Prior to the lockout, teams were making moves left and right. It was a lot of the usual stuff where teams were getting their 40-man rosters ready for the Rule 5 draft, but once the transaction freeze hit, that planning was set aside for the time. The Phillies were no strangers to these moves, making moves that would net them some catching depth that they badly needed in the upper minors, but also had them acquire a pitcher that had an 8.79 ERA in 2021. Needless to say, there was an eyebrow raised about this acquisition, but with the introduction of some new stats into the sabermetric arena, maybe the move makes a little more sense after all.
Why Nick Nelson?
