Lorenzen Will Fit Philadelphia Phillies 'Like a Glove' Says Former Teammate

New Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen isn’t walking into a completely foreign situation, even though he’s changing leagues and moving from a Tigers team that is 12 games under-.500 into a playoff race.

The All-Star pitcher goes way back with Phillies slugger Bryce Harper, outfielder Brandon Marsh and outfielder Nick Castellanos.

Marsh said he has no problems seeing Lorenzen fitting into the Phillies clubhouse immediately.

“Like a glove, He’s a great guy,” Marsh said to MLB.com. “He’s awesome. Big biceps, big chest. Nice shoes.”

The Phillies needed another starting pitcher. Lorenzen has a 3.58 ERA and a 5-7 record in 18 starts. His 1.098 WHIP is the second-best of his career. He has a 6.5 percent walk rate and strikes out nearly eight hitters per nine innings.

The Phillies will have to watch Lorenzen’s workload, as he’s approaching has career high for innings. He’s thrown 105.2 innings this season, the second-most of his career. He threw 113.1 innings in his rookie season with Cincinnati in 2015. This is just the second season he’s thrown more than 100 innings.

The Phillies figure to use a six-man rotation until their next off-day and then they could reset. He acknowledged the good vibes of joining a team where he knows three of the players.

“I played with quite a few of them when I was younger and so it'll be fun to play with them again,” Lorenzen said.

While Lorenzen goes way back with Marsh and Castellanos, he goes even further back with Harper. Before the pair were in the Majors, they played together in Team USA travel ball. Harper is from Las Vegas, while Lorenzen is from Anaheim, Calif. Harper said the pair won two gold medals together.

Marsh and Lorenzen crossed paths in Anaheim when both played for the Los Angeles Angels. With the Halos, Lorenzen went 8-6 with a 4.24 ERA in 2022, his only season with his hometown team. Marsh played the first half of 2022 with the Angels before moving to Philadelphia.

As for Castellanos, he and Lorenzen crossed paths in Cincinnati, where Lorenzen broke into the Majors in 2015 and spent his first seven seasons. Castellanos was there in 2020 and 2021.

Castellanos called Lorenzen a “freak athlete.”

“(He) Has made great plays in the outfield, hit home runs and struck people out,” Castellanos said. “I don’t know who else in the big leagues has done that. (Shohei) Ohtani.”

To be clear, the Phillies only need Lorenzen to pitch.

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