Phillies: Journeyman Drew Ellis has himself quite a day

Drew Ellis had a day Sunday that was a miracle of the early season. Of course, the Philadelphia Phillies reserve might have also accomplished his one-day miracle as a late season call-up, statistically, but we all have calendars and know it’s only early June.

On June 4, Drew Ellis raised his batting average from .143 to .400. Until that day, he had only played in three Phillies games after signing with the club on April 16. He had been released by the Seattle Mariners almost a month earlier and had only gone to the plate nine times this season until Sunday. He was called up after a hot MiLB turn (a 1.007 OPS in MiLB 92 PA).

The Phillies’ Drew Ellis had a magical 39th career MLB game

Displaying an economic swing in the fifth inning, Ellis slammed an offering by the Nationals’ Trevor Williams into the left-field seats for only his second Phillies hit this campaign. An inning later, with the Phillies only up 2-1, he singled after a Brandon Marsh walk. Then, Kyle Schwarber homered, putting the game nearly out of reach.

In the seventh, Ellis homered again, this time off an Andres Machado pitch down and in at 94. The Phillies would go on to win, 11-3, taking two of three from a team most would agree they have to beat.

And Drew Ellis had a day in the field as well, making some fine picks at third base.

It has been a tough row to hoe for Ellis to make his MLB dream grow. Drafted in 2017 out of Louisville, he spent his most time in the majors with Seattle in 2021, but that was only 28 games. In a total of just 39 games for his career among Seattle, Arizona and Philadelphia, even after his career day Sunday, his MLB batting average is just .168.

But the Phillies minor league staff at double-A Reading liked his short stroke and plate discipline.

The infielder also showed, after the game, that he has graduated from the Crash Davis School of Cliché Mastery, opining that “Just being able to put a big-league uniform on again, it’s really special. I can’t thank the people that supported me enough to get to this position. Just keep riding it out and having fun.”

However, don’t be surprised to see Drew Ellis a third base again Monday night against the Detroit Tigers. Phillies manager Rob Thomson has been known to go with the guy who is hottest. Everybody expects Kyle Schwarber to hit in June. Think of Ellis as a potential Phillies June surprise.