Phillies Make Surprising Roster Move to Make Room for Lorenzen

The Philadelphia Phillies made a splash move before the trade deadline as they acquired a starting pitcher for their rotation.

Phillies beat writer for The Athletic, Matt Gelb, reported that new pitcher Michael Lorenzen will likely make his debut on Thursday.

With the Lorenzen addition, Gelb also reports that Philadelphia has designated utility man Josh Harrison for assignment.

In his 41 games this season, the righty hitter has batted .204/.263/.291 with two home runs and 10 RBI.

It's been a major struggle at the plate for him, dropping around 50 percentage points in all areas of his slash line.

Harrison's playing time was going to be heavily limited going forward this season. With the emergence of Bryce Harper at first base, the infield was in a healthy position starting Alec Bohm, Trea Turner and Bryson Stott.

Moving Kyle Schwarber to designated hitter allowed Brandon Marsh to play multiple positions in the outfield as the young rookie Johan Rojas gets major league reps. Nick Castellanos has been hitting a hot bat and Christian Pache will return from the injury list to provide depth.

There's also a chance that they still acquire the outfield upgrades they have been searching for on the market.

So, cutting Harrison to make room for Lorenzen was the best way forward for this Phillies team.

Gelb did not say who will be designated for assignment out of the bullpen.

It's expected Philadelphia will move into a six-man rotation for the foreseeable future as they are underway in their stretch of 17 games in a row.