3 Phillies who will see less playing time after trade deadline, 2 who will see more
Whose playing time will be affected by the fallout from the Phillies' trade deadline moves?
The Philadelphia Phillies made their fair share of trade deadline deals to help bolster the ball club for the stretch run. The moves altered the landscape to some extent in terms of the Phillies’ starting lineup as well as the bullpen situation.
As a result, let’s take a look at three Phillies players who will likely see less playing time going forward and two other Phillies players who will benefit from the fallout from the deadline and actually get some valuable time on the field.
3 Phillies who will see less playing time after trade deadline, 2 who will see more
Johan Rojas will see less playing time
Entering the 2024 season, many were wondering if Johan Rojas could secure a starting job on a potent Phillies roster. Despite constantly displaying Gold Glove-caliber defense in the outfield, Rojas still had a suspect bat that perhaps wasn’t quite major-league ready yet.
That certainly held true during the early parts of the season. Rojas struggled out of the gate by registering just one hit and two runs scored in his first eight games. Since then, he has picked up his game a bit more, as he now sports a .238 batting average and .572 OPS with 23 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 82 games played. However, with only eight extra-base hits all season and a greater than 5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, his performance at the plate still leaves a lot to be desired.
With Austin Hays coming to Philadelphia at the trade deadline to be an everyday outfielder, the Phillies have no choice but to cut back the playing time of the least productive outfielder. According to Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia, manager Rob Thomson said that Rojas would see his playing time cut.
Because of his elite defense, he'll still get the odd start here and there. But Rojas will likely be most effective now as a late-inning defensive replacement and/or pinch-runner — taking over the role left by the departed Cristian Pache.
Matt Strahm will see less playing time
After signing a two-year deal with the Phillies in December 2022, Matt Strahm served as a “jack-of-all-trades” pitcher for the team in 2023. Whether he was starting, acting as an opener, being a middle-inning bulk reliever, shutting down opposing hitters as a setup man, or even closing out a game or two, he managed to do it all and quite effectively.
This season has been a coming-out party for the nine-year MLB veteran. Serving primarily as a reliever, he has taken his game to another level. He was practically unhittable in his first 32 games of the year, posting a jaw-dropping 0.86 ERA while giving up just 19 hits, four walks and 40 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings pitched. In doing so, Strahm earned his first-ever All-Star nod in the process.
However, Strahm has surprisingly started to struggle during the past month, having yielded eight earned runs in his past 12 appearances. Perhaps fatigue is beginning to be a factor for the 32-year-old, as he is currently only 12 appearances away from his career-high of 56, just set last season.
The Phillies' recent trade acquisition of left-handed reliever Tanner Banks from the Chicago White Sox, giving the Phillies a lefty specialist in the bullpen, it should help ease the load on Strahm going forward so that he can get back to his effective ways.
José Alvarado will see less playing time
Following the departure of closer Craig Kimbrel in the offseason, José Alvarado was expected to seamlessly take over the closer’s role this year for Philadelphia. After all, he had been one of the Phillies’ most reliable relievers the previous couple of seasons and has had some success in a fill-in role as the closer before.
However, things have certainly not gone to plan for the struggling Alvarado, as his ERA has now ballooned to over 4.00 for the first time since his first year with the Phillies in 2021. For 2024, he has compiled a 1-5 record while going 13-for-16 in save opportunities, along with a 4.36 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 45 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings pitched in 47 appearances.
With the key addition of Carlos Estévez to help anchor the back end of the bullpen, it should help alleviate some of the pressure off of Alvarado’s shoulders. Estévez will likely get the majority of the opportunities to close out games in the coming months.
The Phillies can comfortably move Alvarado back into more situational and setup roles which has been his forte in recent years. In addition, by giving him enough rest days in between appearances, we should soon see the Alvarado that we are accustomed to back in due time.
Austin Hays will see more playing time
Despite being a productive hitter for the Baltimore Orioles in the past three seasons prior to 2024, Austin Hays was relegated to a lesser role this year due to the rise of rookie Colton Cowser. As a result, Hays became an expendable piece for the Orioles at the trade deadline, and the Phillies quickly jumped on the opportunity to boost their outfield.
For those wondering what Hays’ track record looked like, he was a recent All-Star just last season and has the ability to average a productive 20+ home runs and 70+ RBI per season. On top of that, he has quietly become a solid defender, holding a lifetime .994 fielding percentage as an outfielder along with 20 DRS. Both Thomson and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski believe that Hays can be a solid contributor if given the time to play every day.
"But we think [Hays] can hit left-handed and right-handed pitching. ... We don’t think he’s just in a position where he has to be platooned by any means," Dombrowski said of Hays, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
So far, the Phillies have done exactly that and have reaped the benefits. Hays has already scored three runs, hit his first home run, driven in four runs and picked up two stolen bases in his first five games with the team. With the Phillies looking to maximize the potential of their deadline acquisition, look for Hays to continue receiving the vast majority of the starts in left field going forward.
Brandon Marsh will see more playing time
Both Rojas and Brandon Marsh came into the 2024 season looking to take a firm grasp on a starting role in the outfield. While Rojas struggled to start the season, Marsh instead impressed by beginning the year on a hot streak. In his first 25 games, he was among the offensive leaders of the Phillies, hitting close to .300 with 10 runs scored, six home runs and 16 RBI.
But as the season progressed, Marsh gradually normalized more towards the mean and was back to being more in line with his usual yearly production. For the season, he's batting .248 with a .750 OPS, along with 36 runs scored, 10 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, 41 RBI and 12 stolen bases. They're not eye-popping numbers, but they are still a considerably better offensive output than his fellow outfielder Rojas.
With the arrival of Hays, who was expected to play almost every day, it was believed that Marsh would split starts with Rojas in center field the rest of the way. However, with Marsh providing the much stronger bat while having a career year defensively, with 15 DRS and five outfield assists in 85 games, he'll likely end up with the majority of the starts over Rojas, per NBC Sports Philadelphia's Corey Seidman.
Add that to the fact that Marsh also bats left-handed, and it prevents the Phillies starting lineup from being right-handed heavy by keeping lefty-righty balance intact to create nightmare matchups for the opposition.
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