Philadelphia Phillies Trade Their Minor League Pitcher to Cincinnati Reds

The Philadelphia Phillies have traded one of their minor leaguers away to the Cincinnati Reds.

Mar 9, 2024; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher David Buchanan (52) throws a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth inning at BayCare Ballpark / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into the final month of the regular season, the Philadelphia Phillies are virtually guaranteed to be playing fall baseball for the third year in a row.

The only question that remains is what seed they are going to be when the playoffs start.

Entering the All-Star break, they were the clear-cut best team in the league, looking like they would secure the top seed in the National League and have home field advantage throughout.

Now, they trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by one game for NL supremacy entering Tuesday, and if the Phillies continue to play the way they have in the second half of the year, there's a good chance they cough up the division and enter as a Wild Card team.

Even though the attention is on how Philadelphia performs this season, that's not going to stop the front office from preparing for the future.

In a minor league transaction, the Phillies reportedly have traded away pitcher David Buchanan to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for cash considerations per Matt Gelb of The Athletic.

The right-hander began his career with Philadelphia after being selected in the seventh round of the 2010 MLB draft. He moved up their pipeline quickly, reaching the Triple-A level in his third full season before making his Major League debut in 2014.

Buchanan started 35 career games for the Phillies, recording an ERA of 5.01 with only 115 strikeouts in 192.1 innings pitched. After he posted a team-high ERA in 2015, he spent the entire next year in the minors before being released by the team.

He then decided to go overseas, signing with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. Following his tenure there, he made the jump to the KBO League in South Korea by signing with the Samsung Lions.

Buchanan became a two-time All-Star with the Lions in 2022 and 2023 before he reunited with Philadelphia on a minor league deal this past offseason.

Now, the 35-year-old will be hoping to make his first MLB appearance since 2015 after he was dealt to the bullpen-needy Reds.