Phillies add bullpen depth with acquisition of Casey Fien from Mariners
By John Town
The Phillies acquired Casey Fien from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for cash considerations and will send him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
With the Mariners coming to Philadelphia Tuesday for a quick two-game set, the Phillies made a deal with Seattle to acquire some bullpen depth. The Phils announced that they acquired relief pitcher Casey Fien from Seattle in exchange for cash considerations. Fien will head to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
The 33-year old Fien has struggled this season in the major leagues with Seattle. In six appearances, Fien has allowed ten earned runs while giving up nine hits and three home runs. He was outrighted off their 40-man roster last week, leading to Tuesday’s trade.
In five Triple-A outings this year, the righty a 3.38 ERA with three strikeouts and no walks.
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Fien was drafted by the Tigers in the 20th round of the 2006 draft and debuted in 2009. He never found his place there with an 8.36 ERA in 11 major-league games in Detroit. Fien spent the 2011 season in the Astros’ minor-league system with a 4.81 ERA in 21 games with their Triple-A affiliate.
Fien spent five years with the Twins between 2012 and 2016 and posted a 3.79 ERA in 257 games.
In 2012, Fien had a 2.06 ERA in 35 games as he was worth 1.1 WAR that season. He appeared in 73 games in 2013 and 2014, collecting a 3.92 and 3.98 ERA, respectively, in those seasons.
The acquisition of Fien comes at a time when the Phils bullpen is severely struggling. Collectively, Philadelphia’s bullpen has a 4.07 ERA, 2.11 strikeout-to-walk ratio, 1.34 WHIP and -0.8 fWAR. Their seven blown saves so far this year is tied for fifth in the league.
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The struggles of the bullpen have forced the team to call up minor-league starters Mark Leiter, Jr. and Jake Thompson to the majors to fill in. This forces the club to take a player off the bench as well as shift the roles of Leiter and Thompson. The hope is that with this trade the team will have an extra arm to call up if and when they need it.