It wasn't Zack Greinke, it wasn't Marcus Stroman, it wasn't even quite the level of Jason Vargas, but the Phillies did add a starting pitching depth piece Wednesday before the trade deadline: 30-year-old right-hander Dan Straily.
Straily will report to Triple A Lehigh Valley.
Straily is an eight-year veteran who struggled badly this season with the Orioles, pitching to a 9.82 ERA in 47⅔ innings.
He has, however, had productive stints as a back-end starting pitcher throughout his career. In 2016, he went 14-8 with a 3.76 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with the Reds. In 2017, he went 10-9 with a 4.26 ERA with the Marlins. Sadly, the Phillies would have jumped for joy to get season-long production like that from one of their young starting pitchers.
Since the beginning of June, the Phillies acquired outfielders Corey Dickerson and Jay Bruce, utilityman Brad Miller, relievers Mike Morin and Blake Parker and starting pitchers Drew Smyly, Vargas and Straily, all for practically nothing.
Phillies GM Matt Klentak did a lot of clearance shopping ahead of the trade deadline. Had the Phillies been in more of a position to do damage in the NL East or in the overall NL playoff landscape, he would have likely acted differently.
MLB
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