Guardians release veteran southpaw

The Guardians announced that left-hander Phillip Diehl has been released. He’ll head to free agency in search of his next opportunity.

Diehl, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Guards in the offseason and has been pitching for Triple-A Columbus this year. Unfortunately, the results haven’t been pretty, as he posted an ERA of 6.89 in 32 2/3 innings for the Clippers. His 48.1% strand rate has probably made that ERA look worse than it should, but he’s also walked 13.5% of batters faced this year. It seems the Guards have decided to move on and have let him go.

The southpaw has a bit of major league experience under his belt, having made 21 appearances between the Rockies and Reds. But he didn’t fare too well in those, with a 9.47 ERA in that small sample. Although he struggled this year, his track record on the farm is strong overall. He had a 3.50 ERA in the minors prior to this season, striking out 29.8% of hitters and walking just 7.3%. He was in especially good form in 2021, as he had a 2.47 ERA in Triple-A along with a 33% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate.

He will now return to the open market and see what kind of offers are out there for him. His struggles this year will undoubtedly tamp down the interest somewhat, but left-handed relief is always in demand and Diehl is not too far removed from an impressive Triple-A showing.