an 18.7% strikeout rate, 8.8% walk rate and 56% ground-ball rate in 44 1/3 innings at the MLB level. He originally reached the Majors with the 2017 Cardinals and pitched quite well during his debut (3.14 ERA, 15-to-4 K/BB ratio in 14 1/3 innings). However, Sherriff suffered an elbow injury in 2018 that required Tommy John surgery, which wiped out the remainder of his 2018 season.

The Cardinals released Sherriff after that surgery-shortened campaign, at which point he latched on with the Rays on a minor league contract. He made it back to a minor league mound for seven innings in 2019, remained with the organization into the shortened 2020 season, and was back in the big leagues that summer, when he tossed 9 2/3 shutout innings (albeit with only two strikeouts). Sherriff tossed two shutout innings for the Rays in that year’s World Series against the Dodgers.

Sherriff’s 2021 season, however, didn’t prove as fruitful. He pitched just 14 2/3 big league innings and was rocked for 11 runs (nine earned) on 14 hits and nine walks. He struck out 16 batters along the way but also plunked four hitters. He pitched well enough in Triple-A that the Phillies claimed him off waivers after the Rays designated him for assignment, but Sherriff spent the majority of his 2022 season with the Phillies on the injured list due to a shoulder strain.

Though injuries have slowed his career at various junctures, Sherriff boasts a 3.11 ERA in 170 2/3 Triple-A innings and a 3.65 mark in 44 1/3 MLB frames. He’s not a flamethrower (92.3 mph average sinker in 2021) and has below-average strikeout rates, but Sherriff has been a ground-ball machine who’s had success at every level when healthy enough to take the mound.

Joely Rodriguez and Josh Taylor are the Red Sox’ two primary lefty options in the bullpen. There’s not a great deal of depth beyond that pair, so Sherriff could be a viable option at some point if he’s back to full strength.

Phillies Release Odubel Herrera, Jeurys Familia

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The Phillies have released outfielder Odubel Herrera and right-hander Jeurys Familia.  Righty Ryan Sherriff has also been outrighted to Triple-A.  All three players were designated for assignment earlier this week.

This is the second time within the last year that the Phils have officially parted ways with Herrera, as they declined their $11.5MM club option last fall and then re-signed him for only $1.75MM in March.  It would seem like today’s release will bring an end to Herrera’s run in the organization after seven-plus years, as Philadelphia is certainly hoping that trade deadline acquisition Brandon Marsh can be a long-term answer in center field.

Herrera hit .238/.279/.378 over 197 PA this season, seeing time in center field and left field.  Familia was also struggling, with a 6.09 ERA in 34 innings after signing a one-year, $6MM free agent deal with the Phillies during the offseason.

Familia is still owed around $2MM of that salary, though a new team will have to cover just the prorated MLB minimum salary, while the Phillies absorb the rest.  The same is true of the roughly $580K owed to Herrera on the remainder of his deal.  Claiming either player off DFA waivers would have put the new team on the hook for the rest of the remaining salary, so while neither Herrera or Familia represents a huge financial outlay, it is still understandable why other teams would prefer to stick the Phillies with much of the bill.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see either player catch on elsewhere, though Familia is seemingly the likelier of the two to land with a new club.  Herrera hasn’t been a terribly effective player since 2017, while Familia still had solid bottom-line numbers with the Mets as recently as 2021.  With pretty much all of Familia’s secondary metrics trending downward, however, clubs must have concerns over what the 32-year-old still has in the tank.

Phillies Designate Ryan Sherriff For Assignment

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The Phillies announced Monday that left-hander Ryan Sherriff has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and been designated for assignment.

Sherriff, 32, joined the Phillies on a waiver claim over the winter. He’s yet to pitch at the big league level for the Phillies due to a shoulder strain that’s sidelined him for nearly the entire year. He posted strong numbers in his minor league rehab assignment, yielding four runs on 13 hits and seven walks with 18 strikeouts over the life of 18 1/3 innings (2.51 ERA). Matt Gelb of The Athletic tweets, however, that Sherriff’s velocity wasn’t where the team expected it to be as he worked his way back up.

Sherriff has pitched in parts of four big league seasons, working to a 3.65 ERA with a 18.7% strikeout rate, an 8.8% walk rate and a big 56% ground-ball rate in 44 1/3 innings for the Cardinals and the Rays. Philadelphia can look for trade partners between now and tomorrow’s 6pm ET deadline, or Sherriff can be placed on waivers at any point over the next week.

Phillies Select Roman Quinn, Option Bryson Stott

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The Phillies announced this evening they’ve selected outfielder Roman Quinn onto the big league club. Infielder Bryson Stott was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to open active roster space. In order to clear a 40-man roster spot, left-hander Ryan Sherriff was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Quinn returns to the Phils’ active roster for a sixth season. A former second-round pick, he was among the better prospects in the Philadelphia farm system for some time. His athleticism, speed and solid minor league production made him a potential regular center fielder, but the switch-hitting outfielder hasn’t managed to cement himself as an everyday player. That’s in large part due to injury, as Quinn missed notable time every season between 2013-19 and again in 2021. His latest malady was a ruptured left Achilles tendon that ended his 2021 season in May.

Primarily because of his health history, Quinn has just 512 MLB plate appearances under his belt despite pushing 29 years old and having first reached the majors six years ago. He’s a .228/.306/.355 hitter in that time, but he’s stolen 39 bases and garnered solid defensive ratings. He’ll offer the Phils some extra cover in center field, where Matt Vierling has gotten out to a poor start. The Phils recently activated Odúbel Herrera from the injured list, and he’ll probably get the lion’s share of playing time in center. Herrera is coming off a fine but unspectacular .260/.310/.416 showing and spent the first few weeks of the season on the shelf because of an oblique strain.

The Phils outrighted Quinn off the 40-man roster at the end of last season. He qualified for minor league free agency, then inked a non-roster pact with the division-rival Marlins. After failing to crack the Opening Day roster in Miami, he triggered an opt-out clause and went back to the open market. Quinn returned to Philadelphia on a minor league deal a few weeks ago, and he quickly made it back to the big leagues after reaching base in 13 of his 25 plate appearances in Triple-A. Quinn is out of minor league options, so now that he’s back in the majors, the Phils have to either keep him on the active roster or designate him for assignment.

Stott, one of the Phils’ top prospects, broke camp with the club and was the Opening Day third baseman. The 24-year-old appeared in nine games during his first major league run but started his MLB career just 4-30 with a walk and ten strikeouts. Stott’s chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone was a bit elevated, and he hasn’t gotten the start in any of the team’s last six games.

Alec Bohm has gotten off to a strong start at the plate and has been playing third base, while the Phils have turned to switch-hitting utilityman Johan Camargo (himself on a nice run to open the year) at shortstop over the last week. Didi Gregorius hasn’t played since Tuesday because of a bruised left hand, but the team hasn’t placed him on the injured list and figures to work him in at shortstop frequently once he’s again ready to go.

With the more experienced infield options outplaying Stott early on, the Phils elected him to send him back to the minors for regular reps. The former first-round pick only played in ten games with Lehigh Valley late last season, as he spent the bulk of the year with Double-A Reading. Stott posted an impressive .301/.368/.481 line there, but he’ll now get a bit more run at the minors’ top level. The Phillies figure to bring Stott back to the majors before too long if he replicates his Double-A production for the IronPigs.

Sherriff, claimed off waivers from the Rays last offseason, opened the season on the injured list due to a shoulder strain. There’s no timetable for his return, but he won’t be back until at least the first week of June. He’s out for sixty-plus days from Opening Day, meaning he can’t return until June 6 at the earliest.

Phillies Claim Ryan Sherriff From Rays

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The Phillies have claimed left-hander Ryan Sherriff off waivers from the Rays, per a club announcement. Should he stick around, Sherriff will look to help solidify a leaky Phillies ’pen that pitched to a 4.60 ERA (sixth-worst in the bigs) and 4.61 FIP (fourth-worst) in 2021. Sherriff posted a mediocre 5.52 ERA across 14 2/3 innings (16 appearances) this year, albeit with 16 Ks and a 3.65 FIP that suggest he may have suffered from a bit of bad luck. For his career, the lefty has been good for a 3.65 ERA (3.98 FIP) in 44 1/3 innings.

Originally a 2011 28th-rounder of the Cardinals, Sherriff debuted in the majors in 2017, making 18 relief appearances in St. Louis before undergoing Tommy John surgery in the middle of the 2018 season. The Cards released him shortly thereafter, and he landed in Tampa on a minor-league pact shortly thereafter. He didn’t get back to the bigs until midway through the pandemic-shortened 2020 season but put up by far the best numbers of his career when he did, not giving up a single earned run in 9 2/3 innings — albeit while striking out only 2. He also covered two scoreless innings for the Rays in the 2020 World Series.

Though he made the opening day roster, Sherriff spent the season on the Triple-A shuttle, covering nearly twice as many innings for Durham as he did for Tampa. With just over a year in aggregate service time, Sherriff comes with considerable control and could become a mainstay for the Phils if he manages to establish himself in Philadelphia. How he’ll be asked to slot in remains to be seen, but sticking around in the Phillies’ notoriously leaky bullpen should prove a much easier task than it had been at the back end of Tampa’s stable of high-end arms.

Tampa Bay has also outrighted right-handers Oliver Drake, DJ Johnson and Chris Mazza in addition to lefty Cody Reed. All four of Drake, Johnson, Mazza and Reed will become free agents.

Rays Claim Jake Reed Off Waivers From Dodgers, Place Collin McHugh On 10-Day Injured List

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The Rays have claimed right-hander Jake Reed off waivers from the Dodgers, per the team. Reed’s time with the Dodgers was short, but memorable. He began the year in the Angels’ minor league system, but he was released on June 2. He signed with the Dodgers two days later and made his Major League debut with the Dodgers little more than a month later.

The Tucson native appeared in six games from July 6-18, starting one as an opener. He tossed 5 1/3 innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five. He will head to Triple-A to join the Durham Bulls.

Earlier today, the Rays placed Collin McHugh on the 10-day injured list with arm fatigue, replacing him on the active roster with Ryan Sherriff, who joined the taxi squad yesterday, per the team.

In his first action since leaving the Astros after 2019, McHugh has been a tremendous swingman for the Rays. He’s logged 41 2/3 innings in 23 appearances (including four starts) with a 1.51 ERA/1.36 FIP, good for a chunky 1.5 fWAR. The 34-year-old allows his share of fly balls with just a 40.0 percent groundball rate, but his strikeout and walk numbers are sterling. McHugh has a 36.6 percent strikeout rate and a 5.0 percent walk rate.

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