Ah the Philadelphia Phillies. The franchise that loses more than any other in sports history. Why do we keep doing this to ourselves? Because we love them…and we love to hate them it seems as well. The Phillies made some moves before the MLB trade deadline yesterday, let’s break them down and give them a grade at the end of it all.

Recap: Phillies Lose to the Pirates 7-0 >>

Freddy Galvis, UTL, Grade: A

The Phillies are welcoming home defensive specialist, Freddy Galvis! I honestly love this move for the Phillies. It’s not Byron Buxton or Kris Bryant (Damn you, Kapler), but Dombrowski clearly is addressing a problem that the Phillies have had all year: The Defense. Galvis has always been known for his sublime defense, wherever he has gone. He is currently batting .251 this year with the Baltimore Orioles, and as always, playing great defense. Solid pickup for the Phillies.

Kyle Gibson, RHP, Grade: A-

The Phillies acquired Gibson from the Texas Rangers along with Ian Kennedy and Hans Crouse in exchange for Spencer Howard and some other nobodies that neither you nor I know the names of. This season, Gibson has posted a 6-3 record with a 2.87 ERA. He has started 19 games this year for the Rangers and was a solid starter for a team that is looking to rebuild in with a fantastic farm system. The Rangers’ farm system is so good that they also gave us their number 9 over prospect in their pipeline in Hans Crouse. We’ll get to him later. I think Gibson will work very well alongside Nola and Wheeler while Eflin is still on the IL.

There are some concerns with the acquisition, however. Gibson is coming from a pitchers park in Arlington to a hitters ballpark in Philadelphia. The other worry is that the Rangers’ defense was much better behind their pitchers this year than the Phillies. The Phillies did slap a band-aid on their defensive woes this year in the reclaiming of Freddy Galvis. We shall see how Gibson does in the limelight of a frustrated fan base and a very new stage.

Ian Kennedy, RHP, Grade: B-

The Phillies added a solid bullpen arm in Ian Kennedy. He’s posted a 2.51 ERA this year with 16 saves in 32 appearances. He’s also got an impressive 35 Ks in 32.1 innings as well. My only knock on him would be that he’s from the Jurassic Period, but the Phillies need all the help they can get in the pen. I’m not overjoyed by the move, but I don’t hate it either. Hopefully he doesn’t catch the “I suck” disease in the centerfield bullpen at CBP.

Hans Crouse, RHP, Grade: Idk

This was a weird pickup for the Phillies for a couple reasons. One being that he has some weird neck tats? Probably irrelevant but had to be mentioned. He’ ranked as the number 9 overall prospect for the Rangers in their system, so it surprised me that they were willing to part ways with him and it made me a little uneasy. Then again, the Rangers have a plethora of good prospects oozing out of their system. In double A this season he’s posted a 3.36 ERA. Crouse has a wild style of pitching and uses three different set-ups to keep batters off balance. Check the video below and see for yourself.

The Phillies were embarrassed last night against the Pirates and got one-hit while losing 7-0. Not exactly what you wanted to see after the trade deadline. Dave Dombrowski spoke yesterday and still believes that the Phillies can win the National League East.

Read more about the Pirates series below.

Series Preview: The Battle of Pennsylvania >>

Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY