The significance of obtaining Austin Hays and its implications for the remaining Phillies outfield players
In exchange for Austin Hays, who has shown success against left-handed pitchers, the Phillies acquired another bat.
While the Phillies president of baseball operations claims he has been attempting to get the outfielder for the past few years, the team captain stated he does not view Hays as a platoon option.
Ultimately, according to Dave Dombrowski, it was about readjusting the outfield’s leather-to-log ratio.
The Phillies’ head of baseball operations stated, “We felt very comfortable to have a defensive player in center field in either (Johan) Rojas or (Cristian) Pache,” when positioned in the Citizens Bank press box.
Shortly after it was revealed on Friday that right-handed hitter Austin Hays, a 2023 All-Star, and reliever Seranthony Dominguez had been traded to the Orioles, Pache and Hays had been acquired.
But Brandon Marsh is completely unhittable against left-handed pitchers.
So all of a sudden we were playing two defensive players against a lefthander, in left field and in center field. And you can get by with that at times. But I think if you’re trying to do a little bit more, having a guy who can hit lefthanded pitching and hit it reasonably well in a big series may be extremely important.”
