Dodgers send Hunter Feduccia to the Rays for LHP Adam Serwinowski from Reds, RHP Paul Gervase & C Ben Rortvedt from Rays as part of 3-team deal

Chad Moriyama 07/30/2025 Transactions Leave A Comment

As many other contenders have taken potential Dodgers targets off the board, they’ve mostly stood pat so far at the deadline. Now they’re on the board with a relatively minor trade, involving themselves in a three-way trade with the Reds and Rays, which sees them sending catcher Hunter Feduccia to the Rays for left-handed pitcher Adam Serwinowski from the Reds and right-handed pitcher Paul Gervase and catcher Ben Rortvedt from the Rays.

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Dodger fans should be familiar with Hunter Feduccia, a 28-year-old catcher that has been blocked or surpassed over the years but has put up rock solid numbers at AAA for three years in a row now. This year he has a .287/.398/.469/.858 line and continues to look like his floor is as a solid backup with regular potential, and the fact that the Rays seem to like him certainly feels like he’ll be a contributor somehow.

I had assumed they’d try to get value for Dalton Rushing in a trade and promote Feduccia to be the long-term backup, but if they’re hanging on to Rushing, then Feduccia had nowhere to go and I’m glad he’s gonna get a shot now.

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In exchange for Feduccia, the Dodgers get a package including lefty Adam Serwinowski, who was ranked at the #10 prospect in the Reds system by MLB Pipeline.

The 6-foot-5 left-hander keeps opening eyes with what he can do. He still has a two-pitch mix, but it’s a good 1-2 combination. Added strength allows him to keep adding velocity and he averaged 93-94 mph, touching 97 mph, with a four-seamer that features good spin and ride up in the zone. His power breaking ball sat in the low 80s with sweep and can miss a good amount of bats as well. It’s mostly a slider, though it can at times have more curveball characteristics based on how he releases the ball.
There are no plans to have Serwinowski do anything but start, but in order to do that long-term he will need a third pitch. There was some talk about adding a cutter, but perhaps he can find a changeup that goes the other way would be useful, especially against right-handed hitters. So will continuing to refine his command and control, which has improved like so much of his game already.

After a 3.57 ERA in 85.2 innings with a 106/45 K/BB ratio in A-ball last year, he has a 4.84 ERA in 74.1 innings with a 92/39 K/BB ratio in high-A this year. Seems like another command-risk lefty that could end up as a reliever, but for now they’ll try to develop him as a starter.

Baseball Prospectus had this to say about him in May:

It’s paid dividends with the heater as well, with the fastball velocity now sitting easily in the mid-90s with the ability to dial it up even higher when needed. It’s an above-average offering that plays well up in the zone and gets on hitters quickly with his extreme extension.
There are a lot of moving parts in the delivery and Serwinowski will lose the release point at times causing him to miss gloveside with the fastball.  He also leans heavily on a 1-7 breaker that is commanded well and can be used to steal a strike or as a wipeout, put-away pitch that darts out of the zone. Serwinowski has primarily been a two-pitch pitcher during his career, but in my recent live look he experimented with a couple new looks, mixing in a handful of changeups and a harder, cutter-type breaker. The change was an encouraging sight, generating whiffs on the few times it was used against right handed hitters. There is still high reliever risk in the profile but there is also some positive variance here as well. The fastball and breaker both have the makings of plus offerings and if the change can take a step forward, Serwinowski could easily become one of the top left-handed pitching prospects in minor-league baseball.

Sounds like whether he can add a third pitch will determine his future role.

Right-handed reliever Paul Gervase is a 25-year-old who made his major league debut this year. He has a 4.26 ERA in just 6.1 innings so far with six strikeouts and five walks. More relevantly, he had a 3.12 ERA in AAA over 40.1 innings, striking out a whopping 63 while walking just 12.

He has a fastball that’s between 92-94 MPH, a cutter at 89-90 MPH, and a slider at 83-85 MPH. All of that plays up because he stands an enormous 6’10”. Before the season, his profile read something like that of a ROOGY.

Even though his fastball sits 91-94 mph, it’s a nightmare in on the hands of righties. His arm slot aids his slider’s playability, but that pitch lacks consistency because of Gervase’s lack of command, and the same is true of his low-90s cutter. He’s a high-probability relief contributor who might be limited to an up/down role because of his control.

Feels like a guy who could contribute this season.

That said, it’s another somewhat unknown quantity with questionable command and big strikeout totals for the pen. Maybe this one works out, and to be fair, he is a much better option than most of the others they’ve tried so far.

Ben Rortvedt is a 27-year-old catcher with a .186/.276/.265/.540 career line, and I’m pretty sure they only got him just in case something happens to Dalton Rushing after they traded away Feduccia. He has a .240/.323/.369/.692 career line in the minors, which has been a relatively steady thing as he has progressed through the levels.

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This isn’t the big splash that people want, but if Feduccia was going to continue wasting away in AAA, getting a legit pitching prospect and another high strikeout relief arm (plus an emergency catcher replacement) is a solid return.

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