The Phillies have acquired infielder T.J. Rivera in a minor league trade with the Pirates. Because Rivera was playing on a minor league deal and hadn’t seen any MLB action this year, he was allowed to be dealt after the July 30 trade deadline.
The trade represents Rivera’s second stint in the Phils organization, as he signed a minor league deal with Philadelphia during the 2019-20 offseason but was released prior to the opening of the club’s 2020 summer camp. Rivera caught on with the independent Long Island Ducks back in May, but was quickly inked to a minors contract by the Pirates and he has since hit .249/.295/.389 over 212 PA for Triple-A Indianapolis.
Rivera’s big league resume consists over 106 games and 344 PA with the Mets in 2016-17, with the Bronx native delivering a very respectable .304/.335/.445 slash line in that rather brief amount of playing time. Rivera underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2017, however, and continued to face elbow problems before the Mets eventually released him in 2019.