David Robertson Traded to Phillies from Cubs for Prospect Ben Brown

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The Philadelphia Phillies bolstered their bullpen ahead of the stretch run.

The National League East club announced it landed relief pitcher David Robertson in a deal with the Chicago Cubs prior to Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline. Pitching prospect Ben Brown is headed back to the Cubs.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Matt Gelb of The Athletic initially reported the details of the trade.

Brown was ranked 26th in the Phillies’ farm system by MLB.com prior to this move. While he was not among the team’s top-ranked prospects it could have given up, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia noted he has “power stuff” and is in the middle of a “breakthrough season.”

The right-hander has appeared in 16 minor-league games this season with a 3.08 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 105 strikeouts in 73.0 innings.

While Brown may eventually contribute to the rebuilding Cubs, the Phillies landed an impact bullpen arm who will help them push for a wild-card spot this season. They are just one game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the race for the final National League playoff spot.

Robertson is accustomed to pitching in pressure-packed playoff races. After all, he helped the 2009 New York Yankees win the World Series over the very Phillies organization that just traded for him Tuesday.

The 2011 All-Star has a 2.23 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 51 strikeouts in 40.1 innings this season and can either work as a closer or setup man out of the bullpen. He has 14 saves this year and posted three straight seasons of 34 or more saves from 2014 through 2016 on the Yankees and Chicago White Sox.

This is something of a reunion for the veteran, who also pitched for the Phillies in 2019.

That was one of the more forgettable seasons of his career with a 5.40 ERA, although he made just seven appearances before he missed part of that year and the entirety of the next campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Robertson has since regained his form and will look to help pitch the Phillies into the playoffs following this move.