PITTSBURGH — The Phillies added a starting pitcher and late-inning reliever before Friday’s trade deadline, but it cost them Spencer Howard, one of their highest-rated pitching prospects in nearly two decades.
The Phillies will slide Kyle Gibson into the starting rotation and hand the ninth inning to Ian Kennedy, the pitchers they acquired from Texas as part of a package that was headlined by Howard. They also will got pitching prospect Hans Crouse from the Rangers and gave up minor-league pitchers Kevin Gowdy and Josh Gessner.
Additionally, the Phillies will receive cash from the Rangers to help them cover most of Gibson’s and Kennedy’s remaining 2020 salaries and avoid incurring a luxury-tax penalty. Gibson is owed roughly $3.6 million this year and is under contract for $7.6 million next year. Kennedy, a free agent at season’s end, is owed about $800,000 for the rest of the year. The Phillies were about $4 million under the $210 million tax threshold
The deal was first reported by ESPN.
It was an aggressive move for an organization trying to return to the postseason for the first time in a decade. They entered Friday with obvious needs in both their rotation and bullpen. The Phillies are still a game-under .500, but the division remains winnable.
Gibson, 33, a first-time All Star, is under contract for next season in the final season of a three-year deal worth $28 million. The right-hander has a career-best 2.87 ERA this season in 19 starts.
Gibson is striking out just 7.5 batters per nine innings while inducing the seventh-best groundball rate (50.8%) among starters and the 11th-lowest home-run to fly ball ratio. Those two things — his reliance on groundouts and ability to keep fly balls in the park — could be tested in Philadelphia.
He’ll pitch in hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park instead of Texas’ cavernous ballpark and will be forced to rely on his new team’s less-than-reliable infield defense. The Phillies have the second-lowest defensive runs saved in the majors, and their third baseman (Alec Bohm) and shortstop (Didi Gregorius) are among baseball’s worst-graded defenders.
Kennedy has converted 16 of his 17 save chances this season and has a 2.51 ERA in 32 games with Texas. The Phillies lead baseball in blown saves this season and recently elevated Ranger Suarez to the closer’s role. Kennedy’s arrival will push Suarez back into a seventh or eighth inning role or perhaps back to the starting rotation, which would require Suarez to be stretched out.
Howard had a 5.72 ERA this season in 11 games, seven of which were starts. He was troubled by his stamina as his fastball velocity dipped in each start, but there was still obvious promise in his right arm. In the first three innings, he has a 1.83 ERA this season, but his numbers cratered after that. The Phillies drafted him in 2017′s second round, and he was pegged in the minors as one of baseball’s best pitching prospects. Instead of fronting a Phillies rotation, he’ll move to Texas.
