The Phillies have acquired right-hander Zac Houston from the Rays in change for money concerns, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Occasions stories (X hyperlink). Topkin describes the commerce as a aspect impact of the Rays’ crowded Triple-A pitching workers, as Houston was apparently squeezed out by the group’s need to offer extra innings to youthful pitchers.
The 29-year-old Houston is a profession minor leaguer, starting his professional profession as an Eleventh-round choose of the Tigers within the 2016 draft. (Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski had already parted methods with the Tigers virtually a 12 months earlier than Houston’s draft date.). Working virtually completely as a reliever, Houston has a 3.18 ERA over 305 2/3 profession innings within the minors, although he has solely a 4.81 ERA over 101 frames of Triple-A motion.
Houston has a whopping 35.46% strikeout fee, however an equally giant 12.86% stroll fee throughout his minor league profession. The righty’s management issues have existed because the begin of his professional profession, and his stroll issues have ticked upwards as Houston has moved up the minor league ladder. The apparent strikeout means makes him an attention-grabbing mission for the Phillies’ pitching improvement workers, as Houston may very well be a really helpful bullpen weapon if he can pair his knack for lacking bats with even common management.