Phillies sign pitcher Kevin Correia to major league deal
The Philadelphia Phillies have signed pitcher Kevin Correia to a major league deal, the team announced Monday.
Correia, 34, had last pitched in the big leagues as a member of the Dodgers and provides the team with rotational depth. According to Philly.com, the veteran right-hander joined the team in Cincinnati on Monday and is slated to start on Friday against the Pirates in Pittsburgh.
Correia holds a 76-95 record and 4.59 career ERA in parts of 12 major league seasons with five different teams. He started six games for Triple A Sacramento in the Giants organization before opting out of his contract May 29 in hopes of finding a big-league deal. With Sacramento, he posted a 3.78 ERA in 37 2/3 innings.
"He was sort of in that same mix as some of the other guys - [Aaron] Harang, [Chad] Billingsley, [Kevin] Slowey - we signed," Phillies assistant general manager Scott Proefrocktold Philly.com. "So he was on our radar even as far back as of the offseason."
Proefrock added the team preferred to let its younger pitchers continue to develop in the minor leagues rather than rush their development. The Phillies hold baseball's second-worst record at 22-37.
"Hopefully he steps in kind of like the way that [Jerome] Williams did last year, kind of gave us a boost," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg told the media before Monday's game. "[He is] a veteran guy who knows how to pitch, knows the league, knows the hitters."
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