Phillies ‘Underestimated’ Outfield Drop-Off Since Bryce Harper’s Position Change

The Philadelphia Phillies’ main goal at the deadline is to add relievers. However, their outfield is struggling to produce offensively as a unit.

Currently, Nick Castellanos is the only outfielder who holds an OPS greater than .700 for the Phillies. While Kyle Schwarber can play the outfield, he’s excluded from the group since he’s the primary designated hitter.

“Since Harper’s last game as a right fielder — April 16, 2022 in Miami — the Phillies ranked 11th in slugging (.415) and 12th in OPS (.730) from the three outfield spots entering the weekend,” wrote Scott Lauber for The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Most of that production came in right (.425 slugging, .738 OPS), where Castellanos took over and has remained since Harper moved to first base midway through 2023. But the overall picture at the position is much worse. The Phillies’ post-Harper outfield ranked 21st among 30 teams with 16.4 wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs. The nine teams with fewer outfield WAR combined for only four playoff appearances in the last three seasons.”

You don’t need a math degree or the title of world’s biggest baseball fan to know things are bleak in the Philadelphia outfield. However, as Lauber, points out, there’s not much room for improvement in July.

“And with slugging outfielders in high demand and short supply across the sport, it’s difficult to spot a difference-making solution for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to chase before the July 31 trade deadline,” wrote Lauber. “The bigger problem is that the Phillies never adequately replaced Harper’s bat in the outfield, in part because they underestimated an industry-wide downward trend in offense from the position.”

If the Phillies can convince Ryan O’Hearn to move to the outfield, he would be the best option to take over in left field to provide some juice in the lineup. Otherwise, the Phillies have to hope they can survive until the offseason.

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