Right-hander Michael Lorenzen has reached agreement with the Texas Rangers on a one-year deal worth $4.5 million guaranteed that can max out at $7 million with incentives, a source confirmed to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.
Lorenzen had his share of ups and downs during the 2023 season with the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, making the American League All-Star team and throwing a no-hitter while also being moved from the rotation to the bullpen because of ineffectiveness.
After going 5-7 with a 3.58 ERA and making the All-Star Game with the Tigers, the right-hander was dealt to the Phillies at the trade deadline to stabilize their rotation.
Lorenzen, 32, made quite the first impression with his new team. After tossing eight innings of two-run ball in his Phillies debut, he wowed even more in his Philadelphia home debut Aug. 9 — throwing a career-high 124 pitches to notch the 14th no-hitter in Phillies history, striking out five and walking four in a 7-0 victory over the Washington Nationals.
It wasn’t to last, however. Lorenzen went 2-2 with a 7.96 ERA in his next five starts and was dropped from the Phillies’ rotation. His past four appearances were out of the bullpen, and he was left off the postseason roster for the National League Wild Card Series.
He returned to make one appearance out of the bullpen in both the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves and the NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Overall, he combined to go 9-9 with a 4.18 ERA and 111 strikeouts between the two teams during the regular season. In 379 appearances (69 starts) over nine seasons, he is 40-38 with a 4.11 ERA and 602 strikeouts.
Lorenzen spent much of his career as a reliever for the Cincinnati Reds, but he was exclusively a starter for the Tigers and Los Angeles Angels for a few seasons before joining the Phillies. He is possibly the best hitter out of any of baseball’s pitchers, with 7 career home runs, 24 RBIs and a .233 batting average in 133 at-bats.
