3 trades that would allow Phillies to acquire reliever and outfielder
The Philadelphia Phillies were probably always going to add a reliever before the July 30 trade deadline. You can never have enough quality arms in the bullpen.
But what type of reliever the Phillies need has probably changed based on how the month of July has played out. Entering this month, a medium-leverage arm — a reunion with Héctor Neris or David Robertson, perhaps — felt like it would suffice. Now, it feels like the Phillies unquestionably need another arm capable of closing, even if it’s not someone that will be labeled as the closer.
While a missed play by Brandon Marsh made things worse, Orion Kerkering struggled in Wednesday’s appearance against the Minnesota Twins, and on the team’s recently-concluded six game road trip as a whole. Gregory Soto has great stuff, but his command isn’t consistent enough to be counted on in high-leverage situations. Since the 2022 World Series, Seranthony Domínguez has a 4.19 ERA over 95 appearances. Even José Alvarado isn’t missing as many bats this year, as evidenced by the 9.95 ERA he has in July.
The Phillies still sent two relievers to the All-Star Game in Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm, so this is hardly a dire situation. But it’s apparent president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski needs to make another addition to avoid a bullpen collapse late in the postseason for the second year in a row.
