The Philadelphia Phillies are bringing back a handful of familiar faces for 2021
By David Esser
David Hale, RHP ($850,000)
One of the Matt Klentak’s midseason bullpen acquisitions, David Hale was somewhat wrongfully lumped alongside guys like Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree, and David Phelps. Hale wasn’t *good* by any stretch of the imagination, but he wasn’t self-implosion level bad like the before mentioned names were.
Hale is a seven year veteran who has had the most success as a middle reliever/long arm coming out of the bullpen. He isn’t going to blow teams away with elite level velocity or electric “stuff”, but he’s normally good to give you a handful of solid relief innings.
Despite the overall disdain that Philadelphia Phillies fans had for Hale last year, he was mildly productive in an extremely small sample size. He posted a 4.05 ERA across 11 innings in Philly, while also making two starts late in the season.
Hale’s versatility that he put on display towards the end of the year, when the Phillies were hurting for pitching depth, was likely the biggest reason Hale earned himself another go in 2021. The Phillies lack of starter depth heading into 2021 is already concerning, and Hale can give you some 3-4 inning starts here or there.
Like preciously stated, Hale is by no means an elite bullpen arm, but he’s a valuable piece to have around due to his flexibility and experience. Throw in the fact that he came at a cost under $1 million, and it isn’t surprising to see him return.