On paper, the Philadelphia Phillies have a full five-man rotation entering the 2024 season. President of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, has stated he’s comfortable with this group. However, that has not stopped the front office from pursuing other options. They went after Yoshinobu Yamamoto hard, offering him a very competitive contract, and have been linked with Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery throughout the winter. It seems unlikely the Phillies would offer the types of contracts those two are looking for, but manager Rob Thomson said he would like them to have some more starting options before the offseason ends.
With Philadelphia entering 2024 paying their highest payroll in team history, they will probably look for back-end starters to fill this need. One who could be an option is Michael Lorenzen. The Phillies acquired him in a trade with the Detroit Tigers and he immediately made an impact, throwing the team’s 14th no-hitter against the Washington Nationals in his first home start. However, Lorenzen struggled after that, and ended his tenure in Philadelphia with an ERA of 5.51 across 11 appearances and seven starts. By the end, the starter was moved into the bullpen, where he appeared in only two playoffs games in 2023.
The right-hander has stated his desire to be a starting pitcher moving forward and is looking for that opportunity with his next team after entering free agency. At the time, it didn’t seem like the Phillies would be a candidate. They have a full rotation and can’t necessarily promise Lorenzen a full-time spot. But, with Thomson wanting more options for his rotation, and there being only one starter in their pipeline who could make the leap, maybe a reunion could be coming. Lorenzen fit in nicely with the clubhouse as soon as he arrived and might be comfortable returning based on his relationships as his market isn’t quite as robust as he might have expected.
