Valenzuela Back in the Majors : Baseball: Philadelphia Phillies sign left-handed pitcher, who had been playing in the Mexican League.

Fernando Valenzuela, who left major league baseball this season to pitch in Mexico, returned to the big leagues Friday when he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Valenzuela, 33, will report to the Phillies on Monday, general manager Lee Thomas said. The left-hander was 10-3 this year for the Jalisco Cowboys of the Mexican League.

Valenzuela was 8-10 with a 4.94 ERA in 31 starts for Baltimore last season. He was 149-128 with a 3.45 ERA in a 13-year career that started in 1981, when he won the Cy Young Award and rookie of the year honors with Los Angeles.

The defending NL champion Phillies began the day in third place in the NL East, 11 games behind Atlanta. Philadelphia has lost starters Curt Schilling, Tommy Greene and Ben Rivera to the disabled list this year, and also traded away Terry Mulholland in the offseason.

As of June 21, Valenzuela had a 2.70 ERA in 16 starts for Jalisco. He had eight complete games. He also recently pitched one scoreless inning in a game in San Antonio between the Mexican League all-stars and the Texas League all-stars.

Thomas said the Phillies were desperate for pitching help and Valenzuela was “worth the gamble.”

“There aren’t a lot of pitchers out there who can help your ballclub,” he said. “With the problems we have in the rotation, we think this guy can help us.”

Valenzuela, who was to pitch five innings in Mexico Friday night, will make his first Phillies’ start Tuesday against Florida and will go again Sunday in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.

“We’ve had scouts talk about him and watch him,” Thomas said. “Everybody knows how Valenzuela pitches. He has to have control.”

Manager Jim Fregosi declined to say which of the replacement starters the Phillies have been using -- Shawn Boskie, Bobby Munoz, Mike Williams and David West -- would be dropped from the rotation.

“If he’s going in, somebody’s going out,” Fregosi said. “When he arrives, we’ll explain everything.”

Known for his trademark eyes-to-the-sky delivery, Valenzuela pitched with the Dodgers, Orioles and California Angels.

To make room for Valenzuela on the 40-man roster, the Phillies designated Bob Wells of their Scranton-Wilkes-Barre farm team for assignment.