The Phillies have claimed right-hander Phil Klein off waivers from the Rangers, according to Rangers executive vice president of communications John Blake (Twitter link). Klein will now head to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, per a Phillies announcement.
Klein amassed 12 strikeouts against just two walks in 8 2/3 innings with Texas this year, but he also yielded five earned runs. As a result of those issues with run prevention, the Rangers designated Klein for assignment June 9. The 27-year-old threw 45 frames for the Rangers from 2014 to this season and logged a 4.80 ERA, 9.4 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and 39.5 percent ground-ball rate. Klein has posted similar strikeout and walk ratios (10.5 and 4.5, respectively) across 277 minor league innings, but his 2.24 ERA rates as significantly better than the figure he recorded with Texas.
