The Philadelphia Phillies needed some pitching help and they got it just before the 2020 Major League Baseball trade deadline on Monday afternoon.
Just a half hour before the 4 p.m. ET deadline, multiple reports emerged that the Phillies acquired reliever David Phelps from the Milwaukee Brewers, who’s return is unknown as of this time.
The 33-year-old right-hander is having one of the finest seasons of his eight-year MLB career, which has included stops with the New York Yankees, Miami Marlins, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, and Chicago Cubs. In 12 appearances this year, he’s sporting a 2.77 ERA with 20 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.692 in 13 innings of work.
While his career numbers don’t necessarily instill a ton of excitement with a 3.83 ERA over 281 career games, Phelps has gotten better with age, posting a 2.85 ERA since the start of the 2016 season.
He has experience working with Phillies manager Joe Girardi already, having pitched under him from 2012-2014 with the Yankees.
Should the Phillies choose to do so down the road, they can retain Phelps after this season. He has a $4.5 million team option next season that can be bought out for $250,000.
Pehlps’ acquisition is the Phillies’ second notable move within the last week to bolster a beleaguered bullpen. They picked up Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree from the Boston Red Sox where they’ve allowed a combined four runs in 9.1 innings of work since joining Philadelphia.
As a whole, the Phillies’ bullpen is the worst unit in Major League Baseball behind a 7.01 ERA, 1.89 WHIP, and a .329 opponent batting average.
