Crouse signed a minor-league contract with the Angels on Thursday, Jared Tims of the Talkin' Halos podcast reports.
Crouse was a prospect of some notoriety a few years back with the Rangers but has struggled with performance and health since then. He made two appearances with the Phillies in 2021 but has been limited to a combined 34.1 innings over the last two years in the minors because of injuries. Crouse is evidently healthy now and is still just 25, so the Angels will see what he has in the tank.
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Phillies' Hans Crouse: Makes spring debut
Rotowire
Crouse (biceps) struck out a batter over a perfect inning Sunday in the Phillies' 9-5 loss to the Red Sox in Grapefruit League play.
The 12-pitch appearance was Crouse's first of the spring, though it's unclear if he was held out of Grapefruit League action up to this point due to the lingering effects of the biceps injury that sidelined him for most of the 2022 season or if the Phillies were simply prioritizing other pitchers who have more realistic odds of breaking camp with the big club. Whatever the case, Crouse appears set to begin the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, though it's unclear if the Phillies will look to continue his development as a starter or have him make a full-time transition to the bullpen on the heels of an injury-plagued season.
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Phillies' Hans Crouse: Sent to minors
Rotowire
Crouse (biceps) was outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Wednesday.
Crouse spent most of the 2022 campaign sidelined due to right biceps tendinitis, but he began a rehab assignment in September. Although he'll lose his spot on the 40-man roster, it's possible he'll be ready for spring training in 2023.
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Phillies' Hans Crouse: Beginning rehab assignment
Rotowire
Crouse (biceps) will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Saturday.
Crouse hasn't pitched for the Triple-A club since April 20 due to right biceps tendinitis, but he'll return to action Saturday. Once the right-hander is deemed fully healthy, it seems likely that he'll remain at Lehigh Valley.
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Phillies' Hans Crouse: Recalled, placed on 60-day IL
Rotowire
Crouse was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and placed on the 60-day injured list due to right biceps tendinitis Friday.
Crouse hasn't pitched at Lehigh Valley since April 20 due to his injury. He also spent time on the COVID-19 IL in May, and he'll be unavailable until at least mid-September following Friday's transaction. It's not yet clear whether the right-hander will be able to return to game action prior to the end of the regular season.
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Phillies' Hans Crouse: On COVID-19 IL
Rotowire
Crouse has resided on Triple-A Lehigh Valley's COVID-19-related injured list since May 12, Tom Housenick of The Allentown Morning Call reports.
Before apparently testing positive for the virus, Crouse hadn't pitched for Lehigh Valley since April 20 while he was on the 7-day injured list due to an unspecified injury. He's made just three appearances in total thus far in 2022, covering 7.1 innings and giving up nine earned runs on 10 hits and four walks while striking out nine.
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Phillies' Hans Crouse: Optioned to minor-league camp
Rotowire
Crouse was optioned to minor-league camp on Tuesday.
Crouse lines up as one of the Phillies' top rotation depth options this season. Optioning him more than two weeks before Opening Day may indicate confidence in the availability of Zack Wheeler (shoulder) and Zach Eflin (knee), both of whom entered camp with injury questions.
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Phillies' Hans Crouse: Sunk by Marlins
Rotowire
Crouse (0-2) allowed three runs on two hits and three walks over four innings while taking the loss Saturday against Miami. He had one strikeout.
Miami's Jazz Chisholm delivered all of the damage against Crouse, smacking a three-run homer in the third inning to break a scoreless tie. After being promoted from the minors in late-September, Crouse dropped both starts in his first taste of the big leagues, giving up four runs over seven innings with seven walks and just two strikeouts.
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Phillies' Hans Crouse: Takes loss Sunday
Rotowire
Crouse (0-1) took the loss Sunday versus Pittsburgh. He allowed a run on two hits and four walks with one strikeout in three innings.
Crouse wasn't bad in this start, but Philadelphia mustered just six hits and no runs in the contest, leaving him with a hard-luck loss in his big-league debut. The only run against the right-hander was Cole Tucker's leadoff home run to start the game. Crouse may have shown well enough to earn another start -- if so, it would likely be in Miami next weekend.
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Phillies' Hans Crouse: Promoted for big-league debut
Rotowire
Crouse had his contract selected by the Phillies and will start Sunday's game against the Pirates.
Crouse received a promotion to Triple-A in early September and gave up three runs over 4.1 innings during his lone appearance for Lehigh Valley. The 23-year-old, who was acquired from the Rangers along with Kyle Gibson and Ian Kennedy at the trade deadline, spent most of 2021 at Double-A, where he posted a 3.12 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 92:31 K:BB across 80.2 innings. Crouse could receive another turn through the rotation during the final week of the season with a strong debut Sunday.
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Phillies' Hans Crouse: Moves up to Triple-A
Rotowire
Crouse was recently promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley from Double-A Reading, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Crouse headed to Double-A after being acquired by the Phillies from the Rangers at the trade deadline, and he's received a promotion after posting a 3.42 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 29:11 K:BB in 23.2 innings across five starts for Reading. The soon-to-be 23-year-old will finish the season at the Triple-A level and could be in the mix for a big-league promotion sometime next season.
Crouse, Kyle Gibson and Ian Kennedy were traded from the Rangers to the Phillies on Friday in exchange for Spencer Howard, Kevin Gowdy and one unspecified prospect, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.
Crouse will be the lone minor-league piece heading to Philadelphia along with veterans Gibson and Kennedy. Crouse has been at the Double-A level in 2021 and has performed well with a 3.35 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 54:19 K:BB across 51 innings (13 starts).
Rangers' Hans Crouse: Expected to start at Down East
Rotowire
Crouse is expected to open the season at High-A Down East, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.
Crouse, who ranks higher on some prospect lists than the 18th-ranked Rangers slot on RotoWire's prospect ranking, is coming off surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow that cut short his 2019 season. Perhaps it was that issue that led to a rise in home runs (1.2 per nine innings) and drop in strikeout rate (7.8) over 87.2 innings at Low-A Hickory. His normally mid-90s fastball was down a bit, while his slider was also less effective than a season prior. With the bone spur removed, Crouse entered camp healthy. Presuming the fastball and slider return to normal, the right-hander likely needs a third pitch other than his average changeup to continue fulfilling expectations at the advanced levels of the minors.
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Rangers' Hans Crouse: Feeling healthy again
Rotowire
Crouse said Saturday that he feels fully healthy again after undergoing surgery in July to address a bone spur in the back of his right elbow, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
The procedure was the first of two on the elbow for Crouse, who later had the bone spur surgically removed in the offseason. The 2017 second-round pick indicated he's still trying to find a feel for his pitches following the layoff, but he was at least able to complete a live batting practice session Thursday without issue. He's expected to begin the upcoming campaign at High-A Down East.
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Rangers' Hans Crouse: Gets bone spur removed
Rotowire
Crouse's bone spur in his elbow was surgically removed Wednesday, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.
Crouse dealt with the issue during the season but was able to put off the procedure until the offseason. He finished the year with a 4.41 ERA in 87.2 innings at Low-A Hickory. It's unclear if his preparation for next season will be affected by the surgery.
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Rangers' Hans Crouse: Pitching through bone spur
Rotowire
Crouse is pitching through a bone spur, Levi Weaver of The Athletic reports.
It is unclear exactly where the bone spur is, but it could be in his right elbow. He gave up seven runs on seven hits in 2.1 innings in his most recent outing for Low-A Hickory, and has a 4.02 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 45:9 K:BB in 47 innings (11 starts) this season.
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Rangers' Hans Crouse: Has bone spur in elbow
Rotowire
Crouse has a bone spur in the back of his right elbow and will need a cleanup procedure following the season, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.
This news confirms an earlier report that the right-hander was pitching through a spur, but it wasn't clear where exactly it was. Crouse is currently at Low-A Hickory and is 2-1 with a 4.02 ERA and 1.11 WHIP after 11 starts.
