Philadelphia Phillies Make Major Roster Move During Braves Series
The Philadelphia Phillies are in the middle of a big four-game series against the Atlanta Braves. It's a stretch of games that have playoff implications regarding seeding in the Wild Card standings and how the Phillies matchup against a potential opponent in the postseason.
Last year, Philadelphia was able to beat the Braves. This season, Atlanta looks much improved as the best team in baseball.
The Phillies were able to split the doubleheader on Monday and will head into the Tuesday slate where their ace Zack Wheeler will take the bump against Max Fried.
In the middle of the series though, Philadelphia announced a major roster move.
After Game 1 of the doubleheader, they optioned reliever Andrew Bellatti and recalled Yunior Marte from Triple-A reported by Matt Gelb of The Athletic.
Bellatti allowed two runs in under two innings on Monday afternoon. In 27 games this season, he as an ERA of 5.11, giving up 25 hits and four home runs.
The bullpen has been much maligned in recent months after being one of the top units at the beginning of the season. It's clear that the front office and manager Rob Thomson are looking for the right pieces that will be effective down the stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs.
Marte last pitched for the Phillies Aug. 12 before being sent down the next day. Since arriving at the Triple-A level, the right hander hasn't allowed a single earned run across his eight appearances.
They'll be hoping that he can bring the same level of dominance with him to the major leagues and become a big part of the bullpen for the rest of the year.
