How Bryan De La Cruz's arrival turned Phillies' bench from serviceable to elite

It took four tries before the Philadelphia Phillies found their final outfielder. Otto Kemp was a disaster after a strong finish to 2025; in 25 plate appearances, he had only two hits. Fool me once. Felix Reyes couldn’t have asked for a better start to his career when he homered off Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale in his first MLB at-bat; he never hit another home run. Fool me twice. Former third-round pick Gabriel Rincones Jr. showed just as much promise, homering in his first time at the dish in Citizens Bank Park, only to go 2-for-his-last-27 before being demoted. Fool me thrice.

So you would have to forgive Phillies fans and brass for not being bullish when Bryan De La Cruz went 7-for-11 upon being called up to the big-league club. We’d all seen it before. This time everyone knew the Quadruple-A corner outfielder was just a flash in the pan. That’s except for Dave Dombrowski. 

It would have been understandable to fall anywhere on the scale from annoyed to apoplectic the day of the trade deadline when the 59-53 Phillies decided not to pursue another outfielder in lieu of De La Cruz. Another deadline, another season, squandered.

“There were guys that we liked that we thought would make us better, but they were all, almost all, platoon guys that we felt would fit that bill for us. And in the meantime, over the last couple weeks we had brought up Bryan De La Cruz, who was actually done very well for us and he's been a good big-league player in the past, a solid guy,” Dombrowski told Jason Stark on the Starkville podcast August 8.

Since the Phillies promoted six-year journeyman vet De La Cruz from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, the squad is 23-15.

Correlation does not equal causation. De La Cruz is not solely responsible for the Phillies’ hot streak, but he has enabled the team to be more flexible with their day-to-day lineup construction. He’s become a part of the best bench corps the Phillies have deployed since Dombrowski took over as president of baseball operations in 2021.

Bryan De La Cruz and running mate Derek Hill have changed Phillies' trajectory

The development of Derek Hill, likewise, into defensive stalwart and late-inning sparkplug has been a revelation. He has already eclipsed his single-season record for most plate appearances in a season at 193 and should make his first ever playoff roster.

After a seriously rocky start to 2026, Edmundo Sosa is slashing .272/.315/.466 since June 13. He went 11-for-26 in August.

De La Cruz, meanwhile, was one of just two Phillies in Wednesday afternoon’s loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks to show a glimmer of life for a tired offense. Since joining the club, he’s slashing .354/.389/.542.  He and Hill are two of only four Phillies with an OPS over .750.

Most important, however, is the positional flexibility that the Phillies’ bench now boasts. Manager Don Mattingly has the freedom to make almost any pinch-hit substitution with the knowledge that he leaves extra bullets in the chamber for later innings.

Hill and Garret Stubbs have both been used regularly as late-inning pinch runners for Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. Even if the Phillies’ lone bench infielder, Sosa, is burned early in a game, Harper can move back to first base in lieu of Hill or De La Cruz if either comes in to pinch-hit against a tough lefty.

Furthermore, all three of Sosa, De La Cruz, and Hill have had an outsized impact relative to their playing time late in games. Despite limited time on the big-league roster—just 54 plate appearances—De La Cruz is sixth on the Phillies in WPA, Hill is fifth, and Sosa is third.

Using FanGraphs' clutch stat, a method that values a players contributions even more so in high leverage situations, Sosa tops all Phillies hitters, with Hill placing fourth and De La Cruz seventh.

This is inherently unsustainable. Few players, if any, throughout baseball history have displayed an ability to hit in the clutch year over year. It’s just not a repeatable skill the same way OBP, ERA, or exit velocity is.

But the Phillies don’t need years of clutch performance from Sosa, Hill, and De La Cruz. Two more months is all they will ask. These three players will find themselves in more high-leverage situations. It’s just the nature of being a bench player.

And now that the dust of the trade deadline has settled, and the Phillies’ roster makeup seems clear, De La Cruz and the Phillies bench aren’t fooling anyone. They’re the real deal.

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