Phillies Trade Deadline: Boston Red Sox Scouting Jeremy Hellickson
Since the Phillies acquired Jeremy Hellickson from the Arizona Diamondbacks for a 19-year-old pitcher, you knew his days in Philadelphia were already numbered.
With only a year left on his contract, Jeremy Hellickson was the perfect trade-bait for a rebuilding franchise looking to swap a quality starter for a promising mid-level prospect.
Despite some consistency struggles, Jeremy Hellickson is a name teams across Major League Baseball are keeping a close eye on. He’s 6-6 this season with a 3.92 ERA in 18 starts, which leads all of baseball.
One team that has reportedly scouted Hellickson is the Boston Red Sox, who are struggling to find starting pitching depth.
#RedSox have scouted Jeremy Hellickson recently; he is one of many rotation options they are considering, sources say. @MLBNetwork #Phillies
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 7, 2016
Boston is currently tampering with a four man rotation since Clay Bucholtz was demoted to the bullpen. The staff is headlined by David Price, Rich Porcello, Steven Wright, and former Phillie Sean O’Sullivan. Porcello, 27, is the youngest of the four starters.
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Red Sox starting pitching has the 23rd ranked ERA in all of baseball at 4.82. They’ve also allowed 73 home runs this season, placing them within the top five in the league. The staff has also walked 173 batters, top five among American League teams.
Jeremy Hellickson has a history of pitching in the American League East, as he won the 2011 Rookie of the Year with the Tampa Bay Rays.
After a turbulent 2014 season riddled with injuries, Hellickson was traded from Tampa Bay to Arizona for two minor league prospects. He went 9-12 with the Diamondbacks, but was traded one year to the day over to Philadelphia.
Hellickson’s numbers in AL East ballparks however aren’t particularly strong, as he averages a 4.22 ERA in Baltimore, Boston, New York, Tampa Bay, and Toronto.
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At Fenway, Hellickson is 3-1 with a 5.09 ERA in eight games. He has given up seven home runs and 23 earned runs in 40.2 innings while pitching in Boston. Cities such as Seattle and Detroit, both places the Red Sox will play after the deadline, Hellickson’s ERA is dramatically lower.
Hellickson does have some connections in Boston from his prior teams. Catcher Ryan Hannigan has caught him three times, but had limited success with him during their one season together in Tampa Bay.
Hellickson is being scouted by Boston. Ryan Hannigan caught Hellickson in Tampa Bay in 2014 pic.twitter.com/HH8djImWCr
— PHILLIES TBOH (@FS_TBOH) July 8, 2016
Former Rays ace David Price is also in Boston, so a Hellickson trade would be a nice reunion within the pitching staff as well.
Should the Phillies pull a trade with Boston for Hellickson, it would most likely be for a mid-range prospect in Double-A with some potential upside. The Red Sox have a lot of pitching in the middle of their top 30 ranking, as well as some infielders focused on the right side. All of those things could help Philadelphia pull off a trade.