Tyler Phillips was a fun story for a month or so. Now he’s likely going to be a footnote on the 2024 Phillies season.

The Phils optioned him back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley just a couple hours prior to the start of Saturday’s game against the Washington Nationals. In his place, they selected the contract of Tyler Gilbert, moving Spencer Turnbull to the 60-day I.L. to make room on the roster.

Phillips, the Lumberton, N.J. native and Bishop Eustace grad, burst onto the scene with some memorable starts, including two at Citizens Bank Park – his first major league start against Oakland on July 7th, which he won, and a complete game shutout that he hurled against Cleveland on July 27th.

But from there his three starts have been uneven at best, and at least one that was far worse than that.

He followed up the complete game by getting torched in Seattle, allowing eight runs in just 1 2/3 innings. He hung in a five-inning start in Los Angeles in which he yielded four runs to the Dodgers, but then gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings on Wednesday against Miami.


“I think his stuff was just kind of trending down a little bit.” Thomson said. “I think it’s due to fatigue. It’s nothing that he’s done wrong. I think the complete game and pitching on regular rest, which he’s not used to, his innings were going up. I think it’s just to give him a little bit of a reset here and pull back on him a little bit.”

Gilbert, 30, who the Phillies acquired in a minor league cash deal with Cincinnati in May, has pitched in 27 games this season for Lehigh Valley. In 35 innings, he has a 2.06 ERA and a 1.029 WHIP. He even picked up seven saves, though he’s not a back of the bullpen arm.

An original draft pick of the Phillies (2015, 6th round), Gilbert was traded in February 2020 to the Dodgers for Kyle Garlick (Yikes!). 

After one year in the minors with the Dodgers, Arizona selected him in the Rule 5 draft in December, 2020 and carried him on the MLB roster in 2021, where he pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres in his first major league start (he had made three relief appearances prior).

In three years with the Diamondbacks, he appeared in 28 games, making 13 starts totaling 91 2/3 innings. In that time he had a 4.32 ERA and a 1.200 WHIP, but his numbers fell off after his rookie season, and Arizona granted him free agency last November. He signed a deal with Cincinnati in January, but didn’t make the team out of spring training, and then had a terrible start to the season with Triple-A Louisville, posting an unsightly 13.11 ERA in 11 2/3 innings (7 games, 3 starts). He gave up 17 runs on 24 hits and six walks.

Obviously, he’s been much better since coming to the Phillies organization.

“His strikeout-to-walk ratio is really good,” Thomson said. “He’ll top out at 94 (mph) but is usually a 91-92 guy with command and they’ve improved his slider. It’s a bigger slider. A slurvy type of slider.”

That ratio Thomson is talking about? It’s 48 strikeouts and just six walks, which is impressive for those 35 innings.

There’s a chance Gilbert is the bulk pitcher in a bullpen game against Atlanta. Thomson said the rotation for that series is not yet set, but that the possibility of a bullpen game exists.

Ranger Suarez pitched a combo simulated game and a bullpen Saturday afternoon and got up to 77 pitches. Thomson said that if he feels good in the next 48 hours, there’s a good chance he returns to the rotation next weekend in Kansas City.

Turnbull was moved to the 60-day, but the reality is he’s already used up most of that time. He’s feeling better and is back throwing again. The Phillies still think he will be available sometime in mid-September.

In other injury news, Austin Hays hit a home run during the sim game off Suarez. He’s feeling better and is likely to go for a rehab assignment at the beginning of the week with the hope that he, too, can return to the active roster in Kansas City.