Phillies swing deal with O's for Hays to boost OF options

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies on Friday checked one of two boxes on their July 30 Trade Deadline to-do list.

They traded right-hander Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache to Baltimore for outfielder Austin Hays, who could be much more than a platoon player in left field. Hays, who was the starting American League center fielder in last year’s All-Star Game, could see regular playing time in left, possibly pushing Brandon Marsh into shared time in center with Johan Rojas.

“To go from one first-place team to another one is probably everything you could ask for as a player,” Hays said following Philadelphia’s 3-1 loss to Cleveland at Citizens Bank Park on Friday night. “There’s not very many teams you could feel like you’re upgrading in a way from where you were when your [former] team was in first place. But that’s how I feel. I feel like I’m coming into a place where we have an even better chance of winning a World Series.”

TRADE DETAILS
Phillies receive: OF Austin Hays
Orioles receive: RHP Seranthony Domínguez, OF Cristian Pache

“We’ve liked Hays for a few years,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said at Citizens Bank Park. “We’ve actually tried to acquire him the last two [Trade] Deadlines and have been asked for much more than we’ve wanted to give. He’s a good hitter. I know he hasn’t played all that much this year. He’s gotten squeezed out in playing time with the amount of good young outfielders that they have.

“When we’ve seen him, we’ve liked him. He can hit. He’s a gamer. He can play left field well, and we’re looking for a bit better at-bats from the right side and he fits it.”

The Phillies still plan to acquire at least one high-leverage relief pitcher before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, especially following Domínguez’s departure.

“We were already kind of looking toward bullpen,” Dombrowski said. “That's something we'll continue to pursue.”

Hays, 29, is slashing .255/.316/.395 with three home runs, 14 RBIs and a .711 OPS in 175 plate appearances this season. But in 72 plate appearances against lefties, he’s slashing .328/.394/.500 with one home run and seven RBIs.

Hays’ .894 OPS against lefties is 41st out of 212 players with 70 or more plate appearances against them.

Hays has a .585 OPS against righties this year, but Dombrowski said he thinks the outfielder will improve against them with more playing time. Hays, who cannot become a free agent until after the 2025 season, has a .791 career OPS against lefties and a .727 career OPS against righties.

“I do not see him as a platoon, to tell you the truth,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “This guy was an All-Star last year. And for whatever reason, I don’t know Baltimore’s situation, but he wasn’t playing every single day. But I think that maybe affected his numbers a little bit. I want to see what we have here.”

It is no secret the Phillies have been looking for a right-handed bat who can play left or center field. Their left and center fielders have struggled terribly against lefties.

• Batting average: .208 (29th in MLB), entering Friday
• Home runs: three (T-26th)
• On-base percentage: .261 (30th)
• Slugging percentage: .290 (30th)

“For us to put ourselves in a position in a big game versus good teams, you want to get as many guys as you can to hit that left-handed pitching,” Dombrowski said. “With [Kyle] Schwarber and [Bryce] Harper, they hit them both, but they're still a little more feared when they're facing a right-hander. [Bryson] Stott has hit both, although he hasn't been going from an offensive perspective. He's platooned a little bit with [Edmundo] Sosa; I don't know if he'll have a chance to do that.”

Thomson declined to reveal his plans for Hays because he said he needed to talk to a few people first.

Those plans could involve Marsh.

The Phillies acquired Marsh from the Angels at the 2022 Trade Deadline. They thought he would develop into an everyday player, but his struggles have continued against left-handed pitching. Entering Friday, Marsh has slashed .140/.211/.160 with 26 strikeouts and five walks in 57 plate appearances against them this year.

“We have felt very comfortable to have a defensive player in center field in either Rojas or Pache,” Dombrowski said. “But all of a sudden, we were playing two defensive players versus a left-hander in left field and in center field. You can get by with that at times. But if you're trying to do a little bit extra, having a guy who can hit left-handed pitching in a big series could be important.”

Domínguez, 29, signed with the Phillies for $60,000 as an amateur free agent in 2011. He enjoyed early success before suffering a right elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery in ‘20. He posted a 3.00 ERA in 54 appearances in ‘22. He has a 1.13 ERA in 15 career postseason appearances.

But Domínguez had a 4.19 ERA in 95 appearances over the past two years. He had fallen behind Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm, José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering and possibly Gregory Soto on Philadelphia’s depth chart. He was the fifth or sixth man in the bullpen, and the 10th or 11th man on the pitching staff.

It sounds like the Phillies think Hays could be one of their everyday nine. That’s why they made the trade.

Now, it’s on to the bullpen.

“I think there will be a lot of things that go down to 6 p.m. on Tuesday,” Dombrowski said. “But I think what's happening is because there are so many clubs that are buyers, that if you are going to make a trade of somebody you really want, you better be aggressive. Because if you're not aggressive -- not to say it won't happen later on -- but somebody could get dealt and you might just be sitting there kind of waiting.”