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Phillies acquire Gregory Soto and Kody Clemens from Tigers

The Phillies have acquired left-handed pitcher Gregory Soto and utility player Kody Clemens from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for infielder Nick Maton, outfielder Matt Vierling and catcher Donny Sands, President of Baseball Operations David Dombrowski announced today.

An American League All-Star each of the last two seasons (2021-22), Soto appeared in a career-high 64 games for Detroit in 2022 and tallied 30 saves, also a career high, in 33 opportunities.  Overall, the 27-year-old went 2-11 with a 3.28 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 60.1 innings pitched.

Per Statcast data, Soto led all left-handed pitchers last season with an average four-seam fastball at 98.7 MPH.  His sinker averaged 98.1 MPH, which ranked third among all left-handers, behind only Aroldis Chapman (100.2 MPH) and JosĆ© Alvarado (99.6 MPH).

Soto was one of only 10 relievers in the majors with at least 30 saves in 2022 and his 48 saves over the last two seasons are sixth-most in the American League.  In that same span, his save percentage of 92.3 percent (48-for-52) ranks second in the majors behind only Josh Hader (93.3%).

For his major league career, Soto has gone 8-20 with 50 saves, a 4.13 ERA (94 ER, 204.2 IP) and 210 strikeouts, all with the Tigers (2019-22).  The Dominican Republic native was originally signed by the Tigers as a non-drafted free agent on Dec. 26, 2012.

Clemens, 26, split the 2022 season between triple-A Toledo and Detroit, which included his major league debut.  With Toledo, Clemens batted .274 (66-for-241) with 12 doubles, six triples, 13 home runs, 43 RBI and 41 runs scored over 60 games.  In 56 games for Detroit, the Texas native batted .145 (17-for-117) with four doubles, five home runs, 17 RBI and 13 runs scored.

Defensively, Clemens appeared for the Tigers at third base (17 games), first base (13 games), second base (9 games), left field (9 games) and worked 7.0 innings over seven appearances as a pitcher.

Clemens, who was selected by the Tigers in the third round of the 2018 MLB Draft from the University of Texas, is the son of former pitcher Roger Clemens.

Vierling, 26, played in 117 games with the Phillies last season, and an additional 12 in the postseason.  He batted .260 with 15 doubles, eight home runs and 38 RBI in parts of two seasons with the Phillies.  He was selected by the club in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

Maton, a seventh-round selection by the Phillies in 2017, also appeared in the majors with the club each of the last two seasons, appearing in 86 regular season games and one in the 2022 postseason.  The 25-year-old is a career .254 hitter in 216 plate appearances.

Sands, 26, was acquired along with right-hander Nick Nelson from the New York Yankees in November 2021.  He spent the majority of the 2022 season with triple-A Lehigh Valley and appeared in three major league games with the club.

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