The Phillies have acquired David Hale from the Yankees for Addison Russ
The Philadelphia Phillies have made their second trade this month ahead of the August 31 trade deadline — just days after dealing right-handed reliever Edgar Garcia to the Tampa Bay Rays.
According to The Athletic’s Matt Gelb, the Phillies have acquired veteran right-handed pitcher David Hale from the New York Yankees in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Addison Russ.
The Yankees previously designated the 32-year-old Hale for assignment to clear a roster spot for closer Aroldis Chapman, who was activated from the COVID-19 Injured List.
To make room for Hale on their 40-man roster, the Phillies announced that they have designated LHP Austin Davis for assignment.
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Across parts of three seasons with the Yankees since 2018, Hale combined to post a 2.98 ERA spanning 28 appearances and 12 games finished while striking out 36 batters in 54 1/3 innings. Hale began his career with the Atlanta Braves in 2013-14, posting a 3.02 ERA across 47 appearances.
In between his Braves and Yankees stints, the Atlanta, Georgia, native also played for the Colorado Rockies (2015-16) and Minnesota Twins (2018).
David Hale is a fine addition to the Phillies' bullpen, but my takeaway is that he provides not much more than depth.
— Devan Fink (@DevanFink) August 21, 2020
He has historically been a low K guy, with a career 15% K rate. He does generate an above-average amount of groundballs. Career 100 ERA-, 107 FIP-, 109 xFIP-.
Russ, 25, was the first named player to the Phillies summer camp player pool, however he did not make the 30-man Opening Day roster.
The Phillies drafted Russ in the 19th round of the 2017 amateur draft out of Houston Baptist University. The Amarillo, Texas, native pitched in 55 games and finished 50 last season at Double-A Reading, posting a 2.54 ERA, 1.182 WHIP, and 81-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio spanning 56 2/3 innings.
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Russ’ eye-catching numbers with the Fightin’ Phils carried over into spring training in February and March as a non-roster invitee; across six appearances and 5 2/3 innings, he yielded just one run — a solo home run — five hits and three walks, while striking out five of his 24 batters faced en route to a 1.59 ERA.
Russ was not among the Phillies’ top 30-ranked prospects by MLB.com. He will now report to the Yankees’ alternate training site.