The Philadelphia Phillies are reeling down the stretch and their recent turn of miserable baseball has fans wondering if they’ll even make the playoffs. Thursday and Friday's duds against the Brewers and Rays further imperiled the club in both the Wild Card standings and on the field. Second baseman Luis Arraez’s scary ankle injury could throw the entire team out of whack, once again casting a spotlight on their wretched outfield.
In the sixth inning of Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to the Brewers, Arraez sprinted down the line trying to beat a throw to first base. In an effort to avoid a tag, Arraez landed awkwardly on his left ankle, immediately crumpling to the ground in obvious pain. The trade deadline acquisition was pulled from the contest, with Bryson Stott shifting back over to the keystone and Edmundo Sosa replacing him at the hot corner. The team later announced that Arraez had suffered an ankle sprain, though the severity was not disclosed.
Arraez hasn’t been particularly impressive since coming over from the San Francisco Giants, but that doesn’t mean the Phillies wouldn’t dearly miss him. In 46 games wearing red pinstripes, Arraez has posted just a .278 batting average, well below his career mark of .316. And yet, in spite of the underwhelming nature of Arraez’s tenure, his .678 OPS in Philly slots him ahead of lineup fixtures Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto and Justin Crawford.
Any prolonged absence from Arraez would leave the Phillies without their regular cleanup hitter and one of the squad’s few contact-oriented bats. Moreover, his subtraction would open up a hole in the Phillies’ starting lineup; a hole they are woefully unprepared to fill.
If Arraez is forced to sit out a playoff matchup (which ... yeah), the Phillies have a few ways to rejigger their lineup; none of them inspiring. As shown on Thursday, one solution would be to move Stott back to second base while plugging Sosa in at third. Sosa hits left-handers well enough, but struggles against same-handed pitching and has a sub-.700 OPS on the season.
X-ray on Luis Arraez’s left ankle was negative, according to Don Mattingly. Phillies will evaluate further when he comes in Friday.
— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) September 25, 2026
Lots of machinations if he can’t play, including possible move of Bryce Harper back to 1B.
Another permutation would be to readjust the outfield mix that was thrown off back in early August when Arraez came to town in the first place. Bryce Harper has been inhabiting right field these days after punching bag Alec Bohm was moved from third base to first, which was caused by Stott shifting from second to third in deference to Arraez. Losing Arraez pulls on the one thread in the tapestry that would theoretically allow everything to go back to normal.
The Phillies' continued outfield struggles make replacing Luis Arraez even more difficult
So is it really as simple as moving everyone back to where they had been pre-Arraez? Harper back to first, Bohm to third and Stott to second? No it isn’t. The reason the Phillies were willing to subject themselves to this game of musical chairs a few weeks ago was because of how horrifying their right field mix had been.
Free agent acquisition Adolis García put up an anemic .599 OPS before going down for the year with an arm injury, and minor league call-up Gabriel Rincones Jr. struggled mightily in his first taste of the big leagues after that. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski ostensibly tried to find an outfield bat that would help, but came up empty on the trade market, leading to the Rube Goldberg machine of an Arraez solution.
Despite his poor glovework, Harper has certainly filled the right field gap to the front office’s satisfaction, as he leads the team with an .867 OPS on the year. So what happens if Harper is moved back to first base to cover for an Arraez injury?
That would likely lead to an influx of playing time for bench pieces Derek Hill and Bryan De La Cruz, both of whom have outperformed expectations in platoon capacities, but are likely to become overexposed in expanded roles. Unfortunately, the Phillies may not have a better option. Giving Sosa more run in the infield poses the same issues, as the super-utilityman has proven over the years that he levels off when given regular playing time.
Assuming Arraez is out for a meaningful amount of time, the best course of action is likely to bite the bullet and play Hill and De La Cruz more than is advisable in right field. There’s always the chance that they can keep up their hot-hitting into the postseason. Moreover, the added benefit of removing Harper’s granite glove from the outfield grass would not only tighten up the team’s porous defense, but would also take some wear and tear off of their superstar when they need him the most.
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