Phillies news and rumors 1/29: Recent minor league signee named Australian Baseball League MVP

The Phillies recent signed 26-year-old southpaw Lachlan Wells to a minor league contract, and the early returns — as in, the very early returns — are promising.

Wells was named MVP of the Australian Baseball League over the weekend, following a season that saw him post a 0.94 ERA with 63 strikeouts and just 28 hits in 47 2/3 innings for the Adelaide Giants.

Wells spent the 2015-21 seasons in the Minnesota Twins organization, racking up 253 innings in the minor leagues, all at High-A or below. After the 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Wells pitched 8 1/3 innings for the Sydney Blue Sox in the 2020-21 ABL season, got released by the Twins in 2022 after not appearing in a game the previous season, then stepped away from baseball for the 2022-23 ABL season. He said a loss of love for the game prompted his hiatus. He found it again during his time away.

You can read more about Wells’ career and journey to Philadelphia — plus his reasoning for choosing the Phillies — in Eric Balnar’s profile of Wells over at the Adelaide Giants’ website.

Wells’ efforts have led the Giants to the ABL Finals against the Perth Heat, taking place this upcoming weekend down under.

Must-read Phillies content

• The Phillies are still in on the reliever market, and Phillies Nation‘s Tim Kelly wrote about their reported interest in two veterans.
• With City Connect uniforms coming to Philadelphia in 2024, Tim Kelly also wrote about how long the Phillies might be “stuck” with them if they don’t go over well with the fanbase.
• Again from Tim Kelly, the Chicago Cubs are the team that needed Héctor Neris.
• Phillies Nation‘s Destiny Lugardo wrote about the ins and outs of Rhys Hoskins’ Brewers contract, two other teams’ interest levels in the Big Fella and his new number.

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