November 14, 2015
The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league RHP Sam McWilliams, the team announced Saturday.
Hellickson, a 28-year-old righty, made 27 starts with Arizona in 2015 and was 9-12 with a 4.62 ERA. He also allowed three or fewer runs in 19 of those 27 starts. And against the teams he'll face most now that he's a Phillie -- the rest of the division, that is -- the 2011 AL Rookie of the Year was much better, posting a 3.38 ERA in his six starts against NL East teams and holding opposing hitters to a .223 average.
Originally selected by Tampa Bay in the fourth round of the 2005 draft, Hellickson has a career ERA of 3.94 to go with his 49-48 record in 142 games, all but seven of which have come as a starter. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Des Moines, Iowa native spent the first five years of his career with the Rays, where he was 40-36 with a 3.78 ERA in 115 games (108 starts) before being traded to Arizona for a pair of minor league players.
Now, a year later, Hellickson again finds himself being dealt to a new team in exchange for a minor leaguer, the 20-year-old McWilliams, who was selected by the Phillies in the eighth round of the 2014 draft. McWilliams spent the last two seasons with the Gulf Coast League Phillies and went 2-5 with a 4.19 ERA in 16 games (12 starts).
