Phillies Designate Austin Davis For Assignment
The Phillies announced that they’ve designated left-hander Austin Davis for assignment. The move opens a spot on the 40-man roster for righty David Hale, whom the Phillies acquired in exchange for pitching prospect Addison Russ (as reported earlier today).
Davis, 27, has spent parts of the past three seasons in the Majors with the Phillies but has yet to establish himself as a consistent option. He’s allowed seven runs in three innings this season and pitched to an overall 5.86 ERA in 58 1/3 MLB frames. Davis has punched out 64 hitters in that time, but control has also been an issue, as evidenced by the 27 walks he’s allowed and the five batters he’s hit.
A 12th-round pick back in 2014, Davis has a sharp Triple-A track record, having compiled a 2.69 ERA with 11.2 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 in 83 2/3 innings of relief at that level. Throughout the upper minors, he’s generally posted above-average strikeout numbers with solid control. He’s also averaged 93.5 mph on his heater in the Majors and has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season, so it’s possible another club will have interest in hopes that a change of scenery can help get him on track.
Yankees, Phillies Swap David Hale For Addison Russ
2:03pm: The Phillies have formally announced the trade.
12:30pm: The Yankees are sending right-hander David Hale to the Phillies, per Ken Rosenthal and Matt Gelb of The Athletic (Twitter link). Hale was designated for assignment earlier this week but has consistently posted solid numbers in the bullpen for the Yanks.
In 54 1/3 frames wearing Yankee pinstripes, Hale owns a 2.98 ERA and 3.54 FIP with averages of 6.0 strikeouts, 1.8 walks and 0.7 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. The righty generates grounders at an above-average rate and has proven plenty capable of pitching multi-inning stints, so he should provide a boost to a Phillies bullpen that has far and away been the worst in baseball this season.
12:26pm: The Phillies have traded minor league right-hander Addison Russ to the Yankees, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter). The 25-year-old will head to the Yankees’ alternate training site for now. The Phillies’ return isn’t yet clear.
A 19th-round pick of the Phillies back in 2017, Russ spent the 2019 season in Double-A, where he pitched to a 2.54 ERA with 12.9 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 0.79 HR/9 and a 44.9 percent ground-ball rate in 56 2/3 innings of work. He wasn’t considered to be among the Phillies’ top tier of prospects despite those solid numbers, however. Baseball America ranked him 24th in the system, while MLB.com omitted him from its top 30 and FanGraphs had him outside the top 40.
Russ was in the Phillies’ 60-man player pool, so the trade to New York opens a spot for them, unless of course they receive a 60-man player in return. For the Yankees, they’ll add a bullpen prospect with decent minor league success, providing a bit of depth in the wake of injuries to Tommy Kahnle and, more recently Zack Britton.