Former Philadelphia Phillies Reliever Gunning for Old Teammate's Job in Baltimore

The Phillies traded a reliever to the Baltimore Orioles and that player went on to steal the job of someone that he was teammates with in Philadelphia.

Aug 4, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Seranthony Dominguez (56) is congratulated by catcher Adley Rutschman (35) after defeating the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. / David Dermer-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies shipped away a struggling reliever to the Baltimore Orioles at the MLB trade deadline and he's already earned a promotion with his new squad.

After weeks of poor performances, the Phillies felt comfortable in trading away Seranthony Dominguez.

Over his last 11 games in a Philadelphia uniform, the 29-year-old had a 5.56 ERA and batters were slashing .250/.321/.542 against him.

The Orioles jumped at the opportunity to add to him their bullpen, despite the recent struggles. They sent over outfielder Austin Hays in exchange for Dominguez and Cristian Pache

They were so impressed with his performance to start his time there that manager Brandon Hyde has been using him in a closing role. That puts the Dominican Republic native in a competition with a former Philadelphia teammate for the closer role down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Baltimore signed Craig Kimbrel to be their closer after they lost their star, Felix Bautista, for the season to injury.

Kimbrel was with Philadelphia last season and earned an All-Star bid with the team before falling apart in the playoffs.

There were peaks and valleys to start his time with his new team as well, but the inconsistency raised some concerns.

The legendary reliever has fallen off a cliff yet again with a 10.24 ERA over this last 10 appearances. He hasn't logged a save since the beginning of July. He's had two blown saves and logged two losses since then with the Orioles going 4-6 in those games.

Batters are slashing an absurd .282/.444/.615 against him in that stretch. He's walked more batters than he has struck out.

It's no surprise that Baltimore is searching for someone else to take the job to end the season.

Thanks to Dominguez's start to his time with the Orioles, he became and obvious candidate. His last four appearances have all been in save situations. The first three all went into his favor, but his last one ended with a walk-off home run against the New York Mets.

That marks back-to-back appearances having given up a run, but the team is likely to hold by him for at least a few more chances.

Overall, the trade has gone well for Baltimore, even though they released Pache just days after getting him. Philadelphia, on the other hand, has seen mediocre returns.

Hays slashed .263/.282/.395 in his first 10 games as a left fielder, but hasn't played since August 6. He's currently on the injured list dealing with a strained hamstring.