The Philadelphia Phillies added one more arm to their bullpen prior to Monday's trade deadline. The Phillies have acquired righty David Phelps from the Milwaukee Brewers, the team confirmed. The Brewers will receive three players to be named later in return. Neither team has announced the trade.
Phelps, 33, started his career with the Yankees and played for Phillies manager Joe Girardi from 2012-14, so there is already some familiarity there. Phelps returned from Tommy John surgery last season and has been marvelous this year, allowing only four earned runs in 13 innings. He's struck out 20 and walked two.
Philadelphia's bullpen comes into Monday with a 7.01 ERA, the worst in baseball by a good margin. They acquired Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree from the Red Sox last week, and while those two have helped, there was still plenty of room for improvement. Phelps is a versatile veteran who has experience in many different roles.
The Brewers are built around their bullpen -- their "out-getters," as manager Craig Counsell calls them -- and Phelps was a key piece of the bridge to closer Josh Hader. That said, GM David Stearns has always kept his eye on the big picture, and turning Phelps into three young players was too much to pass up.
Adding intrigue to this trade is the standings. The Phillies sit in the No. 8 spot in the expanded postseason field and the Brewers are just one game behind them. It's not often you see two teams competing for the same postseason spot make a trade.
Milwaukee is one game behind the Cardinals for second place in the NL Central. Passing St. Louis would secure a postseason berth for the Brewers no matter where the Phillies finish.
