Phillies Acquire Luis Avilan From White Sox For Pitching Prospect

Image credit: Luis Avilan (Photo by Patrick Gorski/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)

The Phillies thought they found a second lefty for their bullpen when they acquired Aaron Loup from Toronto at the trade deadline, but Loup pitched just two innings with the Phillies before with a forearm strain.

As such, the Phillies went out and got another lefty reliever on Wednesday, trading Double-A righthander Felix Paulino to the White Sox in exchange for Luis Avilan.

Avilan, 29, joins Adam Morgan as the only lefties in the Phillies’ bullpen. It’s a timely acquisition with the Phillies trying to catch the Braves in the NL East and the team about to face a slate of talented lefties when they play the Nationals (Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, Adam Eaton) and Cubs (Anthony Rizzo, Daniel Murphy, Kyle Schwarber, Jason Heyward) in the coming days.

PHILLIES ACQUIRE:

Luis Avilan, LHP
Age: 29

Avilan has already made 58 appearances this season, going 2-1, 3.86 with 46 strikeouts and 14 walks in 39.2 innings. He is vastly more successful facing lefties (.214/.276/.286) than righties (.298/.368/.417) and is best kept strictly in a lefty specialist role. Avilan is arbitration-eligible after the season and will be a free agent after 2019.

WHITE SOX ACQUIRE:

Felix Paulino, RHP
Age: 23

Paulino is a stong-armed Dominican starter who has run into control problems at Double-A, going 3-1, 5.46 with 20 strikeouts and 13 walks in 29.2 innings at Reading this season. Paulino works 91-96 mph with his fastball and has a sinker in the lower end of that velocity band. His low- to mid-80s slider flashes plus potential but is inconsistent, and he has a firm changeup that lacks deception. Paulino shows flashes of everything working together, but hasn’t been able to put it all together yet. His ability to tighten up his control and firm up his secondaries will determine how high he climbs.