The Trade Deadline ended up being a little bittersweet for the Philadelphia Phillies. President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski did add a bat and tried to work on the bullpen, but other needs were seemingly overlooked. That included adding a right-handed bat.
This comes in a season where right-handed hitting has been an issue for the Phillies. Alec Bohm, Trea Turner, and J.T. Realmuto have all underperformed while Adolis Garcia is out for the season with an injury. That leaves the best Phillies hitters hitting from the left side of the plate, and has made facing lefty starting pitchers a major challenge.
The Phillies have a .232 average and .693 OPS against lefties, to go along with 42 home runs. Against righties, they’re hitting .242 with a .716 OPS. That’s before the jump to 103 home runs, though it also admittedly comes in significantly more at-bats.
Regardless, it’s a clear issue that Dombrowski seemingly overlooked. However, as he recently explained to The Athletic, the Phillies did look for a right-handed hitting outfielder. He just didn’t want a platoon player and that’s who was mostly available.
“When you look at a right-handed hitting outfielder, as far as an everyday guy that would be a force in the middle of the lineup, we could not find one out there,” Dombrowski said. “There were guys that we liked that we thought would make us better, but they were almost all platoon guys. … We just couldn’t find that guy. And then you start saying, ‘OK, well, how are we going to make our offense better?’”
Since the Trade Deadline on August 3rd, the Phillies are 3-1, taking a four-game series from the Washington Nationals. Now sitting in the second Wild Card slot, Philadelphia can’t afford to slip in the next two months.
What the Philadelphia Phillies Did at the Trade Deadline
GettyPhiladelphia Phillies second baseman Luis Arraez
Just because Dave Dombrowski didn’t add a right-handed bat at the Trade Deadline doesn’t mean the Philadelphia Phillies sat on their hands. Instead, they made a couple of interesting moves.
The bullpen has been an issue for the Phillies this season. So, they added Brooks Raley and Caleb Kilian to give themselves new options out of the bullpen.
The headline move was for Luis Arraez. A left-handed hitting second baseman, Arraez is known for his contact hitting and seeming refusal to strikeout, something the Phillies desperately needed in their lineup.
What the Arraez addition also did was force a complete lineup shakeup. Arraez can really only play second base. So, Bryson Stott was moved to third. Meanwhile, Alec Bohm was shipped to first base and Bryce Harper went back to the outfield.
“We just couldn’t find that guy that was available that we thought was a legitimate upgrade of our club — but we felt that Arraez was,” Dombrowski said. “And then how could we make it work? Well, that’s when all the other conversations came into play. But we really explored all of the different markets.”
The Unknown Right-Handed Bat the Phillies Did Add
GettyColby Thomas playing with the Athletics
Just ahead of the Trade Deadline, the Phillies did trade for a right-handed-hitting outfielder. It’s just that it was a minor league trade.
The Phillies sent right-handed pitcher Seth Johnson to the Athletics. Coming back to Philadelphia was Colby Thomas, a former top prospect and right-handed outfielder.
As recently as 2025, Thomas was the No. 3 prospect in the Athletics’ system, trailing Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz. However, he struggled mightily when given opportunities in MLB. In 104 games over two seasons and 253 at-bats, he has a career .214 batting average, .252 OBP, .376 slugging percentage, and .628 OPS. That’s after hitting .309 with a .971 OPS in Triple-A a season ago.
At 25 years old, the hope is that Thomas needs a change of scenery or a new voice coaching him. If that works out in Lehigh Valley, there is still room for him to make his impact felt on the Phillies and become a flyer that was very much worth taking.
Phillies President Dave Dombrowski Explains Not Trading for Right-Handed Bat