Phillies 2016 Lefty Bullpen Options

Somewhat surprisingly, the Phillies have announced that starting rotation candidate Brett Oberholtzer is being moved to the bullpen, leaving the 5th starter battle as a head-to-head showdown between Adam Morgan and Vincent Velasquez.

Besides the obvious effect on that rotation battle, the move of Oberholtzer to the pen also muddles an already intense battle for relief pitcher spots. 

Other lefties who have been fighting for a role include incumbent Elvis Araujo and newcomers Bobby LaFromboise, Daniel Stumpf, and James Russell.

Oberholtzer would appear to be a lock to head north once the regular season opens. He has big league experience, is out of minor league options, and his experience as a starting pitcher would suggest that he could provide multiple innings in an emergency.

Assuming that Oberholtzer has a spot as a left-hander, the club would appear to have room for no more than one or two more southpaws. To this point, the three newbies have clearly out-performed the holdover Araujo.

Araujo has allowed five earned runs on four hits across 4.2 innings over five Grapefruit League appearances to this point. He has walked three and struck out three thus far.

The 24-year old made his big league debut with the Phillies last season and was mostly effective, allowing just 29 hits over 40 appearances in which he threw 34.2 innings with a 34/19 K:BB ratio.

Hard to See Why Phillies Traded for Taylor Featherston

The Philadelphia Phillies added more depth to their infield options in a minor trade with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Coming to the Phils is 26-year old infielder Taylor Featherston, who filled a utility infielder role with the Halos during his rookie season in Major League Baseball a year ago.

During that 2015 campaign, Featherston appeared in 39 games at 3rd base, 33 games at 2nd base, and another 22 games at shortstop. 

He hit for just a .162/.212/.247 slash line over 169 plate appearances in 101 total games while producing a pair of home runs. He drove in nine runs, scored 23 times, and stole four bases in six attempts.

The Phillies didn’t pay anything to acquire his services – yet. The deal calls for the Phils to send a player to be named later, or cash considerations, to the Angels at some point.

Jesse Biddle Dealt from Phillies to Pirates

The Philadelphia Phillies have traded a former first round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Homegrown lefty pitcher Jesse Biddle, recently removed from the 40-man rosterand recovering from Tommy John surgery that will keep him out for the entirety of the 2016 season, was dealt away according to a report by Philly.com’s Matt Gelb.

The Phillies had designated the 24-year old for assignment last Friday, and had 10 days in which to either trade or release him, or expose him to waivers. 

That move had been made after the club signed free agent lefty reliever Bobby LaFromboise.

There was much speculation at the time that the team would attempt to get him through waivers, and return him to their minor league system until his recovery from the surgery.

However, it apparently became obvious to the Phillies that Biddle was not going to make it through waivers. 

Simply releasing him would have meant that they would receive nothing for their 1st round choice at 27th overall in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft.

It has not been announced as yet what the Phils will receive in return from the Bucs, but that return is not expected to be substantial.