The Philadelphia Phillies have set the goal to get younger as they enter a rebuilding stage, but Monday, they signed 36-year-old veteran Aaron Harang to a one-year, five-million dollar deal Jake Kaplan of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Kaplan also added that there are both performance and award bonuses built into the contract.
Harang performed well for the Atlanta Braves in 2014, one of his better seasons in his 13-year career. He pitched 204 1/3 innings and made 33 starts, the second-highest amount in his career, finishing with a .500 record of 12-12. His ERA was 3.57, WHIP was 1.400 and he recorded 161 strikeouts. He allowed 88 runs (81 earned), gave up 15 home runs and walked 71 batters.
His career ERA is 4.21. He has struck out 1,734 batters over 2149.2 innings pitched while going 122-128.
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Harang started off his 2014 campaign with a hot start, which was surprising to most fans since he was cut by the Cleveland Indians during Spring Training. The Phillies’ interest in the veteran right-hander Aaron Harang” href=”https://calltothepen.com/2014/12/31/philadelphia-phillies-interested-veteran-aaron-harang/”>was reported last week, along with the Braves, who were reportedly seeking to bring back Harang after his strong 2014 campaign.
Harang’s best seasons are behind him, but looks as though the Phillies are simply adding the righty to help the rotation get through the season. The simple contract is a low-risk, high-reward contract for the Phillies since Harang has consistently pitched a good amount of innings every season. He has made at least 20 starts in every season since his 2004 campaign and will likelyprove to be an innings eater.
If he pitches as well as he did last season, he could be moved at the trade deadline to a competing team, thus giving the Phillies a good turn around off a cheap contract.