Injury misfortune came down hard on the Philadelphia Phillies this past week, as right fielder Adolis García tore his right lat and promptly headed to the 60-Day Injured List.
While García hasn't been a productive bat for Philadelphia this season, his defense will be sorely missed. The Phillies hope that Gabriel Rincones Jr. can help make up for García's absence, but the 25-year-old Rincones is far from a sure thing, having never appeared in a Major League Baseball game until Friday.
Philadelphia doesn't have the margin for error to give an unsure thing time to feel things out. The Phillies are going to be caught in a vicious, competitive landscape for a National League Wild Card berth between now and the end of the regular season. As of Monday, eight teams were within 3.5 games of one another for the three spots.
To improve their margin, Philly is expected to hit the trade market for another outfielder, and USA Today's MLB insider Bob Nightengale identified a couple of targets for Don Mattingly's club on Sunday.
"[The Phillies] have Angels right fielder Jo Adell and Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki on their radar," Nightengale wrote.
The Phillies will be desperately looking to acquire an outfielder at the trade deadline, per @BNightengale
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) June 14, 2026
Seiya Suzuki and Jo Adell are on Philadelphia’s radar. pic.twitter.com/grUpT1ukTz
Seiya Suzuki revealed as Phillies trade target in recent rumors
Suzuki, who has a banged-up knee at the moment (but is expected to be fine), is hitting .255/.339/.433/.772 this season with 10 home runs and 28 RBI for the Cubs. Suzuki is a career .267/.345/.468/.813 hitter in MLB; he's also a capable defensive outfielder, having bagged five Gold Gloves in the NPB from 2016-2021 (though we wouldn't say his defense has remained at that level).
Suzuki has been on Phillies fans' radar ever since he was on the verge of coming over to MLB from the NPB in 2022. Zoom ahead four years, and the Phillies have never needed Suzuki more than they do now. Philadelphia has struggled to get any offensive production from guys not named Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, or Brandon Marsh this season. It's bound to catch up to the Phils, and/or heap overwhelming pressure on their pitching staff. Only two MLB teams have scored fewer runs than the Phillies this season, and only two teams have a lower collective OPS.
It's not surprising that Suzuki's .772 OPS this season would be the fourth-best on the Phillies this season. Suzuki also hits from the right side of the plate, which is something the Phillies' lineup needs more of.
Transforming a weakness into a strength, or bad circumstances into an advantage, is what winners are made of. With all due respect to García, if the Phillies were able to snag Suzuki on the trade market they'd be bringing in a superior right fielder, given his offensive struggles of late. This could end up making the Phillies a better baseball team than if García had never gotten hurt in the first place.
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