The Phillies on Tuesday released Ernesto Frieri, one of several veteran relievers they signed to a minor-league deal this offseason.
Frieri failed to make the team after a rough spring in which he allowed nine earned runs and five home runs in seven innings. The Phillies gave him an opportunity to win a bullpen spot out of camp, but the same problems Frieri had keeping the ball in the yard from 2013 to 2015 plagued him again in spring training.
Frieri, like Andrew Bailey and Edward Mujica, was on a non-guaranteed deal with the Phils. Based on the way opening day played out, with Phillies relievers allowing five runs in the eighth inning of a 6-2 loss in Cincinnati, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Phils bring up Bailey or Mujica over the next few weeks in an attempt to find some late-inning bullpen combination that works.
Frieri made it a goal this spring to get back to throwing across his body and rediscovering the deception in his delivery that made him so successful earlier in his career. From 2010 to 2012, he had a 2.35 ERA, struck out 12.0 batters per nine innings and allowed 14 homers in 159 appearances. However from 2013 to 2015, he had a 5.05 ERA, missed fewer bats and allowed 28 home runs in 137 appearances.
Reliever Reinier Roibal, who spent most of spring training with the Phillies, will fill the spot Frieri would have had in the Triple A Lehigh Valley IronPigs' bullpen.
