Phillies trade for Pirates' reliever who flashed upside in Red Sox pitching factory

The Philadelphia Phillies offseason currently revolves around the sudden chase for Bo Bichette, and rightly so. That doesn't mean that the front office has dropped everything else to fixate on the star free agent. On Tuesday, while fans were waiting for any shred of news about the Bichette pursuit, the Phillies announced another roster move, trading for right-hander Chase Shugart.

Shugart, a 29-year-old reliever, was recently designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In return, the Phillies sent back minor league infielder Francisco Loreto to the Bucs. The trade gives the Phillies another reliever with roster flexibility, as Shugart has one minor league option remaining.

Loreto, a 2024 international signing, just played his first season stateside. In 47 Complex League games, the 18-year-old slashed .237/.332/.396 with five home runs and a pair of steals.

Phillies acquire reliever Chase Shugart from Pirates to add to 2026 bullpen battle

The Phillies will add Shugart to the list of relievers who will battle in spring training for one of the final bullpen spots. The top five bullpen jobs are spoken for, but there's a lot of room for movement at the end of the bench.

Shugart will be up against right-handers Seth Johnson and Max Lazar, as well as Rule 5 pick Zach McCambley, recent signing Zach Pop, and other trade acquisitions Kyle Backhus and Jonathan Bowlan, the latter of whom came over in the Matt Strahm deal.

Shugart features a mid-90s four-seamer and sinker, with a low-80s sweeper and high-80s cutter and changeup. He was originally the Boston Red Sox's 12th-round draft pick in 2018 and made his debut there late in the 2024 season. It was a short-lived but tantalizing experience for Shugart, even if the results weren't exactly eye-popping.

After recording 80 strikeouts in 70 2/3 Triple-A innings in 2024, Shugart appeared in six games for the Red Sox. He threw 8 2/3 innings, with a 4.15 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP, eight strikeouts, and three walks.

If you peer past those pedestrian numbers and look at his underlying stats, there's something there that Shugart developed while in the Red Sox's well-established pitching factory.

In that small sample, he utilized all five of his pitches and generated an elite chase rate (43.6 percent), barrel rate (4.0 percent), and hard-hit rate (32 percent). Shugart also induced an elite 86.3 mph average exit velocity. His sweeper was his most used offering and his best pitch at creating swing-and-miss with a 31.3 percent whiff rate.

Unfortunately for Shugart, he found himself with the Pirates in 2025 after being designated for assignment and traded by Boston. The surface-level numbers he posted in Pittsburgh were actually better than his short stint in Boston, even though the underlying metrics took a step back.

In multiple MLB stints in the Pirates bullpen in 2025, Shugart threw 45 innings, posting a 3.40 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. His strikeouts plummeted, however, as he recorded just 31 (17.1 percent strikeout rate) while walking 17 (9.4 percent walk rate).

We'll have to wait and see what Shugart looks like in spring training and if the Phillies' coaching staff can help him find his form. Even if he begins the year in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, there's a good chance he'll find himself with another shot in the big leagues at some point in 2026.