The Phillies have agreed to Gary Nolan Jersey a minor league deal with free agent left-hander , Matt Gelb of The Athletic. The Ballengee Group client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee this spring. Vespi, 29, has seen big league time with the Orioles in each of the past three seasons. Hes tallied 53 1/3 innings along the way, pitching to a solid 3.88 ERA with a slightly below-average 20.9% strikeout rate and a very strong 5.9% walk rate. Vespi embodies the fine se lefty archetype, sitting 89 mph on his cutter, but hes mi sed bats (12.9% swinging-strike rate) and kept the ball on the ground (44.7%) at clips that are slightly better than league average. Despite the solid work in the majors, Vespi was designated for a signment in late August and pa sed through waivers unclaimed. A disastrous showing in Triple-A this year surely contributed to that outcome. Vespi pitched 42 1/3 innings down in Norfolk but was rocked for a 7.23 ERA. A sky-high .424 average on balls in play played a role in inflating his earned run average, but Vespi also walked a very uncharacteristic 14.6% of his opponents and plunked three more. A whopping 16% of his opponents in Triple-A reached via base-on-balls or hit-by-pitch. If Vespi can get back to the solid command he showed both in Triple-A and in the majors, hell have a good chance of pitching his way into the Phillies plans. He may not throw hard, but hes been good in three Triple-A seasons prior to 2024 and has had some solid big league results in Baltimore. Vespi generally limits hard contact well career 87.9 mph average exit velocity and 37.7% hard-hit rate and did so quite well in Norfolk this year even while struggling with his bottom-line results (85.7 mph average exit velocity, 27.6% hard-hit rate). Hell need to earn the opportunity with a strong spring or impre sive early work in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, but if Vespi does land on the big league roster, he can be controlled not only for the 2025 season but an additional five years beyond that point. Ty France Jersey