Citizens Bank Park - The Phillies have traded right-hander Pat Neshek and cash considerations to the Colorado Rockies for shortstop Jose Gomez and right-handed pitchers Alejandro Requena and J.D. Hammer, Vice President & General Manager Matt Klentak announced today.
Gomez, 20, is batting .324 with 20 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 33 RBI, 18 stolen bases and a .374 on-base percentage in 81 games for single-A Asheville. The Venezuela native, who made his third professional All-Star team in 2017, is leading the South Atlantic League in batting average and is tied for third with 103 hits. Signed by Colorado in July 2013 as an amateur free agent, Gomez is a .316 hitter with 73 stolen bases through his first 280 career minor league games.
The 20-year-old Requena has started 19 games for single-A Asheville, going 8-3 with a 2.85 ERA and 97 strikeouts to 25 walks in 117.0 innings pitched. He ranks second in the league in innings and seventh in ERA, earning a selection to the South Atlantic League midseason All-Star team. Requena, who also hails from Venezuela, was signed as an amateur free agent in Sept. 2013. In 60 minor league games (48 starts), he has posted a 3.78 ERA.
Hammer, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound right-hander, has combined for a 2.36 ERA, 13 saves in 14 opportunities and 65 strikeouts in 42.0 innings over 36 appearances between single-A Asheville and single-A Lancaster. He has held opponents to a .182 batting average with no home runs and has posted a 0.98 WHIP. The 23-year-old, in his second professional season, made the South Atlantic League midseason All-Star team and boasts a 3.15 ERA with 117 strikeouts in his first 63 minor league games (85.2 IP), all in relief. A Windsor, Colo., native, Hammer was selected by the Rockies in the 24th round of the June 2016 draft out of Marshall University.
The 36-year-old Neshek has posted a 1.12 ERA in 43 games for the Phillies this season, the second-best mark among all major league relief pitchers. He has walked only five batters, struck out 45 and posted a 0.82 WHIP in 40.1 innings pitched, ranking in the top 10 among major league relievers in walks per nine innings (1.12, 3rd), strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.00, 5th), WHIP (9th) and opponents' on-base percentage (.224, 10th). Neshek has held the opposition scoreless in 41 of his 43 appearances for the Phillies, earning his second career All-Star selection. He did not allow a run at home all season for Philadelphia (21.2 IP in 23 games).
The right-hander, who was acquired by Philadelphia from Houston on Nov. 4, 2016, for cash considerations, holds a 2.76 career ERA with 423 strikeouts in 423.2 innings (466 games) over parts of 12 seasons with the Twins (2006-10), Padres (2011), Athletics (2012-13), Cardinals (2014), Astros (2015-16) and Phillies (2017).
