Breaking the Trend: A Phillies Trade Deadline Success Story

When it comes to making valuable acquisitions at the trade deadline, the Phillies have a dark history, especially within the last few seasons. In 2018, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera hit .277 with the New York Mets before posting a poor .228 batting average in 49 games with the Phillies.

2020 was the team’s saddest story. Aside from the life-altering pandemic and the lockout that abbreviated the season, in the world of Phillies baseball, 2020 is known as the year of the bullpen atrocities. With a chance at snapping a playoff drought, then-General Manager Matt Klentak made a strong attempt at bolstering the ever-deteriorating Phillies bullpen.They brought in closer David Phelps from the Milwaukee Brewers, who had a 2.77 ERA in his shortened season. In Philly, however, he allowed 11 runs in only 7.2 innings of work, adding to the mess that was the Phillies’ bullpen.

Fortunately, that wasn’t Kelntak’s only move. He acquired relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree from the Boston Red Sox, both of whom had been serviceable in the Sox’ bullpen. Three new relievers should do the trick, right?

Apparently not. In a combined 24 innings, Hembree and Workman allowed 24 runs, 12 home runs, and 14 walks. The trio, in addition to the rest of the Phillies’ bullpen, were miserable to watch. And to no one’s surprise, the playoff drought most certainly carried on.

Of course, 2021 brought us deja vu. Kyle Gibson was acquired after being selected as an all-star on the Texas Rangers, but he posted a 5.09 ERA in 12 games with the Phillies. Likewise, closer Ian Kennedy went from having 16 saves and a 2.51 ERA with the Rangers to a very mediocre 4.13 ERA with the Phils. After 2021, neither of these guys ever had a good season again.

In 2021, David Robertson came from the Cubs but ran out of gas down the stretch. Noah Syndergaard had his moments, but he was never the same as he was before getting surgery. A year later, Michael Lorenzen threw a no-hitter after joining the Phillies, but if you were to remove that start from his stat line, his ERA with the Phillies would have been 6.81.

Now that we’ve all taken that much-needed trip down memory lane, it’s only fair to acknowledge that the trend has shifted in a much more positive direction in recent years.

This season, the star of the show is clear. After being traded to the Phillies just hours before the August 3 trade deadline at 6 p.m., Luis Arraez has continued to slug in Phillies red. In his first three games, he is 5-13 with a home run, two doubles, and four RBI.

And in a top-heavy, power-filled lineup, Arraez is the much-needed addition of a pure contact hitter to the Phillies’ starting nine. He’s yet to record a strikeout in a Phillies uniform, and in his career, he has just a 5.9% strikeout rate. When you need a guy to put the ball in play, Arraez is undoubtedly the best option. He’s won four batting titles in his career, and if the season were to stop now, he’d bring home his fifth.

In addition to Arraez, the Phillies’ front office has had other improvements when it comes to their acquisitions at the trade deadline. Harrison Bader provided a spark at the bottom of the lineup toward the end of last season, and Jhoan Duran became one of baseball’s most elite closers. It would also be entirely unfair to ignore Brandon Marsh, who has continued his development into an all-star caliber player since coming to Philadelphia in 2022.

The Phillies made it clear that they needed help, and each year seems even more important as the Phillies’ chances at winning a World Series dwindle. As the core ages, the opportunities lessen. From telling the media that the team needs help ahead of the trade deadline to willingly returning to right field upon Luis Arraez’s retire, Phils’ star Bryce Harper has made it quite clear that he intends to do whatever it takes to win.

“It’s been great,” Harper told the Phillies’ broadcast team following a win against the Nationals. “[Luis] is going to bring a spark to our team. I’m excited to have him here.”

Luckily, that spark already exists, and for a Phillies team that approached the trade deadline facing their share of offensive struggles, the reinforcements came at a perfect time.

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