Didi Gregorius is returning to the Philadelphia Phillies after the free agent reached a two-year, $ 28 million deal with the team, a source confirmed to ESPN on Saturday.
Gregorius, who turns 31 on February 18, proved to be a big bargain in 2020 for the Phillies, who signed a one-year, $ 14 million contract with the free agent last season. He recovered from a 2019 season full of injuries with the New York Yankees, hitting 0.284 with 10 home runs, 40 RBIs and 34 scheduled runs – and 0.827 OPS – for the Phillies during the pandemic-shortened season.
Gregorius lost a lot of time to the Yankees in 2019 as he recovered from Tommy John’s surgery, who had to repair an elbow ligament that was torn during the 2018 AL Division Series against Boston. He ended up hitting 0.238 with 16 home runs and 61 RBIs in 2019.
For the past five seasons, Gregorius is tied for fourth with Xander Bogaerts among all major league shortstops on home runs (98), behind only Trevor Story (134), Francisco Lindor (126) and Javier Baez (108). He is also fifth in RBIs (344), ninth in hit percentage (0.469, with a minimum of 150 games) and ninth in extra-base hits (215) in the same period.
Gregorius has provided Gold Glove caliber defense throughout his career, and his 0.978 career placement percentage is the fifth best among players, with at least 800 games played in the position since 2012.
Overall, Gregorius has a career hitting average of 0.265 with 120 home runs, 457 RBIs and 0.748 OPS over nine seasons with the Reds, Diamondbacks, Yankees and Phillies.
Gregorius’ deal with the Phillies was first reported by The Athletic.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.