Outfield help
At the time of the trade deadline, with Bryce Harper moving to first base on a more permanent basis and with Kyle Schwarber given more DH duties going forward, it had opened up a spot in the Phillies’ outfield that needed to be addressed. They did already have internal options with Johan Rojas and Jake Cave to help fill the void, but they were open to explore potential external help if the opportunity presented itself.
3. Randal Grichuk
One of those options was Randal Grichuk from the Colorado Rockies. After all, despite a little lack of power to show for in 2023, Grichuk was actually having an impressive year with the Rockies, as he was hitting a career-best .308 with an .861 OPS, 120 OPS+, with 40 runs scored, 19 doubles, eight home runs, 27 RBI, two stolen bases, 18 walks and 51 strikeouts in just 64 games played. He had shown in the past to average close to 20 home runs a season, along with providing some solid defence, as he only committed two errors all year with the Rockies. As a result, he would be a prime candidate to help bolster the Phillies’ outfield and offense at the same time.
Grichuk ended up going to the Angels in the end, and boy, are we glad the Phillies didn’t pick him up. Despite showing some pop in his brief time with the Angels with five home runs, he has become a total shell of himself since moving away from the hitting haven of Coors Field. In 33 games, Grichuk has hit a dismal .179 with a .589 OPS, 12 runs scored, four doubles, five home runs, nine RBI, while striking out 30 times in just 117 at-bats. Together with the pitiful performance of Giolito as mentioned before, the Angels became victims of their own undoing from their moves at the trade deadline.
At least both Rojas and Cave have produced respectable results with the Phillies, along with the fact that Schwarber still gets his reps in left field from time to time as well despite his defensive liabilities. Altogether, they have kept the run production up for the Phillies in helping them succeed in their current playoff run.