Gregory Soto Can't Regain Form, Philadelphia Phillies Pull Plug on Him

Unable to regain the All-Star form he showed with the Detroit Tigers, the Philadelphia Phillies pulled the plug on Gregory Soto ahead of the deadline.

Jul 23, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Gregory Soto (30) delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins in the eighth inning at Target Field. / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles have gotten to know each other very well over the last few days. Very rarely do contenders make a deal with each other ahead of the MLB trade deadline, but these teams made two.

The first one centered around outfielder Austin Hays, whom the Phillies acquired in exchange for right-handed reliever Seranthony Dominguez and outfielder Cristian Pache. A second deal was completed ahead of the trade deadline, centered around left-handed reliever Gregory Soto.

Soto is heading to the Orioles in exchange for prospects Seth Johnson and Moises Chace. Both are right-handed pitchers, as Johnson was a first-round pick in 2019 and Chace started his career in 2021 at 18.

This was a fine trade for Philadelphia, as they get some starting pitching depth with Johnson and a flier on the hard-throwing Chace. Already touching 97 miles per hour with his fastball, Chace could be a useful bullpen piece down the road.

Soto became expendable after the Phillies revamped their bullpen ahead of the deadline. They acquired Carlos Esteves from the Los Angeles Angels, who had 20 saves this season with a 2.38 ERA.

He is a strong late-inning addition to help Jose Alvarado, Jeff Hoffman and Matt Straham. Soto’s fate became sealed when Philadelphia added another arm to their bullpen, acquiring Tanner Banks from the Chicago White Sox.

Banks isn’t the left-handed pitcher some Phillies fans were hoping for, but he provides the team with another late-game option that dominates lefties. Left-handed hitters have a batting average of only .184 against Banks this season with a .492 OPS.

Those numbers are better than what Soto has provided Philadelphia this season. He has not been reliable in late-game situations, which played into the front office’s urgency to add some bullpen arms.

It has been a struggle at times for Soto to consistently find the strike zone, making him tough to trust in high-leverage situations. Philadelphia acquired him in January 2023 from the Detroit Tigers with the hopes of him being a strong option late in games.

He was acquired off two consecutive All-Star seasons with the Tigers when he saved 48 games with 125 strikeouts in 120.2 innings pitched. He had an above-average ERA+ in both seasons, but his FIP hinted that there was some luck in his positive production.

It turns out, that the FIP hint was right. With the Phillies, Soto was never able to regain the All-Star form he had in Detroit. During his tenure in Philadelphia, he recorded a 4.42 ERA in 95.2 innings.