Phillies swing trade for infielder with neat family ties to the team

With almost everything seemingly going the Philadelphia Phillies' way so far in 2024, with both the hitting and pitching seemingly unstoppable, there really isn’t much that the team needs to do differently to keep on winning.

Nevertheless, there’s no harm in having too much of a good thing. On Friday, the Phillies swung a deal with the Detroit Tigers to add to their infield depth in the organization.

Phillies swing trade for infielder with neat family ties to the team

In the trade, the Phillies acquired infielder Buddy Kennedy from the Tigers for cash considerations. Kennedy had spent the majority of his time this season with Detroit’s Triple-A affiliate Toledo Mud Hens. He batted .234 with a .714 OPS, 25 runs scored, 12 doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI in 39 games for the Mud Hens.

The 25-year-old appeared briefly at the big league level for the Tigers in six games in April, compiling a .200 batting average and an .808 OPS, with two runs scored, one home run and four RBI.

An interesting tidbit about Kennedy is that he already has ties to the Phillies organization. Aside from playing baseball at Millville High School in New Jersey (yes, the same as Mike Trout), according to Mast Graves of Last Word on Sports, Kennedy's grandfather, Don Money, played for the Phillies between 1968 and 1972.

Kennedy was a former fifth-round selection of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2017 MLB Draft. Despite having great success during his development in the Diamondbacks minor league system, including a huge 22-homer, 60-RBI output year in 2021, he has yet to be able to translate that same success to the major league level.

For his career, he has put up just a .205 average and .610 OPS, scoring 13 runs and registering two home runs and 17 RBI in 46 games split between the Diamondbacks and the Tigers.

Now as part of the Phillies organization, Kennedy was added to their 40-man roster and reassigned to their Triple-A affiliate Lehigh Valley IronPigs. If he can somehow rediscover some of his power and offensive potential from his breakout 2021 season, the Phillies could have a hidden gem in the making going forward.