Phillies acquire reliever David Phelps from Brewers

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.