Royals Acquire Nolan Hoffman From Phillies

The Royals and Phillies have each announced that right-hander Nolan Hoffman was traded to Kansas City for minor league right-hander Manuel Colon and some cash considerations.  Hoffman was designated for assignment by Philadelphia just a few hours ago.

The Phillies acquired Hoffman in a cash trade with the Rangers in June 2025, which led to Hoffman making his MLB debut two months later.  Hoffman tossed one inning in his lone big league appearance in 2025, and he got into three more games this season, posting a 3.86 ERA over 4 2/3 innings.

With four walks allowed in his 5 2/3 total frames in the majors, the control issues that have bothered Hoffman in the upper minors have continued into his brief cups of coffee in the Show.  Hoffman has a 12.65% walk rate in 160 1/3 career Triple-A innings, though also with a 26.9% strikeout rate.  He is also a strong groundball pitcher, though after regularly topping the 60% mark earlier in his minor league career, Hoffman’s Triple-A grounder rate this year is “only” 51.1%.

Kansas City is looking for all the help it can get to remake its struggling bullpen for the future, even if Hoffman is turning 28 later this week and isn’t exactly a young prospect.  He does have a minor league option year remaining in 2027, however, giving the Royals some flexibility in how they’ll use him on their active roster both this season and next.