Hughes seems a smart addition for bullpen

If both track record and reputation are good indicators, the latest late-season player acquisition by the Phillies isn’t your normal scrap heap addition.

Right-handed relief pitcher Jared Hughes, a 6-foot-7, 245-pound sinkerballer, was claimed off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds Thursday.

Hughes, 34, had a career year last season, his first for the Reds. He went 4-3 with a 1.94 ERA and impressive 1.02 WHIP in 78.2 innings pitched over 72 appearances.

This season, however, not so much. Hughes, who recently came back from a three-game suspension stemming from that monster of a brawl between the Reds and Pirates a couple of weeks ago, is 3-4 with a 4.10 ERA over 48.1 innings in 47 games.

That fall-off, plus an ongoing Reds youth/costtrimming project, made him available. Considering the state of bullpen injuries, manager Gabe Kapler couldn’t have been happier to add Hughes to the mix.

“I’m really excited about this one,” Kapler said. “I had a conversation with him earlier in the day and he was especially enthusiastic and asking for the ball. You look back to last year, and 70-plus innings, he has been really durable over the course of his career. Doesn’t strike many people out but he also puts the ball on the ground.”

Hughes, expected to be available to go Saturday, allowed only four homers in all of 2018 and has already given up six this season, which ties for the second-most he’d ever given up in a season. That came in 2016 while with Pittsburgh, and he allowed seven homers in his second season with the Pirates in 2012.

But during a six-year stint with the Pirates, Hughes was a steady bullpen performer. He fashioned a 1.96 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 63 games for Pittsburgh in 2014 and a 2.28 ERA in 76 games in 2015.

He joined the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017, going 5-2 with a 3.02 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 62 games. That set the stage for that great 2018 in Cincinnati, yet for this follow-up season, Kapler thinks Hughes has much more to give.

“(We) might just be catching the right part of the season,” Kapler said. “I don’t think he’s had his best outings yet this year, although the last one was really encouraging. He went three innings and didn’t give up any runs and looked really good; attacked the strike zone.”

That was in Washington on Wednesday night, with Hughes allowing no runs and only three hits over a full three innings to the Nationals, the only spotless Reds pitcher in what became a 17-7 Nats blowout win.

“Just a guy who’s been a really dependable and successful reliever in this league,” Kapler said. “A similar mold to Mike Morin and Blake Parker, our recent acquisitions who have taken the baseball a lot, have wanted the baseball a lot, have been dependable and have been great teammates.”

That latter quality seems especially suited for Hughes to fit right in with his fellow new Phillies relievers. He might have been fighting some old teammates in that brawlgame last month, and was one of seven Reds and Pirates players (plus Pirates manager Clint Hurdle) to receive suspensions for it. But Hughes is also a vastly popular guy in the clubhouse. News of his departure lit up Twitter with Reds fans, players and team staff members offering him well-wishes. Many tagged Hughes with fond farewells to “one of the nicest guys to ever put a Reds uniform on.”

Of course, it’s what he does over the last six weeks that will determine whether this will be a short stay or not.

“Every move is made with both now, and future considerations,” Kapler said. “I would think this move is no different.”