NEW YORK — The Phillies on Thursday claimed right-handed pitcher José Urquidy off waivers from the Chicago White Sox.
Urquidy will travel to New York tonight and be activated on Friday. He will factor into the Phillies’ bullpen game, which is officially slated for Friday. Andrew Painter will start on Saturday and Cristopher Sánchez will go again on Sunday.
Urquidy, who has a 5.28 ERA this season, has not thrown in a big league game since Sept. 9. Interim manager Don Mattingly said Urquidy is built up to around 60 pitches. Lefties Tanner Banks and Tim Mayza are also candidates to pitch multiple innings on Friday.
Since Urquidy was not in the organization by Sept. 1, he is ineligible to be on the roster for the postseason. With Jesús Luzardo likely out for the remainder of the regular season, the Phillies need innings now. Mattingly feels like the Phillies are in better shape to throw a bullpen game now compared to when they had to do one over the weekend in Atlanta on short notice.
“We’re built a little better for this,” Mattingly said. “We’re more prepared, I should say, for this game than the one in Atlanta because it happened so late.”
Update on Jesús Luzardo
Luzardo (left shoulder inflammation) had a locker in his usual corner in the visiting clubhouse at Citi Field. The Phillies lefty did some lower half agility excercises in the outfield under the watchful eye of Phillies director of strength and conditioning Morgan Gregory and Zack Wheeler.
For now, the plan is for Luzardo to stay with the team. There is no plan for now to send him to Clearwater to rehab down south.
“Nothing has really changed from what I have to offer you guys,” Mattingly said. “Until he’s kind of pain free, he’s going to be a no throw.”
Luzardo is eligible to come off the 15-day IL on the final day of the regular season. With the magic number at six, the Phillies should make it the postseason comfortably without him. They are still only a half game behind the Chicago Cubs with a game in hand for the first wild card berth and home-field advantage in the wild card round.
Not having Luzardo make his last three starts could be the difference between playing the first playoff series at Citizens Bank Park and traveling for a three-game wild card series. But at this point, the Phillies are just hoping that Luzardo is ready to pitch and looks like himself in time for the start of the postseason. It would be a massive boost to the club’s World Series hopes.
Update on Caleb Kilian
To make room for Urquidy on the 40-man roster, the Phillies transferred right-handed reliever Caleb Kilian (left oblique strain) to the 60-day injured list. He is not eligible to come off the IL until Oct. 10, meaning he won’t be eligible to pitch until the National League Championship Series, if the Phillies make it that far.
At this point, the club is focused on getting him ready for next season. They are not totally shutting him down. He will continue to throw.
“I don’t think we had really high hopes for him being able to get back,” Mattingly said. “He’s doing good. I think (the medical staff) want to continue working on some things for next year. Like, medically, how he trains, how he does certain things. I think talking with (head athletic trainer) Paul (Buchheit), feels like there could be advantages to him being here, working through this.”
Kilian, who was acquired in the Luis Arraez trade with the San Francisco Giants at the deadline, pitched in four games with the Phillies before going down with an oblique strain.
The only other Phillies trade deadline acquisition on the pitching side, Brooks Raley, has allowed five earned runs in his last three outings. In 14 appearances with the Phillies, Raley has a 6.97 ERA. Prior to the trade, Raley had a 1.96 ERA in 45 appearances with the Mets.
