Phillies: Grading every move made at the MLB trade deadline

The Philadelphia Phillies were a trade deadline puzzle right down to the final hours of Friday afternoon. Would they buy? Would they sell? Could they pull off a coup? Would anyone want what they had to offer?

Ultimately, the Phillies both underwhelmed and over-performed at the deadline. How is that possible? Because they’re the Phillies. For the last decade, they’ve lived in the middle, that’s how they manage to be really good and perplexingly bad every year since their last division title in 2011.

To unpack and recap this trade deadline, we’re going to grade every move Dave Dombrowski made at the deadline. School may be out for the summer, but we’ve got the Phillies trade deadline report card.

Disclaimer: these are first impression grades. We’re not clairvoyant, so this is based on each players’ past and present, not their (hopefully bright) future.

Phillies acquire Braeden Ogle from the Pirates in exchange for Abrahan Gutierrez

The first move the Phillies made all week came on Friday morning in the form of a minor-league trade: they get pitching prospect Braeden Ogle, and the Pirates get catching prospect Abrahan Gutierrez.

In fairness, the Phillies were set to get starting pitcher Tyler Anderson from the Pirates on Tuesday, but when the Pirates weren’t happy with the medicals of one of the two prospects the Phillies were offering, the trade stalled. The Seattle Mariners seized the opportunity, and by late Tuesday night, Anderson was theirs.

This put a real wrench in the Phillies’ plans for the week, and MLB insiders reported how “Ticked off” the front office was by the way the Anderson trade fell apart, which made it all the more surprising when the Phillies and Pirates made a new deal on Friday.

We won’t know how well this will turn out for a while, though Braeden Ogle could make his debut as early as this season, while Gutierrez has been in Low A. He was originally part of the Anderson deal, so clearly Ben Cherington is high on him.

Ogle has spent all of this year in Triple-A, and his numbers are quite solid, a 3.13 ERA over 24 appearances, and has struck out 42 batters over 31 2/3 innings this season. Like most of the Phillies’ current bullpen, though, Ogle walks too many batters.

Still, overall, this is a low-risk move that adds another pitcher to the Phillies farm system. Now, as is the question with every Phillies arm, can they develop him?

First impression grade: B

Phillies acquire Kyle Gibson, Ian Kennedy, Hans Crouse from Rangers

I don’t think anyone saw this bundle coming.

On Friday afternoon, the news broke that the Phillies were getting Kyle Gibson, Ian Kennedy, and Hans Crouse from the Texas Rangers. Later, it was also reported that the Rangers were sending $4 million to the Phillies as well.

In exchange, the Phillies sent pitching prospects Spencer Howard, Kevin Gowdy, and Josh Gessner to Texas. Howard is the only one who has debuted, and his big-league appearances were fraught with low velocity and an inability to go deep in games.

Phillies fans have been complaining about this trade since it happened, but they wanted pitching, and they got pitching. These guys are not Kimbrel or Scherzer, but let’s be realistic about the Phillies’ current situation.

Gibson, who elevated the rotation immensely before even throwing a pitch, had a 2.87 ERA over 19 starts this season at the time of the trade. For what it’s worth, Scherzer’s ERA is only slightly better, 2.76 over 19 starts. They’d each pitched 110+ innings by the deadline, though Scherzer has him beat big-time on strikeouts. But anyone who says Gibson isn’t an upgrade for this team hasn’t been paying attention to his All-Star season or the rotation he’s now a part of.

There’s also the very attractive quality of Gibson being healthy enough to make 25+ starts in six of his nine seasons; he has not reached that yet this season, and last season was short, meaning that he’s basically been healthy enough to pitch all season every season for his entire career after his rookie season (he made his debut on June 29). The Phillies have a lot of injured pitchers and a lot of pitchers who are just plain bad. Gibson is neither of these things.

In his first start for the Phillies on Sunday, he went 6⅔ innings, struck out five, and allowed two runs. He also threw a season-high 113 pitches. He has already impressed his new catcher, J.T. Realmuto, too:

“The pitchability is pretty solid with that guy. He can do anything he wants at anytime. He moves the ball around really well. He attacks the strike zone. I think he’s a guy who is going to throw deep into games for us quite often, which is nice.”

Kennedy is having a nice bounce-back season, with a 2.51 ERA over 32 appearances, closing 25 games and locking down 16 saves. He’s struck out 35 batters over 32 1/3 innings and has only walked seven men, which means Kennedy is sporting a career-best 1.9 BB/9 rate. Those numbers should appeal to the Phillies and their fans, seeing as almost every other pitcher in the bullpen issues far too many walks.

Crouse has been described as “entertaining,” “one-of-a-kind,” and “a wild one.” And that’s all in the first three sentences of this NBC Sports piece! Yahoo Sports called him “quirky.” The 22-year-old former second-round pick reportedly wiggles as part of his pitching delivery. He’ll be interesting for Phillies fans.

In four seasons at various levels of the Rangers minor leagues – never higher than double-A – Crouse has a 3.29 ERA over 213 1/3 innings. He’s primarily a starter (51 of 55 Milb games) who puts up good strikeout numbers each year. Like far too many Phillies pitchers, he needs to minimize walks; he’s walked 19 batters in 51 innings at double-A Frisco this season. But he seems like a fun character and a solid pitcher to add to the farm.

If the Rangers can unlock Howard’s potential, we’ll be having a different conversation. But at the same time, the Phillies have had him for years and only have themselves to blame for their eternal inability to develop pitchers. Hopefully, they’ll have better luck with their return.

First impression grade: B