Phillies Linked to All-Star Trade With NL East Rival

The Philadelphia Phillies absolutely need to patch up some holes between now and the MLB trade deadline, and one of their biggest holes is at the back end of their starting rotation.

Yes, the Phillies' top three of Cristopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler and Jesus Luzardo is great, but once you get past those three, Philadelphia runs into some trouble.

The Phillies will almost surely be looking for another starter before Aug. 3, and while they probably won't be bagging Tarik Skubal, there should be some other decent options available for them.

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller has identified one intriguing possibility for Philadelphia, tabbing the Phillies as a potential destination for Washington Nationals left-hander Foster Griffin.

Griffin has certainly had an interesting rise in 2026.

The former first-round pick made his big-league debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2020 and pitched a grand total of eight major-league innings before 2026, allowing seven runs — six earned — on seven hits.

Griffin ultimately took his talents to Japan in 2023 and spent three seasons overseas before returning to the States this year, signing with the Nationals.

The results have been spectacular.

Griffin has logged a 2.77 ERA and 1.015 WHIP across 19 starts, allowing 86 hits while registering 109 strikeouts over 110.1 innings of work. He earned an All-Star selection for his efforts.

It should be noted that some of Griffin's underlying metrics are a bit concerning. He owns a 4.03 FIP and a 3.84 xERA, and opposing hitters own a 9.9 percent barrel rate against him. But at this point, Philadelphia just needs serviceable arms.

Griffin may be due for regression in the second half, but he's certainly a better option than Aaron Nola, who owns a 5.75 ERA. Andrew Painter tallied a 7.06 ERA in 14 appearances before being demoted, and the Phils also surely don't like rolling with bullpen games.

The Phillies don't have a whole lot of assets to trade, but Griffin shouldn't be overly expensive given the fact that he is 30 years old and is slated to hit free agency next winter.

Washington is still in playoff contention, so it probably won't be eager to move Griffin just yet. But should the Nationals fall out of the race over the next couple of weeks, they may decide to place the southpaw on the trade block.

Whether or not the Nats would freely trade him to an NL East rival, however, is the question.

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