The Phillies discovered their newest outfield member by striking early. Four days prior to the July 30 trade deadline, they acquired Austin Hays from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for outfielder Cristian Pache and reliever Seranthony Domínguez.
While Rob Thomson considers his options, Hays will play left field every day for the time being. For Baltimore, Domínguez will play a more crucial role. When the Phillies play the Guardians on Saturday night, Hays will probably make his debut.
Here are our Phillies Nation staff members’ thoughts on the deal.
Staff writer Bailey Digh: This move portends more to come.
The metrics clearly indicate that Hayes will make a valuable platoon partner for Brandon Marsh in left field, which is why the Phillies acquired him. Hays has a.894 OPS in his first 72 plate appearances this season versus left-handed opponents. He has a 126 wRC+ and is batting.282/.338/.478 against lefties since the beginning of 2021.
What the Phillies gave up in this trade is the more intriguing aspect of it. Pache most likely wasn’t going to be a member of the team beyond the trade deadline. However, the team may now have an extra spot available in the bullpen after trading Domínguez.
The Phillies acquired Hays by sending two major league players for him, but they still have a ton of prospects in their system that they might utilize in future deals. Perhaps the front office will go more proactive and add two high-leverage arms to really enhance the “pen” in instead of the one high-leverage arm they’ve apparently been pursuing.
Nathan Ackerman, writer for staff It’s not “the move” at all.
It’s fantastic on its own. The Phillies’ addition of a righty reliever would only serve to further reduce Domínguez’s already decreased role. Pache was a throwaway.
It can’t be “the” move, especially if their strategy is to platoon Marsh with Johan Rojas, who has been terrible against lefties, in the middle and start Hays every day. Rojas should ideally start against righties in the absence of any additional additions because his OPS against them is.619, while it is.403 versus lefties. Naturally, though, that wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) occur if Marsh is his platoon mate. Instead, Hays should bear the cost.
It’s a wonderful thing if they allow Marsh and Hays platoon in left. It would be fantastic if they added lefty-masher Lane Thomas to the platoon, with Marsh manning center and Hays playing left, so that Rojas’ glove could be used as a substitute. But there is some room for improvement in the existing plan.
I’ll say it straight up: Mike Elias, everyone’s favorite baseball executive, was just duped. Though Seranthony hasn’t been the same since and didn’t have much of a route to become one of the team’s reliable relievers in October of this year, we will all have pleasant memories of his run of dominance in the 2022 postseason and what he meant to the team’s rebirth. If things were reversed, the Orioles might feel like they pulled off a fleecing since they wanted to give younger guys more opportunities to play in the outfield. It must feel good, though, that the Phillies were able to retain all of their prospects and acquire the right-handed bat they required in the outfield.
However, it’s not a good sign for the Phillies as they attempt to acquire one or two high leverage arms if a trade like this reflects the cost of relief pitching in this market.
Both teams stand a potential to benefit greatly from this move, in my opinion.
Elias has created a ridiculous pipeline of talent for position players, which rendered Hays unnecessary. When the Phillies play against lefties, he will at the absolute least be an improvement in left field. He may be able to handle righties better than he has this year, based on his career statistics.
Regarding Domínguez, he’s a wonderful man with some amazing experiences. Though he’s lost control, he still possesses amazing qualities. I believe the Orioles will come out on top in this transaction if they can get him back on track.