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The Philadelphia Phillies have a need in the outfield that they could try to address at the trade deadline. Outside of Nick Castellanos, none of the Phillies’ outfielders have consistently produced at the plate.
The Phillies may not be overly enthused with what outfielders are available, but they could target a first baseman and indirectly fix their outfield woes. Bryce Harper has reportedly noted he’s open to moving back to the outfield to help the team, and the president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, spoke on a potential position change.
“Well, Bryce has said that,” Dombrowski said to The Athletic. “Bryce will be willing to do whatever needs to be done. And that’s one of the many things that are great about him. (But) I would really prefer not to do that.”
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Harper was originally an outfielder, but an injury to his throwing arm in 2023 led to him switching to first base. However, it seems like he is able to move back to the outfield if needed.
The Phillies would clearly like to keep him at first base, which means they will have to do their homework on outfielders at the deadline. Harper is also currently on the injured list with a wrist injury.
Max Kepler has a .691 OPS and a .211 average. Brandon Marsh has a .713 OPS and Johan Rojas has a .558 OPS. The Phillies need better offensive outfielders to deploy with Castellanos. However, there may not be many available.
Not many teams are guaranteed to be sellers, and the ones that are may not have the best outfielders. A player like Bryan Reynolds would be great, but would he cost too much?
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