RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesPHILADELPHIA – Luis Arraez to the rescue.
When the clock struck 6 p.m. on Aug. 3 and the trade deadline closed, his acquisition was the extent of the Phillies ’ quest for much-needed offensive improvement.
The rest of it involved returning Bryce Harper to right field, which turned out to be a rather unique and unconventional way to upgrade that position.
Adding second baseman Arraez, the National League’s leading hitter and a three-time batting champ, certainly does significantly upgrade a Phillies offense that ranked 14 th among the 15 National League teams in on-base percentage entering Monday’s game against Washington at Citizens Bank Park.
He’ll get on base, something the Phillies obviously don’t do often enough. They were scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning Monday night, before Derek Hill's epic grand slam erased a 3-0 deficit. Bryce Harper's two-run eighth-inning blast put a positive cap on a 6-3 win over the Nationals in front of 41,115.
Interim Phillies manager Don Mattingly compared Arraez, who came from the Giants, to a couple of his lofty contemporaries, Hall of Famers Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs, in his assessment of the deal. That's quite a compliment.
MLB.com rated Arraez's move to the Phillies as the third best deadline deal . But rarely has a trade emitted such ripples.
Harper returns to right field after three years at first base, his willingness to do so having spurred the Phillies to make the deal. Alec Bohm goes from third base to first base, where he actually may be better.
Bryson Stott moving from second base to third base, a position he has played in just two of his 680 big-league games after doing so in eight of his 169 minor-league appearances, is the big switch.
The baseball tends to arrive a little quicker and harder at third base than second base, making it a more difficult fielding job. Stott was primarily a shortstop in his college and minor-league careers and adjusted fine to second base, though that’s significantly less challenging than this change. But Stott is quite adept with the glove.
“We think it will work for us,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said.
The Phillies are last in MLB in defensive runs saved and those changes aren’t likely to alter that hideous mark, which can primarily be attributed to Trea Turner’s sometimes sloppy play at shortstop.
They also acquired reliever Caleb Kilian from the Giants with Arraez and reliever Brooks Raley from the Mets, with both deals simply costing the Phillies minor-league players. That certainly gives the bullpen a much-needed assist.
“We’re very thrilled with the moves we made,” Dombrowski said.
But the Phillies failed to address their need for a right-handed power bat and another starting pitcher to help ensure they reach the postseason for a fifth straight year, and they may regret that.
Certainly, the Phillies top three starters – Cristopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler and Jesus Luzardo – are as good as any. That bodes will for a postseason series. But they have to get there and right now a wild-card spot periodically appears iffy.
Fourth starter Aaron Nola gave up a pair of home runs in the first two innings Monday night, though his six-inning stint was otherwise promising. Fifth starter Andrew Painter’s strong outing July 31 in his return to the rotation in Baltimore played a part in the Phillies not dealing for another starter, Dombrowski said.
“Not only his last start,” Dombrowski said, “but his two starts before that [in Triple-A] . . . It made quite a bit of difference.”
As for the outfield, recent addition Bryan De La Cruz’s success – he took a .450 batting average over eight games into Monday – also played a role in the Phillies not making a move, though he has spent much of the last six years shuttling between Triple-A and the majors.
“We actually talked long and hard about what we were going to do with a right-handed bat,” Dombrowski said. “But when we looked at it we’ve been happy with the job that De La Cruz has done. We feel he’s earned that opportunity and when we compared it to other people who would be out there, we like him.”
Dombrowski has partially put his faith in a pair of recent Triple-A players – Painter and De La Cruz, a .253 career hitter – and a positional overhaul. It's a peculiar approach.
So did the Phillies do enough on trade deadline day, which did feature the type of clutch, unlikely at-bat (from Hill) that they'll need more of?
Probably not enough to win a National League pennant or World Series, despite Arraez’s impressive credentials and the boost the bullpen received.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Arraez is great pickup but did Phillies do enough at trade deadline?
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