Yesterday, the Phillies lost both Tyler Cloyd and Raul Valdes to other teams as they were claimed off waivers. Well, "lost" is perhaps too strong a word. The Phillies shed them. Or sent them. Regardless, they're not on the Phillies anymore, they are both somewhere else.
Tyler Cloyd, the 26-year old righty starter and sometimes reliever has been claimed by the Indians. Cloyd was drafted by the Phillies in 2008 and made his major league debut in August 2012. This season, he made six decent-ish starts for the Phillies in May and June, but was sent down once John Lannan came off the DL. He made seven more appearances with the Phillies in 2013, five as a starter and two as a reliever, and fully earned a 10.73 ERA. That figure includes Cloyd's big Danys Baez tribute, when he went out for innings 12-16 during the Phillies 18-inning marathon against Arizona. He pitched five scoreless that night/early morning, but it couldn't save him from a 2013 ERA of 6.56.
35-year old lefty bullpenner Raul Valdes is on his way to Houston. Valdes had a decent 2012 out of the bullpen, but his 2013 was pretty much the polar opposite. In 2012, he pitched 31 innings over 27 games, surrendering 18 hits and 10 earned runs (2.90 ERA). In 2013, he pitched 35 innings over 17 games, surrendering 42 hits and 29 earned runs (7.46 ERA). Like night and day! Though considering that Valdes' 2012 BABIP was an unsustainable .217, not altogether surprising.
My favorite part of this Todd Zolecki penned news blurb is the last sentence.
Neither were expected to be part of the Phillies' future plans.
That pretty much sums it all up, doesn't it? Oy.
So goodbye to Tyler Cloyd and his unusually rounded head, and goodbye to Raul Valdes and his... um.... incredibly high ERA? Yeah, I've got nothing. Good luck to both of them.