2) Phillies trade target on the Nationals: Hunter Harvey
If the Phillies aren’t making a big splash in the bullpen, a pitcher like Hunter Harvey seems to fit in nicely with what they could accomplish. He’s in his second season with the Nationals and putting up similar totals compared to last season through the same 39.1 innings of work.
This season has seen Harvey go 3-4 with a 3.20 ERA with 10.1 strikeouts per nine. Overall, in two years with the Nationals, Harvey is 5-5 with a 2.86 ERA. A former first-round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles, he never panned out there and went from the San Francisco Giants to the Nationals in the 2021-2022 offseason via waivers.
Harvey is still relatively young at 28 and a controllable piece for the Phillies to add into their bullpen. He’d be an upgrade over Yunior Marte or Andrew Bellatti. Based on his 2023 numbers, he’d be better than a couple of the other guys currently in the bullpen.
Harvey does have minor league options left which is an added bonus. If things got tight or the Phillies were unimpressed, they could send him to Triple-A and not risk losing him completely through waivers.
Hardly the biggest kind of splash the Phillies should think about making in the next few weeks, Harvey is a necessary piece the Phillies might have more competition to acquire than we realize.