Phillies Trade Austin Davis To Pirates

The Phillies have traded lefty Austin Davis to the Pirates in exchange for cash and a player to be named later, per a club announcement. He was designated for assignment last Friday after Philadelphia acquired righty David Hale from the Yankees.

The 27-year-old Davis has spent parts of the 2018-20 seasons in the big leagues with the Phillies but hasn’t found an extended run of success just yet. He’s been rocked for a 5.86 ERA in 58 1/3 Major League innings, including seven runs in three frames this season. With 27 walks and five hit batters in his young career, control has been an issue, but it’s encouraging that the former 12th-rounder (2014) has also whiffed 64 hitters in those 58 1/3 MLB frames.

Davis has also been solid in Triple-A, where he’s logged a combined 2.69 ERA with 11.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 through 82 2/3 innings of relief. He’s long posted strong strikeout numbers and impressive control in the minors, so there’s some hope he’ll improve in the bigs. Davis’ fastball averages 93.5 mph, and he has a pair of minor league options remaining (including this season), so he gives the Bucs some flexibility in that regard. It seems he’ll join Pittsburgh’s big league roster for the time being, however, as the Pirates’ announcement made no mention of optioning him to the alternate site.