Nationals acquire hard-throwing reliever from Phillies

By Mark Zuckerman

Nationals

November 23, 2016, 7:05am

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The Nationals have acquired reliever Jimmy Cordero from the Phillies for a player to be named, hoping the hard-throwing right-hander can bounce back from an injury-plagued season in Philadelphia's farm system and become a late-inning arm for them at some point.

Cordero, 25, had been designated for assignment last week by the Phillies, who needed to clear space on their 40-man roster for other prospects who needed to be protected from the Rule 5 draft. He has no major league experience but now resides on the Nationals' 40-man roster and will get a chance to pitch in big league camp next spring.

A power reliever with a triple-digit fastball whom Philadelphia originally acquired from the Blue Jays in the 2015 trade that sent Ben Revere to Toronto, Cordero was touted by some as a potential closer for the rebuilding Phillies. But he suffered a shoulder injury last spring and didn't make his season debut until July.

Cordero wound up appearing in 18 games between Single-A Clearwater, Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, struggling to a 5.64 ERA and only 12 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings.

The Nationals will hope that a healthier Cordero improves on those numbers next season and pushes his way into their big league bullpen plans at some point.