Categories: Offseason

Phillies pick reliever Burdi, lose Tocci, in Rule 5 Draft

UPDATE: The Phillies have traded Burdi to Pittsburgh for international slot money.

Tocci, meanwhile, was traded to Texas.

That’s the Rule 5 for you.

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The Phillies selected Nick Burdi, a right-handed pitcher from the Twins farm system, in the Rule 5 Draft Thursday.

Burdi, who will be 25 next year, is injury prone. He put up a 0.53 ERA in 14 games, striking out 20 and walking four for double-A Chattanooga before tearing his UCL, which led to Tommy John surgery.

Multiple reporters say the Phillies are expected to trade Burdi.

The White Sox, meanwhile, selected Carlos Tocci from the Phillies farm system. Tocci is regarded as an exceptional defensive outfielder with a decent contact tool. He spent time last year in double-A and triple-A, but was left unprotected from the Phils’ 40-man roster.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.