The Phillies are getting good solid starting pitching from their ace Cole Hamels and from the veteran Aaron Harang. Still giving starts to Severino Gonzalez and Sean O'Sullivan, the Phillies are incredibly thin in the starting pitcher department. With potential trades on the horizon for both Harang and Hamels, the Phillies need some veteran arms to pitch the innings without putting undue pressure on the bullpen. One option just became available.
Veteran starter Kevin Correia informed the San Francisco Giants that he was going to opt out of his minor league contract. Correia has made six starts in the Giants system this season, going 0-1 with a 3.58 earned run average. The Giants starting rotation is full, so Correia was not going to get a chance there. The Phillies could use Correia immediately to give Severino Gonzalez time to develop at AAA. The Phillies have not let Gonzalez pitch deep into any ballgame.
Correia will not be much more than Jerome Williams has been to the Phillies. But that is okay; the Phillies need to let young players develop in the minor leagues and put the young players at the major league level develop. An overexposed bullpen has not helped the likes of Justin De Fratus and Jake Diekman, who have pitched too much in 2015.
Correia is 34 years old and has a lifetime record of 76-95 in his major league career, which began in 2003. Correia has pitched with the Giants, the San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Who knows – Correia was traded at the trade deadline in 2014 – maybe the Phillies could even get something in return for him later.
