The Phillies still have work to do at the trade deadline, but one of their biggest needs may already be getting addressed from within.
Right-handed hitting outfield help has been a priority, especially after the injury to Adolis Garcia. Philadelphia brought in Derek Hill, and he gave the club a nice jolt with a hot streak before settling in as a useful bench and depth piece. But the search for a more permanent answer on the right side of the outfield was still hanging out there.
Now Bryan De La Cruz is making that conversation a lot more interesting.
According to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, Don Mattingly is already leaning into De La Cruz as the starter in right field after the ex-Miami Marlins slugger got off to a strong start with the Phillies. Mattingly didn’t exactly hand out a full-throated guarantee, but he made it clear De La Cruz has earned a real look.
"Rico's been given a decent runway against right-handed pitching," Mattingly said. "It hasn't been as good as we'd like.
De La's been getting his hits, and I know he's going to be solid in the outfield and all that. So I don't feel like it's going to be worse than what we're seeing."
That’s not a declaration that De La Cruz has locked down the job for good, but it does sound like the Phillies are willing to ride this out and see where it goes.
And given what he’s done in such a small sample, it’s hard to argue with the approach.
De La Cruz has only 11 at-bats across five games, but the production has been loud. He’s collected eight hits, scored two runs, doubled once, homered once, driven in one run, walked once and struck out twice. That’s good for a .727 batting average and a 1.841 OPS heading into Wednesday’s day-game against the Marlins.
No one is pretending that kind of pace is sustainable over a full season. But right now, the Phillies don’t have much reason to move him out of the lineup, even when right-handed pitching is on the mound.
The early impact shows up in the value metric, too. De La Cruz has already posted 0.4 bWAR in Philadelphia, which is more than he produced over the last 433 games of his big-league career since 2022 before arriving in Philadelphia.
Among Phillies players, that 0.4 bWAR ranks seventh on the team this season. It puts him ahead of Trea Turner, Justin Crawford, Edmundo Sosa, Gabriel Rincones Jr. and Alec Bohm.
It may still be early to call De La Cruz the answer to the Phillies’ right-handed outfield issue. But he has done enough to force the team to take him seriously in that spot through the August 3 deadline, and maybe even after it.
In Other News...
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Phillies Deadline Push Could Finally Force A Painful Infield Decision
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Netos arrival would also force the Phillies to confront an uncomfortable question they have been able to sidestep so far: what happens to Alec Bohm. The third baseman has struggled this season, and adding a player like Neto could create the kind of infield pressure that makes Bohm the most obvious piece to move. For a team trying to balance immediate help with long-term fit, the deadline may finally push that decision into focus. [Read more 🡒]