After going to the bullpen 21 times in the first four games of the season, the Phillies announced shortly before Tuesday night’s game against the Reds at Citizens Bank Park that righthander Connor Brogdon has been designated for assignment.
Brogdon, who is out of options, would likely have been unavailable Tuesday night after appearing in three of the first four games.
To replace him, the Phillies selected the contract of righthander Ricardo Pinto from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In four spring training games, the 30-year-old was 1-0 with a 3.18 earned run average.
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The move was necessitated, in part, because Jose Alvarado, Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman and Yunior Marte had already logged three appearances and were likely unavailable Tuesday.
Pinto was a non-roster invitee to spring training after signing a minor league contract in February. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Caribbean Series after going 1-0, 0.84 in two starts for Venezuela.
Pinto had been signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 2011 and was named the Paul Owens Award winner as the top minor league pitcher in the system in 23015.