PHILADELPHIA — Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said a few days ago he was mostly done with his roster construction this offseason. That appears to not be the case. On Saturday, the Phillies agreed to a trade with the Detroit Tigers, sending infielder Nick Maton, outfielder Matt Vierling, and catcher Donny Sands to Detroit for left-handed pitcher Gregory Soto and utility infielder Kody Clemens.
The trade was first reported by Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia and Jon Morosi of MLB Network.
On a Zoom call with reporters on Saturday, Dombrowski said conversations with the Tigers about Soto began during the winter meetings in December, but no deal came to fruition. On Thursday, Dombrowski got a call from Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris, and over the last couple of days the two teams came to a deal.
“We liked the players we gave up,” Dombrowski said. “Not easy for us. They all contributed last year, particularly Vierling and also Maton, but we just felt with the opportunity to add another back-end arm that we really, really like, that we also have control over for at least three years, that it was a deal that would make us better going into the season.”
Soto, a 27-year-old reliever, is coming off back-to-back All-Star seasons with the Tigers, posting a 3.28 ERA in 2022 through 60 1/3 innings. He has a similar profile to José Alvarado: a hard-throwing lefty who can be used in late inning spots. Like Alvarado in the first half of the 2022 season, Soto has struggled with command, posting a 14.5% walk rate in 2021, and a 12.9% walk rate in 2022. And also like Alvarado, Soto has great stuff. His fastball velocity registers in the 98th percentile in 2022, according to Baseball Savant.
After a brief stint in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Alvarado became a new pitcher in the second half of the 2022 season. He trimmed his walk rate from 14.9% in the first half to 6.5% in the second half while increasing his strikeout rate from 33.9% in the first half to 43% in the second half. This was the result of a number of factors; Alvarado himself credits his work with a mental skills coach, but his improved command and usage of his cutter also came into play. The Phillies are hopeful that with some guidance, Soto will make a similar transition into a hard-throwing lefty who knows where the ball is going.
“As I said, Soto had been a good pitcher himself already; he’s made the All-Star game the last couple of years,” Dombrowski said. “A little bit of control problems, a really good arm. But even when we had the conversations during the winter meetings, we looped Caleb Cotham and Brian Kaplan in to take a look and get their thought processes on it. And we really have a great deal of confidence in our pitching personnel to help guys however we possibly can. It’s not only that, it’s also some of the conditioning, some of the motor movements that we coordinate through the different departments.
“So yes, we do think there’s even more to be had. But we really like his stuff, we like his abilities, and know he’s the type of guy who can comfortably pitch in the back of the game with a one-run lead.”
If the Phillies do figure out how to rein in Soto’s command, he will only bolster their bullpen. Soto has closing experience — he recorded 30 saves in 2022 — and has excelled against left-handed batters in his career, allowing a slugging percentage of just .277 over 213 at-bats. Manager Rob Thomson now has three left-handed arms at his disposal, in Soto, Alvarado, and Matt Strahm. Those three will complement Andrew Bellatti, Connor Brogdon, Seranthony Domínguez, and recent free-agent signing Craig Kimbrel.
The Phillies’ newfound bullpen depth should not only give Thomson the ability to rest some of his hard-throwing arms, but also give the Phillies some flexibility to not rush their younger pitching prospects coming up through the minor leagues.
“We also like some of the youngsters coming up,” Dombrowski said. “I think it gives us a lot of depth right now in the organization, from a pitching perspective, so we can take our time developing, for example, a McKinley Moore, let’s just use his name. We’re not looking to rush him. We think somebody like him might be available to pitch some time this year. Having pitching depth, you never have enough of it.”
Clemens, son of Roger Clemens, is coming off of his rookie season in 2022, in which he slashed .145/.197/.308 in 57 games. He hit .274/.327/.535 in 60 games at Triple-A last season. Clemens’ versatility is an asset; while he spent most of his time at second base in the Tigers’ minor league system, he played third base, first base, and the corner outfield spots in the Tigers’ system. His bat, though, has come into question. He has a 24.7% strikeout rate for his career — including a 26% strikeout rate in those 57 big league games — and a career on-base percentage of .279 (.197 in the big leagues).
“He’s a good player. He’s a gamer; he’s versatile,” Dombrowski said of Clemens. “He did not do well at the big league level last year in a very limited number of appearances, but he’s got some pop. He’s a winning-type player. He’s a gamer. We’ve got some inside information on him, too, as well as some on Soto from [special assignment scout] David Chadd, who joined our organization and could give us a good pulse on the players’ make-ups in both cases. So, we really like him a lot. We think has a chance to be a very helpful player.”
The Phillies sacrificed depth in giving up Maton, a backup infielder, and Vierling, a fourth outfielder. Sands had a short stint with the big league club in September but was behind catcher Rafael Marchan in the organization’s depth chart. Dombrowski believes that Clemens can fill one of the bench spots vacated by Vierling and Maton. The other spot could be filled internally, but the Phillies also are open to making a small acquisition.
The departure of Vierling should open up some everyday playing time for center fielder Brandon Marsh, who was acquired at the trade deadline last August. Marsh struggled against left-handed pitchers last season, but Dombrowksi said the organization does not view him as a platoon player and believes he will improve his left-handed splits.
