Ahead of Tuesday’s matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Philadelphia Phillies announced that they were making a change in the bullpen. The team selected the contract of Lou Trivino from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, optioning Chase Shugart down in a corresponding move.
The Slippery Rock, Pa. native will make his second stint on the Phillies’ big league roster after appearing in 10 games for the club in 2025. A non-roster invitee to start the year, Trivino was released at the beginning of May, eventually getting picked up by the Baltimore Orioles. Trivino’s stint with the Orioles lasted two appearances before he was designated for assignment on May 10, returning to the Phillies on May 16 on a minor league contract.
Trivino will take Shugart’s place at the end of the bullpen. Shugart has struggled as of late, allowing three runs to score in consecutive outings on June 28 and 29. Don Mattingly insisted on Tuesday that the recent troubles were not the primary reason Shugarts was the man to get sent down.
“I know [Shugart's] give up a couple of homers lately,” Mattingly described. “He's been really good for us this year. He's doing what we needed from that role, taking the ball a lot. Always ready to take it. So he's just a guy that had options, and we needed an arm.”
His six runs allowed in the past two days raised his ERA from 3.25 to 4.97. In 26 outings, the Phillies have relied on Shugart to pitch 29 innings thus far.
With a highly utilized bullpen, Mattingly thought the Phillies needed a fresh arm available. With Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler due to pitch the next two days, the hope is that the bullpen will get a reprieve, but they will still need to be ready as the two aces battle not only the opposing team but also the hot conditions to stay strong late into their starts.
While the move was made out of a necessity for a fresh arm, it gives Trivino another chance to show he still has it as a major league reliever. The 34-year-old owns a 4.00 ERA and was once a high-leverage threat for the Oakland Athletics, collecting 32 saves with the team from 2021 to 2022.
The Phillies will look to get back on track after their 11-7 loss to the Pirates as Cristopher Sánchez takes the mound against Bubba Chandler in game two on Tuesday.
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