It has been quite the week in terms of roster construction for the Phillies.
With two Trade Deadline moves completed and the potential for more, the Phillies roster is not set in stone quite yet. With their new additions, the organization had to make other corresponding moves. The team also announced some injury news for a handful of players along the way.
With there being roughly 25 hours until the Major League Baseball trade deadline is completed, the following is an up-to-date recap of the Phillies’ latest roster moves.
Phillies complete trades with Orioles & Angels
On Friday, July 26th the Phillies struck an agreement with the Baltimore Orioles.
The club acquired outfielder Austin Hays from the O’s while trading longtime reliever Seranthony Dominguez and outfielder Cristian Pache in the deal.
Hays was related to a bench role in Baltimore over the past several months. This has more to do with the Orioles having a surplus of young talent, than baseball ability for Austin. He is expected to get regular time in left field according to Rob Thomson, which pushes Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas into a platoon split in centerfield.
Then on Saturday evening, the Phillies made another deal. This time it was with the Los Angeles Angels, a common trade partner under Dave Dombrowski.
The Phillies added closer Carlos Estevez while parting with prospects George Klassen and Sam Aldegheri. Baseball America said these were the Phillies’ #5 and #7 ranked prospects respectively.
After dealing Dominguez, the Phillies needed to replenish their bullpen. The market for relievers is very high at this season’s deadline, making it so the club had to spend to gain a good player. With a majority of the rotation locked in moving forward, the Phillies could spare to move on from these players.
Injury News
The Phillies then placed Ranger Suarez on the 15-Day Injured List (retroactive to July 24th). Ranger has been battling with injury over the past month and has noticeably pitched to harder contact and limited control. This of course is compared to the elite start he had to this season.
Suarez was replaced by Kolby Allard in the starting rotation. Allard joined the Phillies this off-season and spent time in Spring Training with the team. He has pitched the entire season at Triple-A in Lehigh Valley.
The lefty made his first start with the Phillies on Sunday, pitching four innings and allowing 3 earned runs. He did not get the decision in this ballgame as the Phils went on to lose 4-3 against the Guardians.
An update was also provided regarding Taijaun Walker.
The veteran right-hander will begin a rehab assignment with the Reading Fightin Phils in Double-A. The expectation would then be for him to move up to Triple-A for another start, before returning to Philadelphia. It is very possible that Taijaun will be activated in the middle of August.
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
