Phillies Acquire Another Sensational Star Pitcher From The Braves after the veteran deal was finalized
The Braves announced this morning that they’ve traded minor league pitcher Jonah Dipoto to the Phillies for cash considerations. According to the MLB.com transaction log, Philadelphia assigned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
The son of former MLB pitcher and current Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto, Jonah is a 27-year-old righty reliever. Kansas City selected him out of UC San Diego in the 35th round of the 2019 draft. Despite the modest draft stock, Dipoto has pitched his way to the upper minors. He turned in a 3.55 earned run average in 50 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A a year ago. Dipoto fanned an above-average 26% of opponents, though he also walked almost 15% of batters faced.
Dipoto has had a shakier start to the 2024 campaign. He has allowed 11 runs (10 earned) over 14 1/3 innings for the Royals’ top farm team in Omaha. He has given up a trio of homers with a 13:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Phils will hope that a change of scenery at least allows him to find the bat-missing promise he showed a season ago. While Dipoto has never gotten much prospect fanfare, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs credited him with a plus slider and ranked him 38th in the K.C. system last summer.
There’s no cost for Philadelphia beyond what is likely nominal cash considerations. Dipoto won’t require a spot on their 40-man because he hadn’t been on the Kansas City roster. He went unselected in last winter’s Rule 5 draft and would be eligible again next December if Philadelphia doesn’t select his contract.
While the trade deadline is still over two months away, the Philadelphia Phillies continue making minor deals to add to the organziation’s depth on the mound. According to reports, the Phillies swung a trade with the Kansas City Royals on Memorial Day Monday.
With the team out on the West Coast, gearing up for a three-game series in San Francisco, the front office was busy adding to their minor league bullpen arsenal.
Phillies make a trade with Royals for another bullpen arm
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The team hasn’t announced anything official, but per the team’s transactions page and The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber, the Phillies acquired right-handed relief pitcher Jonah Dipoto from the Royals for cash considerations. If the name rings a vague bell, it’s because Jonah is the son of Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto.
The 27-year-old Dipoto will report to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and take a spot in the IronPigs’ bullpen. In 46 appearances with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate Omaha Storm Chasers over the last two years he has a 4.28 ERA. This season, in 14 1/3 innings the former 2019 35th-round draft pick has a 4.40 ERA and 1.33 WHIP with a 19.7 percent strikeout rate but a 12.1 percent walk rate.
Dipoto features a four-pitch mix with a 92 mph sinker, an 86 mph changeup, an 81 mph slider and a rarely used mid-80s cutter. In his last outing for the Storm Chasers, he registered nine called and swinging strikes on his 26 pitches.
This isn’t the first trade president of baseball operations Dave Dombroski and general manager Sam Fuld have swung this season. Earlier this month, they acquired left-hander Tyler Gilbert from the Cincinnati Reds for cash.
