Sure, the Phillies’ centerfield position is a problem, Matt Moore has been abysmal thus far, and the everyday hitters have been streaky but look past all of that. Who is going to come off the bench and get a clutch hit late in the game against a left-handed pitcher? Andrew Knapp is a better left-handed hitter so that does not work. Do you really want Ronald Torreyes? Don’t even get me started on Roman Quinn; I would rather put myself up at the plate with my .517 batting average from freshman ball.
The Philadelphia Phillies have zero depth when it comes to a right-handed bat off the bench. It is a glaring weakness that any playoff team has to fill and take care of. This is where my attention turns to Dave Dombroski.
Dave Dombrowski has done a great job so far constructing this team but his work is not done yet. He has a couple of different options available to him.
Thin Pickens Within the Phillies’ Organization
Scott Kingery could be an option but do the Phillies think he is ready? They had an opportunity to call him up when Adam Haseley left for personal reasons but chose Mickey Moniak instead. Kingery was a very productive player in 2019 as he batted .258 and hit 19 home runs. He took a dip in 2020 only hitting .159 with 3 home runs in a shortened season. Coming into spring training, there were high hopes for Scott Kingery but he just could not put the bat on the ball consistently. As he was striking out almost every at-bat, the Phillies sent him to the minors. They really want to have all the kinks ironed out before a recall to the big leagues. All in all, Scott Kingery is the only real option in Triple-AAA right now and even he is not major league-ready yet.
Help Outside the Organization
Depending on Scott Kingery’s progress with the Leigh Valley Iron Pigs, Dave Dombrowski might want to look outside the organization. Jedd Gyorko is an option. He is a free agent who last played for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2020 and hit .248 with 9 home runs. He can give the Phillies some pop off the bench to go along with playoff experience, which would be a giant upgrade.
The Phillies killer himself, Ryan Braun is also a free agent who could also be a fit. He is not liked very much in this town for his steroid stint and his crazy offensive numbers playing against the Phillies. However, he would be a quality option that wants to prove he can still play. In 2020, he batted .233 with 8 home runs. If signed, it would only be for the rest of this season. This would make him a team-friendly, risk-reward type of deal that might be worth it.
I am not saying to massively go over the luxury tax, but Joe Girardi needs a go to hitter late in games that can produce. John Middleton needs to let Dave Dombrowski do whatever he needs to help this team go to the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
Outside of the everyday starting lineup, this team needs hitting depth and lots of it.
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