Phillies acquire another Las Vegas native Via trade

PHILADELPHIA. PA - The Phillies have acquired reliever Erich Uelmen from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash considerations, the club announced Wednesday morning.

Uelmen, 26, was a 4th round pick out of Cal Poly by the Chicago Cubs in the 2017 draft. Since, he has posted a 4.33 ERA across five seasons in the minor leagues, Most notably gloating a 2.79 ERA in 28 games for AAA Iowa last season.

The Las Vegas native got the call to the bigs mid-season and impressed early on, posting a 2.25 ERA between late July and late August. His production did steadily decline throughout September, however the potential is certainly there for a strong middle-relief candidate.

His pitch repertoire is definitely whats sets Eulmen apart from other relievers, while he dosen’t boast a five or six pitch arsenal he does have four total pitches, three of which he uses on a nightly basis. Those being a 4-Seam Fastball, Sinker, and Slider. His fourth pitch, the Changeup he elects to use just 8.9% of the time.

Uelmen’s slider is undoubtedly his best weapon, using it nearly 30% of the time, boasting a .130 BAA with a 50% whiff rating on the pitch. All of this comes considering the abnormally low spin rates generated by his Slider at just 47% he ranks among the bottom of the league in SSR.

As we draw ever closer to Spring Training and the long-drawn summer that is the Baseball season it will be intriguing to see how Eulmen fits into a Phillies bullpen that still posses a few questionmarks heading into the back-end of the offseason.