Phillies: Five reasons to be excited about the stretch run

The Trades

After watching the bigger names on the market, such as Manny Machado and a slew of relievers, get traded to places not called Philadelphia, fans started to get anxious as Matt Klentak stood his ground and trade reports began to quiet down.  Much to everyone’s relief, the Phillies brass went out and made some impressive moves that both help them in the short-term and do them no harm in the long-term.

On July 27, SNY reported that the club was able to acquire Asdrubal Cabrera from the Mets in exchange for the 10th overall prospect Franklyn Kilome.  Cabrera is likely a rental player, but is in the midst of one of his best seasons at 32 years old.  On the season, he is hitting .272/.324/.482 with 20 home runs and 64 RBI.

The returns on the Cabrera trade have already been tangible, as he has come through with a couple of big hits.

He is a bat that the lineup badly needed.

On the day of the July 31 trade deadline, the Phils acquired 31-year-old catcher Wilson Ramos from the Rays and LHP Aaron Loup from the Blue Jays for, essentially, a bag of peanuts and Crackerjacks.  No disrespect to the “player-to-be-named” or the cash, if that ends up being the outcome.  They were able to get Ramos at such a discounted price because he is on the last year of his contract and he was on the DL with a hamstring injury.  Loup should help bolster a surprisingly hot Phillies bullpen.

Philadelphia Phillies

Ramos should return in mid-August from his injury, which is great news for this team.  Plain and simple, his addition to the lineup should make a big difference.  He is hitting a slash line of .297/.346/.488 with 14 home runs and 53 RBI in 293 at-bats.  The Phillies catchers, this season, have hit .237/.311/.374 with 11 home runs and 42 RBI in 439 at-bats.  We can move on.

Yesterday, the Phillies traded for 1B Justin Bour from the Marlins.  It is not a move that will provide much fanfare and it is not an alternative for all of the Carlos Santana haters out there, but he will provide some additional pop off the bench with the ability to spot-start.

Bour is hitting just .227 on the season, only a couple of points higher than Santana’s .219 average, but he does have 19 home runs and 54 RBI in 374 at-bats this year.

The difference between the trade for Bour and those of Cabrera and Ramos is team control.  If they so choose, the Phillies have Bour under contract for two more seasons.  Considering they acquired him for only a minor league pitcher, it seems like a big win for the Phils.