Philadelphia Phillies Option Reliever To Triple-A Following Spring Game

The Philadelphia Phillies made a roster move following their spring training game on Saturday.

Mar 8, 2025; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Max Lazar (60) throws a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh inning during spring training at BayCare Ballpark | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Cuts are beginning to happen across Major League Baseball, and following the Philadelphia Phillies' spring training game on Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays, they announced a move of their own.

Per an official announcement by the team, they optioned reliever Max Lazar to their Triple-A affiliate.

While that's not overly surprising, the right-hander was in the mix to earn an Opening Day bullpen role with plenty of jobs up for grabs this spring following the departures of Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez in free agency.

The additions of Jordan Romano and Joe Ross seemed to backfill those openings, but manager Rob Thomson has freely talked about competition, so a good showing could have earned Lazar a spot.

But that didn't happen for him.

Lazar struggled throughout the spring, allowing seven earned runs during his four outings and 3.2 innings of work, struggling with his command by walking four batters compared to three strikeouts.

The 25-year-old was signed to a minor league contract ahead of the 2024 campaign after he spent his entire professional career with the Milwaukee Brewers following being selected by them in the 11th round of the 2017 draft.

He made his Major League debut last season, getting into 11 games and posting a 4.61 ERA in 13.2 innings pitched.

Lazar will be in the mix for the Phillies in 2025.

He's had a very good minor league career with a 3.24 ERA across his 128 total outings with 38 of them being starts. He had his best showing as a professional last year with a 1.87 ERA and ERA of 2.45 in 29 appearances at the Triple-A level.

Getting him more work in the minors won't hurt.

But with Lazar being sent to Triple-A, the pool of candidates for the bullpen has gotten slimmer.