Phillies trade for left-handed pitcher from White Sox to bolster bullpen

Fans were filtering into Citizens Bank Park when the trade deadline passed Tuesday evening. The grounds crew was prepping the field. Aaron Nola was walking across the outfield to the bullpen, where he’d begin his pregame warm-ups.

And, as it turned out, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was getting ready to announce a pair of buzzer beater moves. First he acquired lefthanded reliever Tanner Banks from the White Sox for minor league infielder William Bergolla.

Banks, 32, has a 4.13 earned run average in 41 games for Chicago this season.

And before anybody could even ask who he’d replace in the pen, the word came out that Gregory Soto had been traded to the Orioles for minor league starter Seth Johnson.

“We’ve liked Banks for a long time,” Dombrowski said in a hastily-called press conference. “Our people have pushed for him. He’s really been effective against lefthand hitters, one of the best in Major League Baseball in that regard. We just thought he was a better fit for our bullpen at this time than Soto.”

Banks has faced 83 lefthanded hitters this season, striking out 28 and holding them to a .184 batting average and a .492 OPS.

When the infield dust settled, Dombrowski had made four separate deals, two with the Orioles which sent Soto, reliever Seranthony Dominguez and outfielder Cristian Pache to Baltimore. Which makes for some potentially interesting match-ups if the Phillies end up playing the Birds in the World Series.

Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | Youtube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube