The Philadelphia Phillies will have six players arbitration eligible this offseason. I’ll be tossing up blogs highlighting each player and ultimately making the decision to tender or non-tender each player. Feel free to forward these blog posts to John Middleton and Andy MacPhail, who are clearly struggling with building a competent roster this offseason.

• Seranthony Dominguez – $900K
• Zach Eflin –$3.7MM
• Rhys Hoskins – $3.4MM
• Andrew Knapp – $1.0MM
• Hector Neris – $5.3MM
• Vince Velasquez – $4.0MM

Seranthony Dominguez is only 25 years old. He shined in the Phillies’ bullpen in 2018 with a 2.95 ERA and 2.85 FIP across 53 games. Dominguez was on his way to being a pure homegrown star reliever for the Phillies.

Of course, it didn’t turn out that way.

Dominguez entered 2019 as the face of Gabe Kapler’s bullpen. He was underwhelming to say the least. In 27 games he posted a 4.01 ERA and in early June, Dominguez exited a game against the Padres with a UCL injury and has yet to make a return to a Major League Baseball mound.

After missing the remainder of 2019, Dominguez went through a normal offseason and hoped to return to form in 2020. However, in Spring Training, he suffered an injury setback and a decision was made that he would need Tommy John Surgery.

Surgery did not happen immediately. Dominguez returned home to the Dominican Republic during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic which delayed surgery. He didn’t have surgery until the end of July 2020. Given the recovery time for a pitcher undergoing Tommy John Surgery, that would leave Dominguez sidelined until at least August or September 2021 assuming there are no additional setbacks.

Dominguez is set to make roughly $900K during arbitration. The Phillies should still take a chance on him. The price tag isn’t expensive and you would have to assume that Dominguez, knowing he may not pitch for another year, would be eager to jump on $900k and avoid being non-tendered by the Phillies.

Seranthony Dominguez is under team control through 2024. The Phillies have to bet on the possibility that he gets healthy and returns to form as an impact reliever, which could come as soon as August-September 2021.

Mandatory Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong