The Philadelphia Phillies are in clear need of more offensive firepower. Once again, they need more help from the right side of the plate, specifically from their outfield.
Adolis Garcia has been a huge disappointment, Trea Turner is struggling, and Alec Bohm hasn’t been good this season. With a right-handed hitting outfield need, it’s not a surprise the Phillies have been linked to a trade for Mike Trout.
CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa did link the Phillies to a right-handed hitting outfielder who was on the Angels last season, but it’s not Trout. Instead, they’re strongly linked to Baltimore Orioles outfielder Taylor Ward.
Phillies strongly linked to trade for Taylor Ward
“The Phillies are at the front of the line,” Axisa writes on a Ward trade. “Their outfield has been one of the least productive in baseball, and they badly need a righty bat around Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.”
Dave Dombrowski is going to need to add a right-handed hitting outfielder to the roster this season in a trade, and Ward would make sense.
With the Orioles struggling a bit this season, they may sell a few players at the deadline. And Ward, the 32-year-old outfielder, is a free agent after this season.
Through 60 games and 218 at-bats, Ward has put together some solid numbers. He has a .243 batting average and a .732 OPS with a 112 OPS+, all of which would easily be the best among Phillies right-handed hitters this season.
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He has 54 walks to 57 strikeouts, which is incredibly impressive considering his previous career high in walks was 75 last season, and he’s had upwards of 175 strikeouts before in a single season in his career, too.
While he only has two homers this season, and his slugging percentage is way down at .339, Ward has still been a very productive hitter in the Orioles lineup.
If the Phillies don’t want to splurge and ship out their best prospects to acquire someone like Byron Buxton, Ward would be a great rental option.
Even though it isn’t Trout, who many Phillies fans will want to add, trading with the Orioles for Ward would be a nice move for Philadelphia this season.