The Phillies announced today that they’ve acquired outfield prospect Joey Curletta from the Dodgers to complete last month’s Carlos Ruiz trade. The trade, then, will officially go in the books as Ruiz to the Dodgers in exchange for A.J. Ellis, Curletta and right-hander Tommy Bergjans.
Curletta, 22, was a sixth-round pick by the Dodgers out of Mountain Point High School in Phoenix, Ariz. back in 2012. He’s split the season between Class-A Advanced and Double-A for the second straight year, though his numbers in 2016 are superior to the ones he logged as a 21-year-old at those same levels in 2015. Curletta has batted .251/.323/.463 with 17 homers, 17 doubles and five triples in 409 plate appearances this season, though his 30 percent strikeout rate is indicative of the fact that there’s still plenty of room for growth in the right-handed hitter’s approach at the plate.
Curletta didn’t rank among the Dodgers’ top 30 prospects, though Baseball America has previously written that his two best tools are his raw power and his throwing arm. The 6’4″, 245-pounder has been described by BA as a “physical monster” in the past and has been limited to the corner outfield (primarily right field), where his strong arm profiles rather well.
J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group was the first to report that Curletta was headed to the Phils to complete the trade (Twitter link).
socalblake
So he has that going for him. Total consciousness.
Jbexton
Probably will replace Cozens in right field for Reading. Cozens goes to iron pigs.
cherryhilljp
Love they got this much back for an aging vet
BustyPoser 2
Right- handed power is usually fun to take a flyer on. It’s good to see Chooch get another shot at the playoffs and we get a coupla’ lottery tickets to boot. Good for all.
BlueSkyLA
Ruiz batting .154 for the Dodgers might make the deal good for him but not so much for all.
BustyPoser 2
Lol. The presumption is that Chooch will have some clutch hits down the stretch and pull a few good starts outta’ a good pitching staff. Certainly off to a quiet start, but I’m not sure he’s even had 20 at bats with LA yet.
Didn’t cost you much ( tho’ I’m not sure it’s much of an upgrade over Ellis considering the limited role ) and Chooch might have a few dramatic moments left in the tank.
pjm825
Bergians is the only one we will keep. Curletta has to be protected on the 40 man roster and that wont happen. So he will be exposed the rule 5 draft. I don’t think for one minute Ellis will resign here and be a backup on a bad team. So it was really Bergians for Ruiz. Not terrible but not like it actually seems