Philadelphia hosts division rival Atlanta for weekend series
The Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves are both sellers and the starting pitchers for Friday's series opener st Citizens Bank Park are both heavily rumored to be on the move; Jeremy Hellickson for the Phillies and Julio Teheran for the Braves.

Hellickson has a 4.73 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 20 starts this season and is in the final stretch of a one-year deal worth $17.2 million. He was hit hard in his last outing, giving up six runs on seven hits in five innings against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Phillies already entered the trade deadline fray on Wednesday, sending reliever Pat Neshek to the Colorado Rockies for a trio of prospects.

“Pat was the most targeted player we had, so this is the one I would’ve told you was likely,” Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said after the Neshek trade. “We’ll have to see (about more trades). I don’t want to handicap it, but we’ve received some calls for some of our other players — some more serious than others.”

The Phillies salvaged the final contest of a three-game set with Wednesday's 9-0 win over Houston.

The Braves come to Philadelphia four games under .500 and are 3-7 in their last 10 games. The club traded starting pitcher Jaime Garcia to Minnesota for 19-year-old pitcher Huascar Ynoa earlier in the week.

Teheran has a 2.45 ERA and is holding opponents to a .202 batting average since July 1. The 26-year-old is in the fourth year of a six-year, $32.4 million deal.

The Phillies are 5-2 against the Braves in 2017 and swept them during a three-game set in Philadelphia in April.

Roster Move 
The Phillies selected the contract of righty Jesen Therrien from triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Neshek's spot on the 25-man roster. The 24-year-old Canadian native began the season with double-A Reading where he tossed 28 2/3 innings to a 1.26 ERA. Combined, he has a 1.41 ERA over 39 appearances while holding hitters to a .191 batting average.

Starting Lineup
1. Cesar Hernandez, 2B
2. Freddy Galvis SS
3. Nick Williams, RF
4. Maikel Franco, 3B
5. Odubel Herrera, CF
6. Tommy Joseph, 1B
7. Aaron Altherr, LF
8. Cameron Rupp, C
9. Jeremy Hellickson, P
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Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PGordonPBR

BY PATRICK GORDON
Managing Editor
pgordon@philadelphiabaseballreview.com

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