The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired veteran left-handed pitcher Zach Duke from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for minor league outfielder Charlie Tilson.
Duke, 33, is 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA in an American League-leading 53 appearances this season. The southpaw has 42 strikeouts in 37.1 innings pitched. He has appeared in 413 career Major League games with 169 starts (all made between 2005-13), posting a 60-83 record and a 4.35 ERA covering 1243.0 innings pitched.
Since 2014, Duke has appeared in 198 games, ranking fourth in the Majors over that period and second only to the Pirates Tony Watson (200) among left-handed pitchers.
The Cardinals become Duke’s seventh Major League team along with the Pirates, Diamondbacks, Nationals, Reds, Brewers and White Sox.
Tilson, 23, was the Cardinals second round draft pick (79th overall) in the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The left-handed swinging outfielder is batting .282 with four home runs and 34 RBI in 100 games at Memphis (AAA) this season. He hit eight triples, ranking tied for third in the Pacific Coast League and tied the Redbirds single-season mark with Stubby Clapp and Kolten Wong.
Tilson has career marks of 471 minor league games with a .293 batting average, 19 home runs and 154 RBI along with 89 stolen bases. He resides in Chicago in the off-season and attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, just 25 miles north of the White Sox U.S. Cellular Field.
