Phillies acquire Pat Venditte from Mariners - MLB

The Phillies have acquired ambidextrous relief pitcher Pat Venditte from the Mariners, per a team announcement on Saturday. The Mariners will receive minor league outfielder Joey Curletta in the trade.

Venditte, 31, split his 2016 season between the Blue Jays and Mariners, pitching to a cumulative 5.73 ERA, 4.5 BB/9 and 7.8 SO/9 in just 22 innings. He’s expected to bring some bullpen depth to the Phillies, who are a little thin on left-handed relief this spring. According to comments made by Philadelphia GM Matt Klentak, Venditte will enter the Phillies’ camp after he finishes pitching for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, at which point he’ll begin competing for a major league role.

Curletta, 23, was the PTBNL in the Carlos Ruiz trade to the Dodgers last August. He finished the 2016 season in Double-A Tulsa, batting .206/.280/.371 with four home runs and a .652 OPS in 107 PA.

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The Yankees placed Nestor Cortes on the 15-day injured list with a left rotator cuff strain that will sideline the left-hander for at least two starts.

The move is retroactive to Monday and Cortes will be shut down for at least 15 days.

After Tuesday’s game, Cortes said the shoulder has been bothering him between starts and more so after he pitched five innings May 30 in Seattle.

“I took two days off and when I got to LA and threw that first day, I didn’t feel right,” Cortes said Tuesday. “But it was first day coming back from pitching so I knew it was going to be nagging a little bit. So I waited a little bit.

“That second day in LA was when I said something because it felt like I had pitched yesterday. So I wasn’t recovering in time.”

Cortes is 5-2 with a 5.16 ERA in 11 starts and has particularly struggled later in outings. Opponents are hitting .447 when facing him for the third time in a game.

Last year, Cortes was an All-Star and went 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA in 28 starts.

Randy Vásquez was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre to take Cortes’ spot in the rotation and will make his second career start in Thursday’s doubleheader. Vásquez made his major league debut May 26 against San Diego when the Yankees needed a starter because Domingo Germán was serving a 10-game suspension for using sticky substances.