Breaking: Phillies strike deal for 32-year old Tanner Banks

At the buzzer, the Philadelphia Phillies add one more player at the 2024 Trade Deadline.

In a deal with the Chicago White Sox, the club added left-handed relief pitcher Tanner Banks to the main roster.

Banks, a long-time minor league player, had appeared in over 40 games with the White Sox in the 2024 season. Pitching to a 4.13 earned run average, Tanner brings a strikeout per nine of 10.3 to an already established bullpen. He joins Jose Alvarado, Matt Strahm, and Gregory Soto as left-handed pitchers.

Robert Murray of Fansided broke the trade news on Twitter/X.

Phillies Make A Move

Tanner Banks is a left-handed specialist, someone who the Phillies will likely use against left-handed batters for the remainder of the season. With Chicago, he has held opposing lefty batters to just a .181 batting average. Unfortunately, he is rough against right-handed hitters, but a few tweaks from Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham can be worth the gamble.

In the deal, the Phillies traded away minor-league prospect William Bergolia. The 19-year-old second baseman was with the High-A Jersey Shore Blueclaws this season where he hit .294 with an OPS of .735.

According to MLB.com’s prospect pipeline, William ranked 11th. According to Baseball America, he ranked 10th in the Phillies’ system. He was an international free agency signing, joining the organization in 2022.

This was the last move made by the Phillies at this year’s trade deadline. In total, they acquired two relievers and one outfielder. Per Baseball America, they traded away one reliever and one outfielder, along with 3 prospects ranked in the top 10 of the system.

It is not the big slash fans were looking for but it does improve the team by the margins. As Bryce Harper said, the stars will need to shine for the Phillies to win the World Series.

Photo Credit: Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)