Why the Phillies should trade for Blue Jays pitcher TJ Zeuch

The Phillies might be a great landing spot for pitcher T.J. Zeuch, who was DFA-ed by the Blue Jays this week.

The Philadelphia Phillies need pitching, but so do pretty much everyone else.

On Tuesday, the Toronto Blue Jays reinstated catcher Alejandro Kirk from the 60-day IL. The corresponding move was to designate T.J. Zeuch for assignment.

Zeuch is a former first-round pick (2016) who has appeared in parts of the last three seasons for the Jays but has not developed into a workable permanent member of the big-league club.

A change of scenery could be just what the doctor ordered.

Now that Zeuch has been DFA-ed, the Jays have a week to trade him, or he’ll be placed on waivers. With the deadline looming and a lot of hungry teams, a trade seems more likely.

Zeuch’s first big-league game of the season was strong: on April 4, he started against the Yankees and pitched four scoreless innings of three-hit ball, striking out one and walking one. His most recent of five major-league appearances this year came on June 17 against the Yankees, when he pitched the first three innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits, and striking out two. He has a 4.03 ERA across 58 innings in Triple-A this season and a 4.59 ERA over 49 career big-league innings.

But as always, the stats don’t tell the full story.

In 2020, Zeuch was excellent for the Jays, though admittedly, it’s a small sample size. Across three games (one start), he posted a 1.59 ERA over 11 1/3 total innings, surrendering just two earned runs to the 47 batters he faced. In August 2019, he pitched a minor-league no-hitter!

This season, Zeuch has been one of the best pitchers in the minor leagues’ Triple-A East. According to Milb.com on July 9, his then-3.81 ERA was the fifth-best in Triple-A East, second-best in Triple-A Northeast division.

The 25-year-old righty has been praised by his Triple-A Buffalo Bisons’ manager Casey Candaele throughout the season. He’s been called “a tough competitor,” and has impressed by rebounding from rough beginnings to his appearances. Candaele also noted in early July that Zeuch has been working on a new slider, and says “it’s paying off. It’s a good pitch… It’s got a lot more break and a little downward movement and it’s going to be a good weapon for him.”

The Phillies don’t have the greatest record of developing pitchers, but they have to keep trying, and Zeuch feels like a good player to take a flier on. Zeuch’s value won’t be too high, which means the Phillies likely wouldn’t have to give up too much to get him. In doing so, they’d be acquiring a pitcher who has an additional option year in 2022, giving them the club control teams so desperately want nowadays.

This wouldn’t be the first time the Phillies and Blue Jays have made a trade. In 2018, the Jays traded lefty Aaron Loup to the Phils, and of course, during the 2009 offseason, they made the trade that brought the late, great Roy Halladay to Philadelphia in exchange for Travis d’Arnaud, Michael Taylor, and Kyle Drabek.

Earlier this year, there were rumors that the Blue Jays were one of the teams interested in acquiring Jean Segura, which obviously did not pan out. They were also reportedly interested in Vince Velasquez, but clearly made the right call on that, considering how his season has panned out.