Phillies bring back 40-year-old reliever David Robertson

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies recalled 40-year-old reliever David Robertson from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Sunday, three weeks after he signed a free-agent deal with the National League East leaders.

Robertson made six relief appearances with Lehigh Valley, and had a 10.13 ERA, though he had four scoreless outings. He struck out six, walked one and allowed 11 hits and six runs in 5 1/3 innings.

The Phillies made the move before their series finale at Texas, where Robertson was 3-4 with a 3.00 ERA in 68 games last season.

“To start out with I’d like to just kind of ease him in a little bit, a little lower-leverage, but we might be forced to run him out there in high-leverage, who knows,” manager Rob Thomson said.

Right-hander Alan Rangel was optioned to Triple-A to make room on the 26-man roster.

Over his 16-year major league career, Robertson, has a 2.91 ERA in 861 games, all but one of those in relief. He has been to the playoffs nine times, including being part the New York Yankees' last World Series title in 2009.

This is his third stint with the Phillies, first as a free agent before the 2019 season and then after being acquired in a trade from the Chicago Cubs in 2022. He played nine seasons with the Yankees over two different times in New York, which drafted him in the 17th round of the 2006 amateur draft.

“He’s a calming influence. He’s been through it before, World Series, playoff runs,” Thomson said. "I think he’s a good guy for the younger guys to kind of lean on and learn from.”

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