SF Giants trade former Phillies reliever to Padres in minor deal

The SF Giants made a small trade with the San Diego Padres last week, sending a former Phillies reliever to their NL West rival.

Marc Delucchi | Apr 25, 2023

SF Giants trade former Phillies reliever to Padres in minor deal /

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The SF Giants traded right-handed pitcher Nick Duron to the San Diego Padres last week, per Duron's official player page. Since there has been no report of the Giants receiving anything from the Padres in return, San Diego likely parted with cash considerations. Duron signed a minor-league deal with the Giants during the offseason, but made his big-league debut with the Phillies in 2022. Duron had a 2.25 ERA with nine strikeouts and 11 walks in eight innings pitched with the Giants Triple-A affiliate this season.

SF Giants pitcher Nick Duron looks into the camera during a spring training workout. (2023) — SF Giants pitcher Nick Duron during a spring training workout. (2023) / Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Duron was drafted by the Red Sox in the 31st round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of Clark College in Vancouver, Washington. While the righty played his high school and college ball in the Pacific Northwest, Duron was born in Salinas, California.

The Red Sox released Duron prior to the 2019 season and briefly played with the Southern Illinois Miners in the independent Frontier League before he landed a minor-league deal with the Mariners. In Seattle's organization, Duron moved to the bullpen full-time and immediately found success. At High-A Modesto in the hitter-friendly California League, Duron recorded a 2.23 ERA with 51 strikeouts and 17 walks in in 36.1 innings pitched.

Duron's momentum was stalled by the canceled minor-league season in 2020, but he reached Triple-A with the Mariners in 2021 before once again reaching free agency. The Phillies signed Duron to a minor-league contract, and he posted a 2.77 ERA in 57 appearances with their Triple-A affiliate. His impressive numbers earned a brief call-up to the majors. Duron allowed a pair of hits with one strikeout across one scoreless inning of work on July 13th against the Blue Jays before he was optioned back to the minors.

Nick Duron did receive an invitation to SF Giants big-league camp this spring, but he was quickly optioned to the minors. During spring training, Duron allowed one earned run across three innings pitched with four strikeouts, two walks, and two hits.

Published Apr 25, 2023

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).