Australia Native Lachlan Wells Shines in Fightins' Rotation After Two-Year Hiatus

Lachlan Wells has been away from affiliated baseball since 2019. After taking two years off, he returned to the sport and signed an affiliated minor league contract with the Phillies on January 7, 2024. Today, he finds himself a vital piece of the Fightin Phils starting rotation.

“It rejuvenated me with the passion and the drive I have for baseball,” said Wells, according to Aussies Abroad. “It reminded me how much I love it. I just wanted to come back and have more fun [with it].”

The 27-year-old Australia native spent 2015-2019 with the Minnesota Twins rookie and A-ball affiliates, posting a 3.02 ERA in 253 innings. Wells also pitched for Australia at the 2017 World Baseball Classic as a 20-year-old. This past winter, Wells played for the Adelaide Giants of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). He went 6-0 with a 0.94 ERA, posting a 0.73 WHIP, and struck out 63 batters in nine starts.

The left-hander completed his season with Adelaide in January and reported to Clearwater for Spring Training with the Phillies in February. In his first season in Double-A, Wells is 6-5 with a 3.55 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 91.1 innings. He’s tossed back-to-back shutout outings and is 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA in four starts in July.

In last Tuesday’s win over New Hampshire, he matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts, which he last did on Sept. 1, 2016, with Cedar Rapids. It was the third time in Wells' affiliated-professional career that he struck out 10 or more batters in a game.

“Locked-In” Wells pitched seven shutout innings in a July 13 victory over the Akron RubberDucks. “I’m just going out there, going after the hitters and trusting my stuff… I’m having fun with it (professional baseball). That’s all I wanted to do back home in the ABL was come back and have fun and then I’ve brought it over here with me.”

Wells chose to sign with the Phillies over other clubs, as 11 of his Adelaide teammates play there, as well as Adelaide manager Chris Adamson. Adamson has coached at various levels for the Phillies affiliates and is currently a bench coach for the IronPigs.

Reading pitching coach Phil Cundari has also worked closely with Wells this season and explained how his maturity level and self-awareness have been motives for his success.

“He’s more mature, I think he understands the strike zone… He creates a lot of deception with his fastball, but his changeup has made some really good strides this year.

Cundari also spoke about Wells’ execution, noting his “bread and butter” combination of the fastball and change-up. He believes that expanding his arsenal with more spin and the usage of the curveball, cutter, and slider could push him to compete at the next level.