Yankees acquire reliever Mark Leiter Jr. ahead of MLB trade ...

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Giancarlo Stanton takes BP as he returns from injury for Yankees

Before returning to the Yankees lineup from injury for the series against the Phillies, Giancarlo Stanton took some batting practice swings.

PHILADELPHIA – In a move to address their bullpen needs, the Yankees have swung a trade for Mark Leiter Jr.

As first reported by The Athletic and ESPN, the Yankees will send minor league prospects Jack Neely and Ben Cowles to the Chicago Cubs for the veteran reliever.

Officially, the Yankees announced the trade at 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, ahead of MLB's 6 p.m. trade deadline, with the club still in pursuit of a lefty reliever and another corner infield bat.

The son of Mark Leiter (who made his MLB debut with the 1990 Yankees) and nephew of Mets and Yankees lefty Al Leiter, the right-handed Mark Leiter Jr. is under team control through the 2026 season.

With the Cubs this year, Leiter Jr., 33, posted a 4.21 ERA in 39 games, with 53 strikeouts and 13 walks in 36.1 innings.

To make roster room, the Yankees traded lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson to the Houston Astros for a minor leaguer and international pool money, according to YES Network analyst Jack Curry.

Leiter Jr. posted an ERA-plus of 126 last year, as opposed to 99 this season (a hair below league average), but he’s limited right-handed hitters to a .188 batting average and .528 OPS; against lefty hitters, it’s .200/.532.

Though he had his moments, Ferguson, 28, was largely ineffective with the Yankees, posting a 5.13 ERA in 42 games.

Acquired in separate winter trades with the Dodgers, both lefties Ferguson and Victor Gonzalez failed to reproduce what the Yankees lost in free agent reliever Wandy Peralta, who signed with the Padres.

Gonzalez was designated for assignment last month and is now pitching with the Yanks' Triple-A affiliate.

Neely, 24, was a potential consideration for a late-season call-up by the Yankees, having recently been promoted to Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, posting a 3.38 ERA in nine relief appearances.

At Class AA Somerset this season, Neely posted a 2.61 ERA with 51 strikeouts vs. 12 walks in 31 innings, covering 22 relief appearances.

The 6-foot-8, 245-pound Neely was ranked the Yankees’ No. 22 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and the 6-foot, 180-pound Cowles was at No. 29.

A right-handed hitting infielder, Cowles, 24, was batting .294 with an .848 OPS at Somerset this year, with nine homers and 51 RBI in 88 games.

The Yankees are also taking a flyer on former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Brett Phillips who is trying a big-league comeback as a pitcher, as first reported by Francys Romero.