The Phillies have announced that they are looking for a right-hander Grant Holman left the Tigers and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Detroit picked him up a few days ago. The Phils had a few 40-man slots and didn’t have to make a corresponding move.
Holman, who turns 26 this month, has been riding the waiver wire in recent months. He played for the Athletics in 2024 and 2025, but that team chose him to work out in February. He was wanted by the Diamondbacks and has gone as far as the Dodgers, Tigers and now the Phillies with the following claims. This year he is kept in his cell because he has not played in the big league since last season.
The big league hitting record isn’t surprising. Holman threw 38 2/3 innings for the A’s over the past two seasons, allowing a 4.66 earned run average per nine. His 18.8% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate are down. His ground ball rate of 43.9% was a few ticks above average.
His minor league numbers were solid. Since the start of 2024, he has thrown 62 innings on the farm with an ERA of 0.87. That’s at least a little misleading, as his .218 batting average on balls in play and 88.3% strand rate in that sample were pretty lucky. His 10.6% walk rate is on the high side but he paired that with a 28.1% strikeout rate and low ground ball numbers. He’s primarily a fastball-splitter, he throws those two pitches about 85% of the time, his slider takes everything he uses.
For the Phils, as mentioned, they had a few free agency spots. They choose Dylan Moore to get an assignment a few days ago and sold Trevor Richards to the White Sox. With Holman now having options, they used one of those two open spots to grab him and hide him in the minors as extra bullpen depth. If he sticks in the lineup, he could be called upon whenever they need a new arm at the big league level.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
