9 Philadelphia Phillies players acquired pre-lockout you probably already forgot about
By Matt Rappa
4. Scott Moss, left-handed pitcher
An early offseason trend by President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski was claiming three left-handed pitchers off of waivers — all from American League teams. The last of the such moves — before the roster freeze — was southpaw arm Scott Moss from the Cleveland Guardians.
A fourth-round 2016 draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds out of the University of Florida, the 27-year-old has yet to appear in the majors. Moss went 1-5 with a 7.08 ERA and 1.721 WHIP across nine games and 20 1/3 innings last season for the Guardians’ Triple-A Columbus affiliate.
The Phillies hope, however, that they can unlock Moss’ success in the minors from two years prior. In 130 2/3 combined innings across the Double-A and Triple-A levels, Moss went 10-6 with a 2.96 ERA and 1.293 WHIP — all the while striking out an impressive 159 batters.
Scott Moss finishes out his first start of the season strong with three straight strike outs.
— Columbus Clippers (@CLBClippers) May 8, 2021
Line: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K on 51 pitches#ThisShipRocks⚓ | 🔊: https://t.co/q0tux5Y1Z0 pic.twitter.com/Cmdj5pLi1Q
5. Nick Nelson, right-handed pitcher
In mid-November, the Phillies made a rare trade with the New York Yankees that involved four players total. One of the two Phillies acquisitions from the deal was right-handed reliever Nick Nelson.
A former fourth-round draft pick, the 26-year-old posted a combined 1-2 record, 6.43 ERA, 1.771 WHIP ratio and 40-27 strikeouts-to-walks ratio between the 2020 and 2021 seasons as a Yankees big-leaguer.
Last year at Triple-A, Nelson struck out 62 batters in 52 innings — all in the starter role. While the Phillies rotation is currently slated to be Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin, Kyle Gibson and Ranger Suarez, Nelson just might get a look at some point this coming season.