Thursday morning, the Phillies did what was (probably) inevitable, and designated struggling right handed reliever Chad Qualls for assignment. The Phillies can trade Qualls, or he can accept an assignment to the minors, or sign with another club.
It had been series of gruesome events for Qualls, culminating in last night's kill-shot home run from Andrew McCutchen, putting the game just about out of reach after the Phillies had clawed their way to within a run of the lead.
Qualls' biggest problem this season was the long ball. The sinkerballer had surrendered seven home runs in 31 innings, with an ungodly 25% home run-to-fly ball ratio.
Horst is the lefty reliever acquired from the Reds in the Wilson Valdez trade. The 26 year old had struck out 32 and walked 18 in 36 innings at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Horst joins Brian Sanches as "new" additions to the Phillies bullpen, the latter being promoted after this morning's demotion of Joe Savery to Triple-A.