Phillies To Acquire Brooks Raley

The Phillies have agreed to acquired left-hander Brooks Raley in a trade with the Mets. Going the other way will be prospects Luke Gabrysh and John Spikerman. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first reported the deal was being finalized, and The Athletic’s Will Sammon adds that there’s a deal in place. Jayson Stark of The Athletic relayed the names going to the Mets. Raley, 38, is a veteran lefty. Despite his age and a recent Tommy John surgery, he remains a very effective big league reliever. He returned from his surgery recovery in July of last year. In the year-plus that he has been back on the mound, he has given the Mets 67 innings, allowing just 2.15 earned runs per nine. He has received some help from a .239 batting average on balls in play and 75.9% strand rate but his 24.2% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate are strong figures. His 2.72 FIP and 3.59 SIERA in that span suggest he would be getting good results even with more neutral luck. It’s also possible he has the ability to outperform his expected stats as he does a good job of avoiding damage. Statcast puts this year’s average exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate all in the 86th percentile or better. Perhaps it’s because of his low arm slot, but for whatever reason, hitters don’t seem to square him up well. More to come. View Comments (44)