The Cleveland Guardians and Philadelphia Phillies made a trade centered around a Minor League pitcher.
At this point in the summer, most MLB front offices are laser-focused on the upcoming amateur draft, which takes place during All-Star Weekend.
However, the Cleveland Guardians and Philadelphia Phillies still had time to make a trade on Saturday morning centered around a pitching prospect.
The Guardians announced that they had acquired RHP Ryan Degges from the Phillies in exchange for $250,000 of international pool money. It just so happens that Cleveland also acquired that money from the Nolan Jones trade with the White Sox earlier in the season.
This move isn’t a trade that will make the Guardians the clear-cut favorites to win the American League Central or get them closer to another playoff appearance. This is strictly a move to bolster Cleveland’s pitching depth throughout the organization.
Degges, 23, was a 17th-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and was at Philadelphia’s High-A affiliate when the trade went down. The right-hander has pitched in 31 games (25 starts) throughout his Minor League career and owns a 4.26 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP in those outings.
Looking at Degges’ stats, he does have the potential to be a quality punchout pitcher. He has a strikeout rate of 27.6 percent and a whiff rate of 32.2 percent so far this season.
However, Degges does have some command problems at times, coming with a walk rate of 13.3 percent.
Degges does have a pretty large pitch arsenal, featuring a four-seam, cutter, slider, sinker, and changeup. His fastball velocity is strong, sitting at 94.6 mph.
With the Guardians facing injuries to some of their pitchers across the farm system, such as Khal Stephen and Franklin Gomez, this trade appears to be a move to help Cleveland add another healthy arm to the organization.
But who knows? There are some encouraging metrics with Degges’ game, and Cleveland has a long history of a phenomenal pitcher development system.
Maybe the Guardians and their pitching staff will find something to help Degges become a potential big-league option at some point in his career.
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