Phillies Hot Stove: Club Checks on LHP Jake Diekman

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

Trade deadline day has arrived, and the rumors will only continue to swirl until the clock strikes 4 p.m. With the Philadelphia Phillies involved in most discussions, given they are interested in "practically every reliever available," Fancred's Jon Heyman connected the club to another reliever early Tuesday morning — southpaw Jake Diekman.

The Phillies are among the teams to check on Diekman, who could be the "next Ranger to go," per Heyman. The Rangers already dealt right-hander Keone Kela to the Pittsburgh Pirates early Tuesday morning in exchange for southpaw prospect Taylor Hearn.

UPDATE, Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic, 10:38 a.m.: #Phillies expected to add a LH reliever today. #Rangers’ Jake Diekman among their many targets, sources tell me and @MattGelb.

Read: Stark: ‘Still a Chance’ Phillies Acquire Left-Handed Bench Hitter, Reliever

Diekman, 31, is 1-1 with a 3.69 ERA, 48-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.385 WHIP spanning 47 appearances and 39 innings this season. The Wymore, Nebraska, native will enter free agency in the offseason, as he is signed to a one-year, $2.71 million deal in 2018.

The Phillies dealt Diekman — who they drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft — and 2008 World Series Most Valuable Player Cole Hamels to the Rangers in July 2015.

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