It was teased earlier in the night when he was scratched from his start and the news is true, Hellickson has been traded to the Baltimore Orioles. The team would go on to make a second trade later that night…so while you were sleeping, here’s everything that went down.
The Hellickson trade:
The Phillies in return got lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger and major league outfielder Hyun Soo Kim from the O’s. Cleavinger is ranked number 27 on MLB.com’s top 30 prospects. His fastball sits in the 89-92 mph range but can reach back to 96 mph. His best secondary offering is his curveball which scouts rank as average (or 50 on the 20-80 scale).
Since moving to AA Bowie, Cleavinger has struggled. His ERA is sitting at 6.28 and he is walking 5.4 per 9 innings. He’s also allowed about a hit per inning, allowing 38 in 38.2 IP. This together has added up to a 1.578 WHIP on the season.
Cleavinger has closer potential if his ability to control his pitches increases. Right now he looks to be more of a LOOGY.
Kim has slashed .232/.305/.288 in 125 at bats in 2017. In Korea, Kim had 1294 hits with 142 Homers. At 29-years-old, Kim doesn’t look to be a piece of the Phillies future, but he does have his own theme song so that’s something we all can enjoy.
The Phillies also received international signing pool money in the trade.
Before today’s game against the Braves, Hellickson was scratched due to wet weather and active trade talks according to Ken Rosenthal.
Hellickson has had a down season compared to his 2016 season. Last year he posted a 3.71 ERA in 189 IP. This year Hellickson has pitched to the tune of a 4.73 ERA in 112.1 IP. His strike out rate has also been the lowest in his career only striking out 5.2 batters per 9 innings. In April, Hellickson was sterling, going 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA and a .800 WHIP.
The trade opens up the rotation for Ben Lively who went 1-4 with a 3.80 ERA in 7 games pitched in his first go round in the majors. He pitched an average of 6 innings in his 7 starts.
The Kendrick trade:
Hours after Jeremy Hellickson was scatched from his start against the Braves and presumed to be traded, another trade occurred instead. 2B/OF Howie Kendrick has been traded to the Washington Nationals for lefty starting prospect McKenzie Mills.
Mills is the National’s 18th best prospect according to MLB.com. The 6’4″ 21-year-old has been stellar for single A Hagerstown. He has gone 12-2 with a 3.01 ERA. He has a lively fastball that sits in the low 90’s with an above average curveball.
He has shown strike out stuff posting 118 k’s over 104.2 innings pitched. He has career marks during the 2017 season. His strike outs per 9 innings is at 10.1, up from7.8 from a season ago. His hits per 9 innings is 6.6 which is down from 7.3 last season. And most promising of all, his walks per 9 innings has gone down from 4.7 to 1.9.
The Phillies also received international signing bonus pool money in the deal. Although he faced injury issues, Kendrick was solid for the Phillies in 2017 after being acquired for Darin Ruf and Darnell Sweeny. He had been hitting .340 over 141 ABs.
He joins a Nationals squad that tops the National League East with a 61-39 record. The Nationals are looking to get to their first ever World Series after having their season ended by the Dodgers in the NLDS.
A big night for the Phillies certainly sets them up well for the future…but does the front office have any more surprises lurking around the corner?
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
