Arizona Diamondbacks Trade Jeremy Hellickson

The 28-year-old was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Sam McWilliams, the D-backs announced Saturday. Hellickson was much better at home (4.00 ERA, 10 HRs allowed in 72 innings) than on the road (5.23 ERA, 12 HRs allowed in 74 innings) last season, too.

Philadelphia’s rotation, which does not have a notable amount of depth beyond Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff, will likely benefit from the addition of Hellickson. Hellickson made 27 starts for Arizona, finishing with a 4.62 ERA.

In six years in the major leagues, Hillickson is 49-48 with a 3.94 ERA. 2015 marked the only season in Arizona for Hellickson, who came over in a deal from the Tampa Bay Rays for two Minor Leaguers.

Although joining a club that lost a MLB-high 99 games in 2015, Hellickson figures to be extra motivated next season because he can become a free agent next fall.

Hellickson might be most well known to Phillies fans as the pitcher that hit third baseman Maikel Franco with a fastball which fractured the rookie’s wrist in August, causing him to miss most of the remainder of the season.

Hellickson is in the final year of arbitration eligibility after collecting $4.275 million in 2014, per Spotrac.

“This offseason we made it priority to add a stabilizing influence to our young rotation and we think we found that guy in Jeremy”, Klentak said. The Des Moines, Iowa native also is a pretty good fielder who won a Gold Glove in 2012 and a career. The 20-year-old went 0-2 with a 3.27 ERA in seven starts for the Phillies’ rookie minor league affiliate in 2015.

So expect Arizona to fill Hellickson’s rotation spot via free agency.