Just hours after the Philadelphia Phillies scratched scheduled starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson to protect him from injury, they've now dealt him to the Baltimore Orioles. FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal first reported the agreement between Philadelphia and Baltimore to make Hellickson the newest member of the Orioles' rotation.
Hellickson, an impending free agent, is finally on the move after a year spent wondering when the day would finally come that the rebuilding Phillies would find him a new home. Now the 30-year-old lands with an Orioles team that is in the midst of a lost year and continues to contemplate a full tear down before the frame of a former playoff-caliber team erases itself.
After a strong 2016 season last season for the Phillies, Hellickson's numbers have fallen off this season. Across 112 1/3 innings pitched, his K/9 is at a career-low (5.21), all while he posted career-worst marks in HR/9 (1.76), FIP (5.50) and FIP- (124). Everything that could go wrong in the season before he hit free agency for a potentially sizable contract, has gone wrong thus far.
The move to the A.L. East and Camden Yards might not do Hellickson any favors either. He owns a 42.6 percent fly-ball percentage this season and his HR/FB rate of 14.4 percent is at a reasonable rate to where it could maintain itself without much regression across the remainder of the season.
While Baltimore needed significant help in its rotation, this acquisition is tough to understand. The team is already out of the playoff picture and with Hellickson due to hit free agency, this feels like the crew of the Titanic replacing an empty ice chest as the boat sinks into the darkness below.
The Orioles are still exploring trading their top relievers Zach Britton and Brad Brach, but suddenly they've added a pitcher for half the season and given away money they could've spent internationally to help a thin farm system.
For Philadelphia, the chance to move on from Hellickson and pick up some form of a return is more than worth it. While Hyun Soo Kim and Garrett Cleavinger likely won't help the Phillies much in the long term, the added international money can.
Kim, 29, is an impending free agent and likely will see limited playing time with the Phillies. Across 142 plate appearances this season in Baltimore, Kim posted a .232/.305/.288 slash line, .267 wOBA and 60 wRC+. A former baseball star in South Korea, Kim's time against major-league pitching might push him to return home for a bigger role and more money in 2018.
Cleavinger, who FanGraphs rated before this season as Baltimore's 18th-best prospect, is already locked in as a left-handed reliever going forward. He offers an average fastball and a curveball with lots of movement that gave scouts hopes for a future as a top LOOGY, but further issues with command and the loud contact allowed at the Double-A level further cloud if he'll ever reach the majors and remain there.
More importantly though, Hellickson's departure opens the door for 23-year-old Jake Thompson. The right-handed pitcher took Hellickson's start tonight, to step in and show what he can do over the remainder of the season.
Thompson picked up the win tonight after he surrendered just five hits and struck out five batters across five innings against the Atlanta Braves. It's a solid start for a youngster who wants to prove himself after a disastrous rookie season last year when he posted a 5.70 ERA and 32/28 K/BB ratio across 53 2/3 innings pitched.
Now he'll get that chance, while the Phillies add to their farm system and get more opportunities to examine what they have to work with beyond 2017.