The Phillies are signing right-hander Casey Lawrence to a minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. He’ll report to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Lawrence, a Pennsylvania native who played at Reading’s Albright College, opted out of his minor league deal with the Mariners over the weekend. Seattle granted him his release instead of calling him up. Lawrence is a strike-throwing depth arm who easily leads the minor leagues with 131 2/3 innings this year. He started 23 games for Seattle’s Triple-A club in Tacoma, pitching to a 4.37 earned run average. Lawrence had a well below-average 14.4% strikeout percentage against a minuscule 3.5% walk rate.
The 38-year-old Lawrence is a journeyman who has made 65 major league appearances across five seasons. He debuted back in 2017 and most recently tossed 17 2/3 frames between the Mariners and Blue Jays last year. Lawrence is coming up on 1000 career Triple-A innings over 11 years and spent the 2019 campaign in Japan. He throws in the upper 80s with a five-pitch mix and can eat some innings for Lehigh Valley.
Philadelphia has had a revolving door in the fifth starter role all season. Andrew Painter is getting another opportunity with Alan Rangel and Brian Keller back in Triple-A. Lawrence and Tucker Davidson are non-roster depth options.
