PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Michael Lorenzen, who pitched a no-hitter for Philadelphia in August, was left off the Phillies’ roster Tuesday for their Wild Card Series and reliever Jonathan Hernández was dropped because of an injury by the Texas Rangers, who made the surprise inclusion of former top draft pick Matt Bush.
Tampa Bay included outfielder Jose Siri, who missed the final three weeks with a broken hand.
Lorenzen, a 31-year-old right-hander, no-hit Washington on Aug. 9. He then went 2-2 with a 7.96 ERA in his next five starts and was dropped from the Phillies’ rotation. His last four appearances were out of the bullpen.
Wes Wilson, a 29-year-old infielder who made his debut in August and played in eight games, was included on the 26-man roster against the Miami Marlins as a right-handed bat off the bench.
Siri had been sidelined since his right hand was broken when hit by a pitch from Minnesota’s Dylan Floro on Sept. 11. Siri hit .222 with 25 homers and 56 RBIs for the Rays.
Top prospect Junior Caminero, a 20-year-old infielder who was called up in late September, was included for the best-of-three series against Texas after hitting .235 with one homer and seven RBIs in seven games.
Outfielder Luke Raley was left off the roster. He has not played since Sept. 20 because of a cervical strain.
Texas said Hernández has a right shoulder injury and included Bush, who hasn’t pitched a big league game since June 30 for Milwaukee. The 37-year-old right-hander Bush is the only player on the Rangers’ roster who was also part of the 2016 team that was swept by the Rays. That was the rookie season for Bush, which came 12 years after he was drafted – the longest gap for an overall No. 1 to make his debut, and during the period when Bush had several alcohol-related incidents even before a near-fatal accident and time in prison.
Bush was the loser in the clinching Game 3 in that 2016 ALDS, though he struck out five and allowed only one run over 2 2/3 innings in that game. He was the pitcher when the Rays scored the winning run in the 10th inning to win 7-6.
The Rangers late last season traded Bush to the Brewers. He was 0-2 with a 9.58 ERA in 12 games before being released in early July, and later signed a minor league deal with Texas. He had a 2.27 ERA in 35 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A for the Rangers after that.
Bush missed all of the 2019 and 2020 seasons with Texas after twice having surgery. He had surgery in 2018 to repair and reinforce the partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in hopes of avoiding Tommy John surgery.
When that didn’t work, he did need Tommy John surgery in 2019. It was the second time the former No. 1 overall draft pick had that ligament replacement surgery. The first was in 2007, soon after being converted from shortstop to pitcher by his hometown San Diego Padres.
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