I don’t know why I care about these guys. For some reason, the nothing relievers that were blowing games for the Phillies between the contending generations of the late 2000s and early 2020s have a special place in my heart. Since it’s Spring Training and there aren’t too many Phillies topics to really think about at the moment, here we are. Let’s stroll down memory lane, shall we?
Phillippe Aumont (2012-2015) – What is there not to like about the top prospect received in the disastrous Cliff Lee trade? Is it his 43 total major league innings in 4 years? How about his robust 6.80 career ERA? Maybe it’s his -.8 career WAR? Well, for me, it’s that once he was finally kicked into the sun midway through the 2015 season, he never pitched another major league inning. He has at least pitched for Team Canada in the WBC in 2023 and will do so again this year. Matt Gelb claims he is a good person with a good story, but goddamn I’ll always think of the Cliff Lee trade even if it’s not his fault for the team doing the fantastically unnecessary.
Austin Davis (2018-2020) – “Big Fudge” is still kicking around professional baseball, most recently with the San Diego Padres spending all of 2025 in AAA. Davis actually tore up the minors for the Phillies before getting torn up in the majors to the tune of -.2 WAR and a 5.86 ERA. That’s even better than it seems though considering his final 4 appearances with the team resulted in 7 runs over just 9 outs which translates to a 21 ERA.
Justin De Fratus (2011-2015) – De Fratus seemed like a real piece in the bullpen during his time with the team, especially in 2014 with a WHIP around 1 and a 2.39 ERA. Unfortunately, he then fell off a cliff. In 2015 he didn’t just have a 5.51 ERA but the Phillies were somehow 11-50 in games he pitched. As is becoming a common theme here, De Fratus would never pitch in the majors again.
JD Hammer (2019-2021) – The guy’s name is JD Hammer and he wore Rick Vaughn glasses. We were all ready to love him and ee wasn’t even that bad! He just wasn’t that good either. He made the majors in 2019 and again in 2021…and then it was never Hammer Time in the majors again. Apparently the velocity just disappeared and we all remember what happened to Rick Vaughn when his velocity disappeared in Major League 2.
Ethan Martin (2013-2014) and Josh Lindblom (2012) – Right now you are probably wondering why these two are together. I’ll give you a hint, they came from the same trade with the Dodgers for… No, not that trade. Not that one either. Yes, there you go, it was the Shane Victorino trade! Martin, a Top-100 prospect according to MLB.com was TERRIBLE. He debuted as a starter in 2013, was regularly shelled, then lost his velocity in 2014, and basically never pitched again. Still, he was better than Lindblom who edged him out -.5 to -.4 for lowest career Phillies WAR.
Sean O’Sullivan (2014-2015) – O’Sullivan pitched to a 6.39 ERA for the Phillies in 2014. That was so good, that they brought him back in 2015 and pitched him 71 innings. Was he any better? Mercy, no. All totaled, he managed a 6.13 ERA in red pinstripes, good for a -.7 WAR. Shockingly, the Red Sox gave him another chance in 2016. Was he better that time? Of course not! 6.75 ERA. Was that it??? NOPE! The Nexen Heroes actually gave him $1.1m to play in Korea. They released him after a 15.75 ERA in 3 appearances. He had to retire now, right? The Nationals gave him another shot in 2017, but he mercifully never made it back to the majors. Finally, after a few starts in Independent ball in 2018, he called it a career.
Jonathan Pettibone (2013-2014) – I know he wasn’t a reliever, but we can’t talk about forgotten pitchers of the 2010s without mentioning Pettibone. In 2013 he managed 100 innings with a 4.04 ERA but was shut down for the year with a shoulder injury. We legitimately thought he was something. Unfortunately, more shoulder woes occurred and he would only pitch another 9 innings in the majors. He just disappeared.
BJ Rosenberg (2012-2014) – I really wanted him to be good because of his last name, but he was just bad for the entirety of his time with the Phillies. Over 3 seasons he managed a 5.72 ERA with his final season being a total disaster giving up 27 base runners in just 12 innings. He was let go at the end of 2014 and signed with the Dodgers but was released at the end of Spring Training…never to be heard from again! More so than anyone on this list, he completely disappeared.
Joe Savery (2011-2014) – The Phillies picked Savery with the 19th pick in the first round of the 2007 Draft. He was an awesome two-way player at Rice in college, but that was a double red flag. Not only was he possibly playing the wrong position, but Rice had a history of burning out their pitchers. Though he never had an official diagnosis, I believe throughout his minor league career as a starter, he suffered from a debilitating condition called averagenessedness which sapped all of his shine as a prospect. Fortunately, he fared much better as a reliever and was called up in 2011. In 2012, the condition returned. His Phillies career consisted of 47 innings over mainly 2 seasons with a 4.15 ERA before being released. He would pitch 4 innings with the Athletics in 2014 but was out of baseball by the end of that season.
Michael Schwimmer (2011-2012) – Drafted by the Phillies in 2008, Schwimmer debuted in 2011, pitched worse than you remember, did it again in 2012, was traded to Toronto and then was out of baseball by the middle of 2013. Quite the career. Of course, he’s now in the baseball lending business which has been accused of predatory practices and sued by Fernando Tatis.
Michael Stutes (2011-2013) – Stutes was almost a guy. Of all the people on this list, he might be the only one who pitched in a playoff game for the Phillies and it was during his rookie year too. Unfortunately, the next season he only got into 6 games before being shutdown for the rest of the season. 2013 wasn’t too much better as he only appeared in 16 games. Then, just like that, he was done at 26 years old. There was no carousel of minor league contracts, no independent ball, no nothing. No idea what happened to him.
Mike Zagurski (2007-2011) – This is cheating because the fun part of the Zagurski story happened in 2007. He appeared in 25 games as a rookie and even pitched the 9th inning of the 10,000th franchise loss. Zagurski was everyone’s favorite nobody reliever because he was a lefty with a Z name and looked like he weighed 300 pounds at his comparatively short 6 foot height. You wanted him to be the guy because he looked more like a fan than a ball player. Unfortunately he needed Tommy John surgery the next year and was never the same. After making a few spot appearances in 2010 and 2011, the Phillies released him. He still tried to give it a go all the way up to 2019 before finally calling it a career. He played for 12 teams in 3 countries not counting his final stop in the Dominican Winter League.
Apologies to Chad and JD Durbin and all those courageous relievers who lost their careers in the 2020 bullpen disaster. You just missed the timeline cutoff. I will tell your stories another day. There were others too like Dalier Hinojosa, Michael Mariot, Victor Arano, and the guy who had his nuts exploded, but I couldn’t remember too much about them. If you can think of anymore, please drop me a line and I will add them. In the end, 7 of these 12 players never pitched for another team after the Phillies, marking their last stops in mostly forgettable careers. I still love them though.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference. Memories courtesy of poor decisions.
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