The Phillies signed relievers Nabil Crismatt and Guillo Zuñiga to minor league contracts earlier this month. Both deals are reflected on the team’s transaction log at MLB.com and the players’ respective social media accounts.
Both pitchers logged limited major league action in 2024. Crismatt, who turned 30 on Wednesday, made five appearances for the Dodgers early in the year. He spent the remainder of the season in Triple-A, which he divided between three organizations. Crismatt pitched in the minors between Los Angeles, San Diego and Texas. He had a tough showing in the Pacific Coast League, allowing 5.81 earned runs per nine through 79 innings. Crismatt struck out a slightly below-average 20.7% of batters faced against a decent 7.5% walk rate.
The Colombian-born hurler has struggled over six Triple-A seasons. His major league track record is quite a bit better. Crismatt owns a 3.71 earned run average through parts of five MLB campaigns. Most of that production came during a strong two-year run in San Diego between 2021-22. He has logged 20 major league innings over the past two seasons.
Zuñiga, 26, debuted with two appearances for the Cardinals in 2023. St. Louis dealt him to the Angels in a cash deal in February. Zuñiga made 15 appearances for the Halos. He tossed 17 2/3 innings, allowing 10 runs with 12 strikeouts and eight walks. Zuñiga pitched 26 innings at the Triple-A level, where he turned in a 5.19 ERA with a well below-average 14.3% strikeout rate. The Angels designated him for assignment when they acquired Travis d’Arnaud and released him a few days later.
This year’s drop in strikeouts marked a bizarre change from the bulk of Zuñiga’s minor league career. He’d fanned a quarter of batters faced over 29 appearances in Triple-A during the ’23 season. His strikeout rate frequently pushed 30% during his time in the low minors. Zuñiga averaged 97 MPH with his four-seam fastball this year and sat just under 99 MPH during his limited MLB stint with the Cardinals in 2023.