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The 32-year-old right-hander will try to carry over his success from Triple-A to his eighth MLB team
The Philadelphia Phillies made their biggest move of the week when they replaced manager Rob Thomson with bench coach Don Mattingly on an interim basis.
Four days later, the Phillies summoned right-handed reliever Trevor Richards from Triple-A to take the place of left-hander Kyle Backhus. It’s a minor move in the grander scheme of a 162-game season than a managerial firing, but a big one for Richards.
Richards, 32, is a veteran of eight MLB seasons. He has yet to pitch in the big leagues since July 2025 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. After signing a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, Richards had a strong tryout in spring training.
MORE: Rob Thomson already has job offer after being fired by Phillies
But he was assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after allowed six hits and three runs over eight spring innings, striking out 11 batters. He went 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in nine appearances for the Phillies’ top farm team.
Now Richards will get his first chance to lock down a major league roster spot since last summer.
Richards is 24-28 with a 4.53 ERA in 295 career games (61 starts) with the Miami Marlins (2018-19), Tampa Bay Rays (2019-21), Milwaukee Brewers (2021), Toronto Blue Jays (2021-24), Minnesota Twins (2024), Kansas City Royals (2025) and Diamondbacks (2025).
After debuting as a starting pitcher, Richards has been working out of the bullpen almost exclusively (222 of 231 appearances) since the 2021 season.
MORE: Phillies spoke to surprise replacement candidate before firing manager Rob Thomson
In that time, he’s 14-7 with a 4.67 ERA (90 ERA+) while averaging more than a strikeout per inning (332 in 272 innings pitched).
Now, he’ll try to carry over his success at Triple-A to his eighth MLB team.
The Phillies, who are playing a doubleheader against the San Francisco Giants on April 30, won their first two games out of the gate with Mattingly in the manager’s chair.
Mattingly was the Blue Jays’ bench coach in 2023 and 2024 when Richards was playing out his final two seasons in Toronto. He was less than a month into the same job with the Phillies when Thomson was abruptly fired on Monday.
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