The Phillies think their new acquisition, Austin Hays, can play every day for them and will give him a chance to prove it.
“I’m going to give him an opportunity to be an everyday guy and we’ll see what we’ve got,” manager Rob Thomson said on Saturday afternoon, about 24 hours after the trade with Baltimore was completed.
Hays started for the Phillies Saturday in left field for his debut, batting ninth against right-handed Guardians starter Carlos Carrasco.
The right-handed-hitting Hays has been much better in his career against lefties with a .791 OPS compared to .727 vs. same-handed pitching. He’s hit .328/.394/.500 off lefties this season and just .204/.262/.323 vs. righties.
The Phillies had been looking for a right-handed-hitting outfielder because they don’t use Brandon Marsh (7-for-50 with 26 strikeouts) against lefties, and neither Whit Merrifield nor Cristian Pache hit enough as a platoon partner in left field. Merrifield was released two weeks ago and Pache was traded with Seranthony Dominguez to Baltimore on Friday for Hays.
The player who will lose the most playing time from the addition of Hays is not Marsh but Johan Rojas. Marsh was already sitting vs. lefties. As for Rojas, he’s now sitting vs. righties in favor of Hays. The arrangement most nights will be Hays in left field with Marsh in center.
“With all the left-handed hitters they’ve got in Baltimore, he didn’t get a chance to play every single day,” Thomson said. “We think that may have taken away some of the numbers against right-handed pitching.
“I’m going to let him go, he was an All-Star last year. It’s going to cut into Rojas’ time a little bit. I’ve talked to everybody. We’ll see what happens after 10 days or so and see where we’re at.”
The usually upbeat Marsh didn’t appear to be in the greatest of moods Friday or Saturday, probably because the Hays trade further solidifies his role as a platoon player, but the Phillies have to field their best nine and clearly don’t feel he’s one of them against southpaws. Consider their actions more than their words. Excluding openers they know will be out of the game by the time he first comes up, the Phillies haven’t started Marsh against a left-hander since May 16, sitting him 17 consecutive times.
“We’re trying because he’s working at it, he’s hitting off the machine in the cage and trying to stay in there and use the entire field,” Thomson said of Marsh. “But we still have to get Rojas some at-bats too. He’s a big-time prospect so I’ve got to get him ABs here and there.”
The Phillies have 54 more plate appearances against lefties than any team in baseball this season but are actually in a right-handed-heavy portion of their schedule. Friday night began a stretch where the Phils are slated to face a righty starter in eight of nine games. The only lefty they’re due to face between now and August 5 is the Yankees’ Nestor Cortes on Wednesday.
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