Phillies' Rival Mets Targeting Their Former Pitcher

The main move that the Philadelphia Phillies made at the trade deadline last year was to acquire All-Star starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen from the Detroit Tigers.

He gave them more rotation depth for the final stretch and created more flexibility with usage of arms in the postseason.

Coming over with a 3.58 ERA across 18 starts, Lorenzen's tenure with the Phillies began incredibly when he allowed two runs over eight innings pitched in his first start and threw a no-hitter in his second.

Unfortunately, that was the peak for the right-hander in Philadelphia.

His struggles are well-documented from that point on, getting demoted from the starting rotation and being placed in the bullpen.

Maybe that's a reason why he's still searching for his next team in 2024.

But, according to Tim Britton and Will Sammon of The Athletic, he has been in talks with the Phillies' division rival New York Mets.

With an injury to Kodai Senga that forced the team to shut him down for three weeks, the Mets are searching for some rotation help and Lorenzen could be that guy.

However, they also made it seem like it's not as promising as the contact initially sounded.

"... though the communication likely reflects a desire to stay connected if they have another injury rather than imminent, serious interest," they wrote.

It's still surprising that the 2023 All-Star is still out on the market after putting together seasons of a 4.24 ERA in 2022 as a first-time starter and 4.18 ERA in the second year of that role.

He seems like a prime candidate to join the backend of a rotation and be an innings eater.

Yet, Lorenzen is still searching for his new team about a month away from the start of the season.