Orioles acquire Hellickson from Phillies

The Orioles lost another game tonight, but they gained a veteran starter for their rotation.

Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson was acquired from the Phillies along with cash for outfielder Hyun Soo Kim, Double-A Bowie left-hander Garrett Cleavinger and international signing bonus slots.

Hellickson was scratched from tonight's start. He's 6-5 with a 4.73 ERA 1.255 WHIP in 20 starts and has struck out only 65 batters in 112 1/3 innings.

In eight major league seasons, Hellickson has gone 67-63 with a 3.98 ERA 1.251 WHIP in 194 games. He spent the first five seasons with the Rays, one with the Diamondbacks and the last two with the Phillies.

Hellickson, 30, can become a free agent following the season. He's making $17.2 million this season after accepting the qualifying offer.

"Jeremy Hellickson is a solid, dependable, veteran major league starter who knows how to win in the American League," said executive vice president Dan Duquette. "He should provide some quality innings for the Orioles."

Kim left South Korea to sign a two-year, $7 million deal with the Orioles in December 2015. He led the team with a .302 average and 382 on-base percentage in 95 games last season, but his playing time has been severely reduced this summer - mainly due to the emergence of rookie Trey Mancini - and he's batting .232/.305/.288 in 56 games.

Cleavinger, 23, is 2-4 with a 6.28 ERA in 27 appearances with Bowie. A third-round pick in 2015 out of the University of Oregon, Cleavinger has gone 15-8 with a 3.79 ERA in 83 games.

The Orioles almost included Cleavinger in a package with Ubaldo Jiménez last summer that would have netted outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. from the Padres, but the deal fell apart due to financial reasons.

This is the second deal with Phillies general manager Matt Klentak, a former Orioles executive, since March. The club also acquired pitcher Alec Asher toward the end of spring training for a player to be named later or cash.

How Hellickson is slotted into the rotation remains to be seen, but there are multiple starters who are struggling.

The Orioles lost to the Rangers tonight 8-2, with all eight runs charged to Chris Tillman in 4 1/3 innings. They're 48-54 after a third consecutive defeat and 6 ½ games back for the second wild card, but they remain in fourth place after the Blue Jays lost tonight.

Tillman's ERA jumped to 7.65 tonight in 64 2/3 innings.

Hellickson made a pretty good impression on the Orioles by going 9-4 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.163 WHIP against them in 19 career appearances.

The Orioles are getting a starter who's accustomed to pitching in the American League East. He was 40-36 with a 3.78 ERA with the Rays.