The Philadelphia Phillies are in a similar spot as the New York Yankees.
Neither organization has won a World Series in almost two decades, and their respective position player cores are aging.
Each club’s offense is left-handed-heavy. The Phillies have Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Bryson Stott, and Justin Crawford batting from the left side.
Third baseman Alec Bohm, a right-handed hitter, is headed to free agency this offseason.
FanSided’s Zachary Rotman believes that, like the Yankees, the Phillies need a “potent” right-handed bat for their lineup.
“The Philadelphia Phillies find themselves in a similar spot to the Yankees. They’ve consistently made the playoffs on the back of an elite rotation, but have repeatedly fallen short thanks to their lineup’s inability to score runs.
“They scored just nine runs (an average of three per game) in three Wild Card series games, which just isn’t enough to win you a series most of the time,” Rotman wrote.
Simply, the Phillies lack a right-handed hitter who can be an everyday contributor.
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Trea Turner is not the same level of producer he once was, and the same can be said about J.T. Realmuto and Bryan De La Cruz.
“Trea Turner is probably their best right-handed hitter now, and he’s heavily regressed. If the Phillies want to seriously compete, they’re going to need to add to their lineup in a huge way, and the best way for them to do that would be by adding a big right-handed option,” Rotman added.
Expect Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to be looking for a right-handed slugger this winter.
